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Applied Thermal Engineering 138 (2018) 807–818

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

Parallel loop configuration for hybrid heat pump – gas fired water heater T
system with smart control strategy
⁎
Gang Li
Ingersoll Rand Residential Solutions, 6200 Troup Highway, Tyler, TX 75707, United States
Ingersoll Rand Engineering and Technology Center-Asia Pacific, Shanghai 200051, PR China

H I GH L IG H T S

• The new control strategy for parallel loop hybrid system has been provided.
• ∼10% to ∼60% operation economic benefits can be achieved for −12 °C to 20 °C ambient.
• Fuel price ratio of electricity to gas has a heavy influence on hybrid performance.
• Typical cities in China are investigated for cost saving and environmental impact.

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Air source heat pumps suffer from reduced thermal delivery in cold climate conditions. In this study, the parallel
Parallel loop loop hybrid system with the combination of heat pump and gas fired water heater in one device is provided as
Hybrid system the sustainable alternative to alleviate such issues. An economic-based new control strategy has been proposed
Heat pump water heater for the hybrid system to investigate the system thermal performance and reveal the economic benefits for re-
Gas fired water heater
sidential space heating application. The climate conditions, fuel source price ratio and gas heater thermal ef-
Economic benefit
Control strategy
ficiency have been included in the analysis of the hybrid performance. Under the operating map, the control
strategy can lead to a ∼10% to ∼60% system operating economic benefits for space heating application for
−12 °C to 20 °C ambient. Raising the price ratio can decrease the ratio of the heat delivered by the heat pump on
the overall heat loading, especially for higher final water target temperatures. Lowering the price ratio can
improve the energy process saving potential (% gas heater heating mode baseline). In addition, several typical
cities have also been investigated as a part of studies for hybrid performances and environmental impacts.

1. Introduction
Buildings, as the huge consumers of over one-third of all final en-
ergy and half of the electricity at the global scale, account for ap-
proximately one-third of global carbon emissions [1,2]. Among the
building sectors, residential sector encompasses ∼70% of the global
buildings [3], and recent studies and surveys indicate that space and
water heating demands take up ∼80% of energy use in residential
sector in Europe and 60% in the United States [4], and ∼40% in
northern China [5]. However, the ever-increasing fuel consumption of
heating and domestic hot water has been growing dramatically, along
with the potential fuel source shortage in recent years, driving the
environmental awareness to the forefront of the concerns for the so-
ciety. The conventional heating systems in some countries, such as
China, are mainly based on the fossil fuel (coal) burning, creating
immense greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and serious air pollution.
Taking into account the current level of atmospheric CO2 and its im-
pacts on human welfare, there is the increased need for the develop-
ment of more efficient heating systems as the sustainable alternatives to
mitigate CO2. The air source heat pump (ASHP) is considered to be a
visible, energy-efficient and environmental friendly alternative to
conventional heating systems. During winter, low ambient tempera-
tures can result in the phenomenon of frosting over the evaporator coils
and large pressure ratio, and this can make the heating performance
drop dramatically, which can heavily restrict its applications. In addi-
tion, the heavy reliance on the electricity for the heat pump can also
add the burden of high electricity demand, leading to increasing risks
for the electrical grid. Thus researchers conducted extensive studies of
improving the coefficient of performance (COP) of the ASHPs, including
various hybrid energy options for the building applications [6].

⁎
Address: Ingersoll Rand Residential Solutions, 6200 Troup Highway, Tyler, TX 75707, United States.
E-mail address: gangli166@gmail.com.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.04.087
Received 14 January 2018; Received in revised form 14 March 2018; Accepted 16 April 2018
Available online 22 April 2018
1359-4311/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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G. Li Applied Thermal Engineering 138 (2018) 807–818

Nomenclature W Power consumption [kW]

HR ratio of the heat delivered by the heat pump to that of the
Abbreviations whole loads [1/1]
ξ energy saving potential compared to gas heating only as
COP coefficient of performance the baseline [%]
GHG greenhouse gas
ASHP air source heat pump Subscripts

Symbols amb ambient

HP heat pump
Q heat delivery [kW] gas gas heater
m main stream water flow rate [kg/s] initial initial state
mHP heat pump water flow rate [kg/s] final final state
mgas gas heater water flow rate [kg/s] max maximum
CP specific heat of water [kJ/kg·K] min minimum
T water temperature [°C] elec electrical, electricity
Yelec fuel price for electricity [RMB/kW·h] tot total
Ygas fuel price for natural gas [RMB/kW·h] optimal optimal
COST energy process cost for loads [RMB/h or RMB/season] sys system
η thermal efficiency of the gas heater [1/1] n total number of temperature intervals

