Development of a Ground Source Hybrid Heat Pump with Cooling Functions

By Fahrenheit

In the field of adsorption heat pumps, there are currently few studies on the combination with compression heat pumps and gas condensing boilers. Compared to conventional compression heat pumps, this concept offers a better EER and COP and makes it possible to use the optimum ratio between electrical and thermal energy depending on the operating conditions.

Part of the Geofit project is therefore the new development of a ground source hybrid heat pump consisting of a zeolite-based adsorption unit, driven by a gas condensing boiler, and an electrically driven compression unit. In this way, the electrical energy consumption of the heat pump is reduced and the system is able to work with less environmental energy, which also allows the realisation with less powerful earth sources. Due to the desired modular design, the concept will later be flexible and suitable for new installations, but also for retrofitting applications.

The heat pump developed by Fahrenheit GmbH will be tested in the laboratory of CNR ITAE under various boundary conditions and optimised for control before validation under real conditions in the demonstration buildings in Italy and France.

The focus of the development is on a simple connection of the gas condensing boiler and the ground collector to the hybrid heat pump and the optimisation of the control of the system.