SBIR Phase I: Very-Low Emissions Heating, Cooling and Hot Water System

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将是减少家庭能源成本、电网系统成本和发电对环境的影响。拟议的研究项目将推动住宅联合供暖和热水技术的发展。该研究项目将解决在联合供暖和热水应用中运行高效二氧化碳热泵的技术风险，并在这些应用中实施有效的负荷转移。该项目有可能通过以下方式降低用户能源成本、电网系统成本和环境影响：将电力负荷从高峰需求时间转移到非高峰需求时间，减少对昂贵且高污染的高峰发电资源的需求，以及在低需求时期整合可变的可再生能源，如风能和太阳能。这将对电价造成下行压力，并通过降低需求和将电力需求转移到最便宜的时间，为用户提供即时的账单节省。由于该系统显著降低了运营成本和初始固定投资，因此具有大规模商业部署的潜力。这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在解决与高效二氧化碳热泵在联合供暖和热水应用中的商业部署相关的技术挑战。二氧化碳热泵在热水应用中表现出高效率，性能系数高达5。然而，由于缺乏先进的控制，它们在组合系统中通常运行效率低得多。本研究将建立基于客户使用和充电条件的热水箱热分层模型、热需求预测模型，以及集成热泵性能、水箱分层和预测客户需求的全系统仿真模型。然后，该项目将开发新的控制（硬件和软件），以优化用户和电网的成本和排放，并通过将最终控制系统集成到现有原型中来验证其有效性。该评估将证明以二氧化碳为基础的热和热水联用系统的商业可行性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be the reduction in home energy costs, electric grid system costs, and environmental impacts from electricity generation. The proposed research project will advance the state of the art in residential combined heating and hot water technology. The research project will resolve the technical risks associated with operating a high-efficiency CO2 heat pump in combined heating and hot water applications, and with implementing efficient load shifting in these applications. The project has the potential to reduce user energy costs, grid system costs, and environmental impacts by: shifting electrical load from peak demand times to off-peak demand times, reducing the need for costly and highly polluting peak power generation resources, and integrating variable renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar at times of low demand. This will put downward pressure on electric rates, as well as provide immediate user bill savings through lower demand and by shifting electricity demand to the cheapest times. The proposed system has the potential for large-scale commercial deployment due to its significantly lower operating costs and lowered initial fixed investments.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to resolve technical challenges associated with the commercial deployment of high-efficiency CO2 heat pumps in combined heating and hot water applications. CO2 heat pumps have demonstrated high efficiency in hot water applications with coefficients of performance up to 5. However, they typically operate much less efficiently in combined systems due to a lack of advanced controls. The research will develop a thermal stratification model of a hot water tank based on customer use and charging conditions, a predictive thermal demand model, and a simulation model of the whole system integrating heat pump performance, tank stratification, and predictive customer demand. The project will then develop new controls (hardware and software) to optimize for user and grid costs and emissions and validate the effectiveness of the resulting control system by integrating it into the existing prototype. This assessment will demonstrate the commercial viability of CO2-based combined heat and hot water systems with load shifting.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.