Studies on working fluids, new heat pump circulation system, cycle
modification, system coupled with solar energy or energy storage sys-
tems, optimal control, and defrosting technologies have been widely
developed. Dong et al. [7] proposed R407c in solar integrated ASHP on
the heating performance. In the average outdoor dry-bulb temperature
range of −9 °C to −11 °C, the integrated average part load is 14.9%
higher than the conventional ASHP, while the seasonal average part
load value can be 15.5% higher than the conventional one. Other stu-
dies [8] conducted a novel quasi-two-stage compression system coupled
with ejector using R290 as the working fluid. The results showed that it
could lead to the increase of 2.8–3.3% and 6.4–8.8% for heating COP
and capacity compared to the case of quasi-two-stage compression
system with subcooler, 1.1–2.0% and 3.2–6.0% compared to the case of
quasi-two-stage compression system with flash tank. In addition, more
experimental work is needed to be conducted. Hu et al. [9] proposed a
self-optimizing control scheme for maximizing the COP of an air-source
transcritical CO2 heat pump water heater. Li and Yu [10] modeled a
flash tank cycle based ASHP heater with lumped parameter and re-
vealed that the optimum for allocating the thermal conductance in-
ventory could help maximizing the system heating COP. Zhang et al.
[11] developed and analyzed the heat pump defrosting performance
with capturing the heat dissipated by the compressor, and an increase
of 1.4% can be achieved for the system COP. Wang et al. [12] con-
ducted one study of ASHP heater coupled with a heat exchanger, coated
by a solid desiccant with an energy storage unit, and the results in-
dicated that the system COP could be increased by 17.9% and 3.4% in
comparison to reverse-cycle defrosting under ambient condition −3°C
and 3 °C, respectively. Wang et al. [13] provided some suggestions for
modification of current defrosting control strategies to avoid the mad-
frost issues based on their tests. Zhang et al. [14] performed the ASHP
heating tests in cold regions in northern China and suggested that, in
order to obtain an acceptable COP, the temperature difference between
indoor and ambient should be controlled within 41 °C. Li et al. [15]
investigated the direct-expansion of solar-assisted heat pump water
heater, and provided some suggestions for improving the system effi-
ciency, especially for the bare flat-plate solar collector as an evaporator.
Thermal energy storage based on reverse cycle defrosting method can
also help achieve improved indoor thermal comfort, with a shorter
defrosting period and a higher indoor supply of air temperature during
reverse cycle defrosting [16]. Long and Zhu [17] proposed a design of a

(b) Hybrid heating system

(a) Heating supply forms
for current study
Gas Fired Water Heater
Loadings
Natural Gas
Gas Fired Water Heater

Space
Water loop ŚeaƟŶŐ

Hybrid System with Control Strategy m_Őas

Electricity Heat Pump ^ƉaĐĞ ŚĞaƟŶŐ

m T_m m_HP
Under-floor dͺŝŶŝƟal Loadings
heating
oŶĚeŶƐer
Water loop EEV

oŵpreƐƐor

Indoor radiator Evaporator

Natural Gas dͺĮŶal

Fig. 1. Schematics of hybrid heat pump and gas fired water heater system.

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G. Li Applied Thermal Engineering 138 (2018) 807–818

40
8 o showed that hybrid system could achieve nearly half of the primary
Initial heat pump water inlet temperature Theat pump, initial =30 C
energy consumption reduction compared to a coal-fired heating system.
6
38 mheat pump=70 L/min
But the heat pump is the centrifugal sewage-source heat pump. Some
4
36 HVAC manufacturing companies tried to launch similar hybrid pro-
ducts, such as Vaillant [21], REMKO [22], Buderus [23], Daikin [24],
2
34 and Sime [25]. A careful check of the product catalogue reveals that
there is limited information about the operating control strategies in
0
32 detail. In this study, a parallel hybrid heating system, which has not
mheat pump=60 L/min, mgas heater=10 L/min
been conducted in the previous studies from the open literature check,
6
30
is designed to investigate the water flow rate distribution for two
4
28
heating sectors with new control strategy on the thermal and economic
performance.
2
26 o
Tamb ( C)
2. Heat pump–gas fired water heater parallel hybrid system
20
0
24
mheat pump=50 L/min, mgas heater=20 L/min 15
10 2.1. System description
Heat pump COP

6
22
20
4
18
2 -7
0
16
mheat pump=40 L/min, mgas heater=30 L/min
14
6 search on gas boilers (efficiency assumed to be 88% based on the survey
12
4
10
2
08
mheat pump=35 L/min, mgas heater=35 L/min
6 heating technologies are heavily influenced by the fuel prices, such as
4
2 heater.
0 ture Tinitial. The main stream water flow rate m can be adjusted via
30 32 34 36 38 40
Heat pump water outlet temperature, Theat pump, out ( C)
Fig. 2. Heat pump unit COP with initial water inlet temperature 30 °C under
different water flow rates.
heat pump water heater coupled with a storage unit, for which the
energy storage device, with the paraffin as the phase change material,
could recover the heat released by the condenser. It demonstrated that
the system can take advantage of the off-peak electrical energy. Rela-
tively little is known about the options of hybrid system with combining
the ASHP and gas-fired water heater, which can overcome the weakness
of heat pumps under low ambient conditions. In fact, at low tempera-
tures, the heat pump efficiency with the assistance of electric water
heaters is quite low and cannot even work while the gas heater can
operate as a backup to provide sufficient same heat capacity. In addi-
tion, it is also beneficial to switch from electricity to gas under high
peak electricity demand condition. The hybrid system can also meet the
compatibility with existing infrastructure and the multiplicity of sta-
keholders’ perspectives, and tends to be less energy-intensive, eco-
nomical, and efficient. Klein et al. [18] simulated one space heating
system and demonstrated the strength of economic benefits of em-
ploying the hybrid system. While this study did not reveal the detailed
control strategies, Ref. [19] reached a similar conclusion. Li et al. [20]
investigated the optimal operation strategy for a hybrid heat pump-gas
boiler system for a community-level district in China, and results
7
5
0
The schematic diagram of space heating application is shown in
-5 Fig. 1. Gas boiler, and hybrid system combining the ASHP and gas
heater are mainly listed. For the former, in general, the low fuel cost
-10
(especially compared to the electricity) and low investment are making
-12
-15 it to be an attractive option for heating purpose, compared to the
-20 electrical water heating system. More importantly, the extensive re-
from China market) toward sustainability also makes a remarkable
progress on the minimization of local pollutants. While, for the latter,
i.e. the hybrid system, in addition to the gas heater, it also includes the
commonly ASHP, with COP around 2.6–4, indicating that adding this
device is a preferable future option due to their high efficiency, con-
siderably higher than gas boilers, especially in hot climates. In fact, the
electricity, natural gas, oil, etc. As for the hybrid system, as shown in
Fig. 1(b), it is mainly composed of a heat pump, and a gas fired water
The main water stream m from the loading has an initial tempera-
42 multistage centrifugal water pump to achieve the pre-set value. Then,
o
the water is divided into two circuits: one enters the gas heater with
water flow rate mgas to exchanges heat with the hot combustion gas to
achieve Tgas, final, and the heat pump loop flows with mHP driven by the
vapor compression cycle in order to achieve the final temperature THP,
final. Finally, two loops mix with m to achieve desired temperature Tfinal.
The two loops operate simultaneously to achieve Tfinal at the final mix
loop point for the loadings. In fact, the temperature sensor from the gas
heater can be positioned at the stream mixed point to adjust gas flow
rate to ensure enough fuel source can be provided to achieve Tfinal. In
general, mHP is larger than mgas, and the reasonable flow rate share
should be made. When mHP = m, only the heat pump operates. In this
operation mode, in case that the heat pump cannot provide enough heat
for the loadings, the auxiliary resistance heater can assist to achieve the
target. As for the hybrid system, new control strategy will be deployed
to demonstrate the economic benefits. The two heating sources, i.e.
heat pump and gas heater, can be arranged reasonably for each loop
water flow rate from the main stream, and for each loop, the water
outlet temperature with proper amount of heating driven source can be
made to achieve the lowest total energy process cost. In fact, the setting
depends on various climate conditions, water return temperatures from
loadings, price ratios of electricity to gas, etc. The two heating sources,
which can be handled with proper arrangement for the loading share,
can lead to two modes: heat pump mode and hybrid mode. More details
about the control strategy is introduced in Section 2.2.
For the current system, a commercial heat pump with a rated ca-
pacity 25 kW and a gas fired water heater in the system are geared to
meet the loading in the residential buildings. The heat pump system

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G. Li
Fig. 3. Flow chart of hybrid system control strategy.
capacity can be adjusted via an inverter driven compressor. Regarding
the gas heater, its fuel gas mass flow rate of the natural gas can be
adjusted to meet the desired capacity target.
2.2. Control strategies for system operation
This section introduces the control strategies. The general perfor-
mance of the 25 kW rating heat pump is illustrated in Fig. 2 under
different climate conditions with various water flow rates. The main
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Applied Thermal Engineering 138 (2018) 807–818
stream water flow rate including both the heat pump water loop and
gas heater water loop is 70 L/min (1.17 kg/s). As the heat pump water
outlet temperature increases, the COP lifts, and then drops gradually.
The compressor power lifts as the heat pump water outlet increases, but
the fan power and water pump power remain approximately constant
during the operating process. Initially, the COP is low since the constant
power including the fan pump takes a large share for the total power.
Then, COP increases, and then decreases gradually. It can be observed
that a smaller water flow rate can extend the heat pump operation map
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G. Li Applied Thermal Engineering 138 (2018) 807–818

Table 1 Qload > MaxHP , (4)

Fuel price, energy efficiency and fuel emission factor for appliance.
Qload = MaxHP + Qelecheater ,
Electricity price (RMB/kWh), Yelec [26] 0.45
Natural gas price (RMB/m3), Ygas,volume [27] 2.5 and
Natural gas price (RMB/kWh), Ygas 0.26 T T
final HP ,final
Fuel price ratio (1/1), Yelec/ Ygas 1.73 COPTinitial = 1/[(MaxHP /Qload )/COPTHP ,initial
+ (1−MaxHP /Qload )/ηelec ] (5)
Electric resistance heater efficiency 0.95
Gas fired water heater efficiency 0.88 Else,
Electricity emission factor (kg CO2-eq./kWh), Eelec [28] 0.973
final HP ,final T T
Natural gas emission factor (kg CO2-eq./m3) Egas, volume [29] 2.09 Make THP,final = Tfinal, thus Qload = MaxHP , and COPTinitial = COPTHP ,initial
Natural gas emission factor (kg CO2-eq./kWh), Egas 0.215
Natural gas combustion heat by volume, q (kJ/m3) 35,000 (6)
When the loading is larger than that of the maximum heat delivered
Egas = Egas, volume/q * 3600.
by the heat pump, the additional heat by the resistance heater is re-
Ygas = Ygas,volume/q * 3600.
quired during the coldest fraction for the heating season.
Then the total cost for the heat pump can be calculated as:
(in Fig. 2, the auxiliary resistance heater is not included) to a lower
ambient and a higher final water outlet temperature. As for the oper- final
COSTHP (Tinitial,Tfinal ) = Yelec ·Qload/ COPTinitial
T
(7)
ating target, the Tinitial can be 30 °C, and Tfinal can be 35 °C, 38 °C, 40 °C,
respectively, depending on the building loads. The detailed procedure is
shown in Fig. 3. At first, the input parameters, such as Tamb , Tinitial , Tfinal (2) Hybrid system
and m should be identified. In addition, the fuel source prices, such as
electricity Yelec and natural gas Ygas should be provided, as shown in If the same loading is delivered by the heat pump with flow rate mHP
Table 1. A series of values of mHP have been initialized, such as mHP,1, and gas-fired water heater with mgas concurrently (no auxiliary re-
mHP,2 , … mHP,i ,…,chosen between mHPmin and mHPmax , in general, sistance heater as the backup for the heat pump in the hybrid mode), it
mHPmax = m and mHPmin = 50%mHP,rating . In the following, the calculation is in the hybrid mode. In general,
and the optimal point tracking for the system are introduced. m = mHP + mgas (8)

(1) Heat pump The two circuits mix with m to achieve Tfinal . First, a series of values
of mHP have been initialized, such as mHP,1, mHP,2 ,… mHP,i ,…, chosen
When mHP = m , only heat pump works. The unit time maximum between mHPmin and mHPmax . If mHP = m , only the heat pump operates
heat delivered by the heat pump is calculated as: and the calculation should be based on data in section (1) Heat pump.
For each mHPi , a series of values of heat pump side for the water
MaxHP = CP mHP (THP,final−THP,initial ) (1) outlet temperature Tm,i (Tm1,i,Tm2,i,Tm3,i …Tmi,i…) chosen between Tinitial and
Tfinal should be initialized.
The unit time building loading is:
For each mHP,i ,
Qload = CP mHP (Tfinal−Tinitial ) (2) THP,initial = Tinitial (9)

THP,initial = Tinitial (3) Tgas,initial = Tinitial (10)

The maximum heat delivered by the heat pump should be compared to THP,final = Tmi,i (11)
the loadings as follows:
If QHP,i = CP mHP,i (THP,final−Tinitial ) (12)

4.5 10 1.2
Energy cost saving potential (% gas heater heating mode BSL)

o
Economical-normalized system COP Tamb=5 C Yelec/Ygas=4
System thermal COP
Energy cost saving potential (% gas heater heating mode BSL)
8
4.0 1.0
QHP/Qload,heating supply shared by the heat pump
6
3.5
4 0.8

3.0
2
QHP/Qload

0.6
COP

2.5 0
0.4
-2
2.0
-4 0.2
1.5
-6
1.0 Water flow rate: 50 L/min 0.0
-8
Optimal temperature o o
Tinitial=30 C, Tfinal=38 C
0.5 -10 -0.2
30 32 34 36 38 40
o
Water outlet temperature of heat pump ( C)
Fig. 4. Procedure of tracking the optimal point of the hybrid system for one heat pump water mass flow rate.

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Overall thermal COP of the hybrid system

64
44 24
8
Initial water inlet temperature: 30 oC HP only 70 L/min

Water outlet temperature of heat pump ( C) C)

62
42 22
o
Initial water inlet temperature: 30 C Water flow rate of
o Final water outlet temperature: 40oC 6 o
Hybrid 60 L/min
60
40 Final water outlet temperature: 40 C Hybrid 50 L/min the heat pump:

58 4
20 Hybrid 40 L/min
38
o

Hybrid 35 L/min
56
36 18
2
54
34
Water flow rate of 16
0
52
32 the heat pump:
o
30
50 Initial water inlet temperature: 30 C 14
6
Final water outlet temperature: 38 C
o Initial water inlet temperature: 30 oC
48
40
12
4 Final water outlet temperature: 38 oC
46
38
44
36 Operation mode: 10
2
42
34 HP only 70 L/min
Hybrid 60 L/min 08
40
32 Hybrid 50 L/min
38
30 o
Hybrid 40 L/min
6 Initial water inlet temperature: 30 C
o
Initial water inlet temperature: 30 C
o
36 Final water outlet temperature: 35 C
o Hybrid 35 L/min Final water outlet temperature: 35 C
4
34
2
32
30 0
1.2 24
8
o
1.0 Initial water inlet temperature: 30 C

Economical-normalized system COP

o 22
6 o
0.8 Initial water inlet temperature: 30 C Final water outlet temperature: 40 C
Heating shared by the heat pump

o
0.6 Final water outlet temperature: 40 C 4
20
0.4 2
18
0.2 HP only 70 L/min
(from 0 to 1 scale)

0.0 0
16 Hybrid 60 L/min Water flow rate of
Hybrid 50 L/min the heat pump:
2.2
1.0 Hybrid 40 L/min
Initial water inlet temperature: 30oC 14
6
2.0
0.8 Final water outlet temperature: 38 C
o
o
Initial water inlet temperature: 30 C Hybrid 35 L/min
1.8
0.6 12
4 o
Final water outlet temperature: 38 C
HP only 70 L/min
1.6
0.4 Hybrid 60 L/min Water flow rate of 10
2
1.4
0.2 Hybrid 50 L/min the heat pump:
Hybrid 40 L/min
1.2
0.0 Hybrid 35 L/min
08
1.0
6 Initial water inlet temperature: 30 C
o
0.8 o
0.6 4 Final water outlet temperature: 35 C
0.4 o
Initial water inlet temperature: 30 C 2
0.2 o
Final water outlet temperature: 35 C
0.0 0
-20 -10 0 10 20 30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30
o
Ambient temperature ( C)
o Ambient temperature ( C)

Fig. 5. Thermal and economic performance of the hybrid system under different water flow rates.

42 220 4.0
Energy cost saving potential (% gas heater heating mode BSL)

20
Optimal outlet water temperature of the heat pump ( C)

o o
40 Tinitial=30 C, Tfinal=40 C 200 3.8
1.0
o

0
38 3.6
0.8
180
-20 3.4
36 0.6
water flow rate from HP 160
-40 3.2
0.4
34
140 3.0
0.2
32 -60
2.8
0.0
30 120
-80
HR, QHP/Qload

o o 2.6
40 Tinitial=30 C, Tfinal=38 C
52 2.4
1.0
0
50
38 2.2
0.8
80
-20
48
36 2.0
0.6
60
-40 1.8
46
34 0.4
44
32 40
-60 1.6
0.2
THP outlet, HP THP outlet, Hybrid: 60L/min THP outlet, Hybrid: 50L/min 1.4
0.0
42
30 -80
20
Energy cost saving potential % BSL HR, QHP/Q load 1.2
40 o o 0
Tinitial=30 C, Tfinal=35 C 1.0
38
-20 0.8
36 0.6
-40
34 0.4
32 -60 0.2
30 -80 0.0
-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25
o
Ambient temperature ( C)
Fig. 6. Optimal performance for hybrid system under different water outlet final temperatures.

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Qgas,i = CP mgas,i (Tgas,final−Tinitial ) (13) whole loads.

m = mHP,i + mgas,i (14) HRi = QHP,i (Toptimal,i )/ Qload (23)

Qload = QHP,i + Qgas,i (15) It can be concluded that when HR equals to 1, only the heat pump
operates.
Qload = CP m (Tfinal−Tinitial ) (16) In addition, in order to perform the fair comparison for the eco-
nomic scale for the hybrid system, the economical-normalized COP is
The energy cost during the heating process for the heat pump is:
also defined in the following equation:
T
mi,i
COSTHP,i (Tinitial,THP ,final ) = COSTHP ,i (Tmi,i ) = Yelec QHP,i /COPTinitial (17) Toptimal,i
Yelec ·QHP,i (Toptimal,i )/ COPTinitial + Ygas·Qgas,i (Toptimal,i )/ ηgas
The energy cost during the heating process for the gas heater is:
= Yelec ·Q load / COPsys,economic,i (24)
COSTGAS,i (Tinitial,Tgas,final ) = COSTGAS,i (Tmi,i ) = Ygas Qgas,i/ηgas (18)
Thus,
The total energy cost for the heating process is: T
optimal,i
COPsys,economic,i = 1/(HR/ COPTinitial + (1−HR)/ ηgas ·Ygas / Yelec ) (25)
COSTsys,i (Tmi,i ) = COSTHP,i (Tmi,i ) + COSTGAS,i (Tmi,i ),Tinitial ⩽ Tmi,i ⩽ Tfinal
(19) If the gas heating is chosen as the baseline for building loads, the hybrid
system can achieve the energy cost saving potential (%) as follows:
The optimal value Toptimal,i can be obtained via:
COSTsys,i (Toptimal,i ) = Min (COSTsys,i (Tmi,i )),Tinitial ⩽ Tmi,i ⩽ Tfinal ξi = (COSTsys,i (Toptimal,i )−Ygas Qload/ ηgas )/(Ygas Qload / ηgas )*100 (26)
(20)
To asses the system performance, the two parameters are defined as
follows:COPsys,i (Toptimal,i ) is the integrated system overall efficiency of the (3) System optimal points for water flow rate
hybrid system.
For each mHPi , the optimal heat pump water outlet temperature
COPsys,i (Toptimal,i ) = Qload /(WHP,i (Toptimal,i ) + Qfuel,i (Toptimal,i )) (21) Toptimal,i can be obtained from section (2) Hybrid system. In this section,
Qfuel,i (Toptimal,i ) = Qgas,i (Toptimal,i )/ ηgas the optimal heat pump water flow rate mHP,optimal should be obtained
(22)
and provided.
HR signifies a ratio of the heat delivered by the heat pump to that of the The lowest total energy cost with different mHPi for the heating

Fig. 7. Effect of the fuel source price ratio on the thermal and economic performance of the hybrid system.

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Fig. 7. (continued)
process can be obtained via:
COSTsys,optimal (mHP,optimal ) = Min (COSTHP ,i (mHPi ) + COSTGAS,i (mHPi )),
0.5mHP,rating ⩽ mHPi ⩽ m
The system level optimal HR can be obtained via:
HR = QHP,optimal / Qload
The system level optimal ξ can be obtained via:
ξ = (COSTsys,optimal−Ygas Qload / ηgas )/(Ygas Qload / ηgas )*100
3. Thermal performance integration and economic feasibility
analysis for hybrid system
3.1. Performance investigation with optimal points tracking
For the space heating application, the water return temperature of
30 °C and supply temperature of 35–40 °C, are assumed. The efficiencies
for the auxiliary resistance heater and gas heater are shown in Table 1.
The main stream flow rate 70 L/min (1.17 kg/s) and gas heater side
maximum water flow rate 35 L/min (0.58 kg/s) are pre-set.
The procedure to track the optimal heat pump water outlet tem-
perature for one water flow rate for the heat pump (50 L/min, i.e.
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0.83 kg/s) is illustrated in Fig. 4. The raise of the heat pump water
outlet temperature can first lift the economical-normalized COP, i.e. the
cost saving indicator, then drop down; while the overall thermal COP
always depicts an increasing trend. The energy cost saving potential
and the economical-normalized COP, present an opposite trend, de-
picting the same turning point. In addition, the increase of the heat
pump water outlet temperature produces the raise of the HR.
The system performance under different water flow rates (70 L/min,
i.e. 1.17 kg/s for heat pump mode only, 60, 50, 40 and 35 L/min, i.e.
1.00, 0.83, 0.67 and 0.58 kg/s for heat pump water flow rates for hy-
brid mode) is illustrated in Fig. 5 with the control strategy. The fuel
price ratio of electricity to gas is assumed to be 1.73 from Table 1. From
the left figure the hybrid mode can extend the optimal heat pump water
outlet temperature points to both low and high regions. As the final
target water temperature increases, more points shift to a higher region.
The increase of the heat pump water outlet temperature can raise the
HR , especially for higher final water temperature target. The hybrid
points dominate in the range of 0.1–0.7. From the right figure, in-
creasing water flow rate for the heat pump side can raise the system
thermal COP, especially toward the hot climates. As for the economical-
normalized COP, in general, for the hot climates, the heat pump only
operation mode can produce a higher cost saving benefit while the
hybrid mode can provide a better result in the cold region. As the final
water temperature increases, the hybrid mode can be massively con-
trolled for energy process cost saving. Fig. 6 steps further in revealing
the best cost saving optimal case based on Fig. 5, based on the meth-
odology in Fig. 3. For the optimal point, the hybrid mode with the 60 L/
min is the dominated mode, especially for final high water tempera-
tures, while the heat pump only mode tends to vanish. A higher energy
cost saving potential can be achieved toward the hot climates, with the
increased HR. The control strategy can lead to the ∼10% to ∼60%
economic benefits for −12 °C to 20 °C ambient.
3.2. Effect of the fuel source price ratio on the hybrid system performance
The fuel source price ratio has a big influence on the hybrid system
performance, as shown in Fig. 7. As the price ratio increases, the op-
timal water outlet temperature of the heat pump decreases, with more
assertion for final water target temperature 40 °C. Hybrid mode with
60 L/min is the dominated mode. In general, a higher price ratio can
result in a lower HR. For the Tfinal 35 °C case, there are more dot points
for 70 L/min flow rate. A lower price ratio can lead to a higher energy
process saving potential. For the price ratio of 1, it can even achieve
60–80% cost saving potential (10 –20 °C ambient). An increase in the
(27) ambient can enhance the energy saving potential. There are more heat
pump only mode dots for lower final water targets. In addition, for the
price ratio of 3 and 4 cases, the energy saving cannot be obtained when
(28) ambient is below −15 °C, and it is more distinct when final water
temperature target is lower. The Tfinal 35 °C can produce additional 20%
of the cost for price ratio of 4 from the baseline under ambient −20 °C.
(29) This is because, in cold climates, the COP of the heat pump, which uses
the expensive electricity as the fuel source, decreases heavily, even
lower than the gas heater thermal efficiency. Even in the hybrid system,
the additional gas heater sector, with cheap gas as the fuel source, can
assist the heat pump to provide enough heat. The inclusion of expensive
electricity and poor energy-efficient heat pump can make the whole
hybrid energy process cost higher than the pure gas heating cost.
3.3. Effect of the gas heater thermal efficiency on the hybrid system
performance
Based on the survey for China heating market, there are various
heating sectors with different energy star labels. Thus, the energy ef-
ficiency needs to be investigated for the hybrid system. With the fuel
price ratio of 1.73 from Table 1, the effect of the gas heater thermal
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efficiency on the hybrid performance of the hybrid system is shown in
Fig. 8. Gas heater thermal efficiency does not have large influence
compared to price ratio for hybrid performance. As Tfinal decreases,
there are more dot points for heat pump only operation mode. In ad-
dition, the HR curves tend to overlap. Then as well, a lower Tfinal has
more heat pump only modes, with HR to be 1. As for the optimal energy
cost saving potential, similarly, there seems to be one curve. For the
higher Tfinal, there are less dot points for heat pump only operation
mode in hot climates. The new control strategy can achieve more en-
ergy process cost saving in hot climates, especially for lower Tfinal
(nearly 80% cost saving for 35 °C target under 20 °C ambient).
3.4. Case study for economical saving potential for typical cities in China
In this section, several typical cities in China have been investigated
to reveal the economic benefits with new control strategy. The climate
conditions of main cities are shown in Fig. 9 [30], with heating season
illustrated in Table 2. A 350 m2 hotel type apartment is selected as the
case study. Based on the China heating market/customer survey and
heating product field test investigation, for most cases, considerable
heat loss through the windows and walls are not taken into account
carefully and scaled from the open literature. Following the suggestions
from the marketing team, the heating load is mapped out in Fig. 10 with
fuel source price in Table 2. Regarding the price of electricity, the peak
time is assumed from 6:00 am to 22:00 pm, and the valley time from
22:00 pm to 6:00 am for each city. For Shanghai, the peak electricity
price (0.617/kWh) is approximately 2 times of the valley (0.307/kWh)
[32,33]. In fact, different cities have different regulations. Some have
Fig. 8. Effect of the gas heater thermal efficiency on the thermal and economic performance of the hybrid system.
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the peak-valley price, while others have step price based on monthly or
accumulated kWhs. To have a fair comparison, it is also assumed that
the electricity policy and price of Shanghai is adopted for other cities as
well. Fig. 9 shows the fuel source price ratio for different cities. Xi’an
and Chengdu can achieve a higher fuel source price ratio since the price
of the natural gas in western China (such as Xi’an and Chengdu) is much
cheaper than that in eastern. The heating season energy process cost
analysis uses an hourly resolution with Bin method [34] to capture the
economic benefits compared to the case of gas heater heating. For the
whole heating season, the system operation mode, energy delivered and
energy process cost can be calculated together with a series of parti-
cular temperature intervals (Bins). Ebin,i is the hourly energy loading for
each Bin, which can be summed to obtain total energy loadings for the
heating season as follows:
n
Etot = ∑ Ebin,i
i=1 (30)
n is the total number of Bins. The total energy process cost for the
heating season can be calculated as:
n n
COSTtot ,season = ∑ COSTbin,i = ∑ f (Ebin,i )
i=1 i=1 (31)
For each Bin, the corresponding hourly energy cost can be obtained
from Ebin,i based on the control strategy. Then all sub-cost can be
summed to obtain the total energy cost COSTtot ,season .
The heating season energy process cost saving potential compared
from the gas heating only can be obtained via:
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Fig. 8. (continued)
ξtot = (COSTtot ,season−Ygas Etot / ηgas )/(Ygas Etot / ηgas )*100
(32)
Fig. 9 shows the relative heating season energy cost comparison. In
general, from the cold region to hot, there is an increasing share of
electricity use, and all cities can achieve the energy cost savings from
the baseline. In the coldest city of Shenyang, the cost for the natural gas
takes up more than 70%; while in the warm area, such as Shanghai,
Wuhan and Chengdu, the cost for the natural gas only shares ∼12% or
even less. Beijing and Xi’an have close fuel cost distribution. This should
be explained from the involvement of fuel price ratio. Xi’an is not as
cold as Beijing, the heat pump should operate more efficiently in Xi’an,
which indicates that the share of electricity should be expected to be
higher. However, in Fig. 9 the trend is not presented that way. Why?
From Section 3.2 we can conclude that the higher fuel price ratio, such
as in Xi’an, can make more hybrid mode share during the system op-
eration, which means more fuel source of gas can be utilized. Thus,
Xi’an does not have a higher electricity fuel cost share than Beijing.
While the fuel price of gas is quite high for Qingdao, leading more share
of electricity fuel cost. As for Chengdu, though it has a higher fuel
source price ratio than Wuhan, indicating that there is more gas use for
fuel share, it also has a higher ambient temperature, displaying more
electricity share since heat pump is more efficient. Thus, the two factors
make the fuel source cost share with the new control strategy to be
close to Wuhan’s. However, regarding the total cost saving potential
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compared to the gas heating only, Chengdu has less cost saving po-
tential by percentage than Wuhan since the baseline fuel-natural gas
cost (gas heating only) for Chengdu is quite lower.
4. Environmental impact assessment of hybrid system
Fig. 10 shows the environmental performance for several cities in
China. Three scenarios are listed. Scenario II mostly can produce more
emissions, especially for the cold areas. Qingdao and Beijing have ad-
joining total emission increase percentage. To reveal this, a close check
of the emission factor is illustrated in Table 1 and Fig. 10 for electricity
generation mission factor, whose value is 4.5 times of that of gas. Thus,
reducing electricity generation emission is of high importance to
achieve the sustainable target. From Fig. 10 China is nearly two times of
other countries for electricity emission factor [28]. A careful check on
the fuel source distribution for electricity generation indicates that the
high emission fuel-coal, has taken even more than 70% shares [26],
much more than other countries [35–37]. Thus, more efforts should be
taken into utilization of less emission fuel sources (renewable, etc.) for
power generation, as shown in Fig. 10.
The decrease of COP sometimes caused by frosting phenomenon
cannot be avoided and the necessary defrosting process should be de-
ployed, which usually takes several minutes per cycle. Within this
process, it is recommended that the gas heater provides enough com-
bustion heat to achieve the delivery needed for the loads, which will be
further investigated. In addition, in the current study, the benefit for the
cost is mainly the operation cost. In fact, the total cost also includes the
investment, maintenance, etc. It should be noted that the total life cycle
cost comparison between the gas heater only and the hybrid system in
the current study is unfair since the later system also has the additional
function of cooling delivery. Thus, a reasonable total cost comparison
for various systems for both heating and cooling should be examined,
which we will further work on.
5. Conclusions
In this study, the parallel loop configuration hybrid system with the
combination of the ASHP and the gas fired water heater, is investigated,
along with new control strategy for space heating to disclose the eco-
nomic benefits.
Results reveal that the hybrid mode can extend the optimal heat
pump water outlet temperature to both low and high regions. With the
fixed main stream water flow rate, increasing the water flow rate for the
heat pump side can promote the system efficiency, especially in hot
climate. The control strategy can lead to the ∼10% to ∼60% system
operating economic benefits for space heating application for −12 °C to
20 °C ambient. Raising the price ratio can decrease the optimal outlet
water temperature and HR, especially for higher final water target
temperature. Lowering the price ratio can heavily enhance the energy
process saving potential (% gas heater heating mode baseline). The gas
heater thermal efficiency has the negligible influence on the hybrid
performance, compared to the effect of fuel price ratio. In addition, for
several typical cities in China, in general, from the cold region to the
hot, there is an increasing share of electricity use since the heat pump is
more efficient in hot climates, and all cities can achieve the energy cost
savings when the gas heating only mode is chosen as the baseline. Cold
areas, such as Shenyang, have more than 70% of the total operating cost
for the natural gas, while warm areas, such as Shanghai, Wuhan and
Chengdu, share ∼12% or even less. As for the environmental impact, in
general, the hybrid system can produce even more CO2-eq. emissions
than gas heating only mode, especially for the cold areas. Utilizing less
emission fuel sources for power generation, such as renewable energy,
can decrease the emission factor for electricity generation toward sus-
tainable target.
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G. Li Applied Thermal Engineering 138 (2018) 807–818

40
2.5

Heating season

Heating season
150

Load
Heating load
100 30
Heating load

(W/m )
2

Ambient temperature ( C)
50

o
0 20
Relative heating season energy cost

2.0 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 o

10 15 20 25
4
Ambient temperature ( C)
Fuel price ratio

Shenyang
(Yelec/Ygas)

3
Peak Time Valley Time 10
2
Price Beijing
Qingdao
1
0 Xi'an
1.5 0 Hefei
ng g an o
fe i ai n gd
u Shanghai
ya ijin X i' da
He gh ha en
en Be ng an Wu
Sh Qi Sh Ch -10 Wuhan
Electricity heating portion Gas heater heating portion Chengdu
For each city, the left indicates the heating is supplied by gas heater only.
1.0 -20
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Month

Heating season
Input
0.5
Control strategy

0.0
g g an o i i n u
an ijin Xi' da Hefe h a uha e n g d
en
y Be n g n g
Sh Qi Sh
a W Ch
Fig. 9. Heating season energy cost comparison for several cities in China.

Table 2
Heating season and natural gas fuel price for major cities in China.
City Heating season [31] Days[31] Fuel price of natural gas (RMB/m3) [27] Fuel price of natural gas, Ygas (RMB/kWh)

Shenyang 15 Nov.-15 Mar. 120 2.95 0.303

Beijing 15 Nov.-15 Mar. 120 2.3 0.237
Xi’an 15 Nov.-15 Mar. 120 1.98 0.204
Qingdao 16 Nov.-5 April 141 3 0.309
Hefei 5 Dec.-5 Mar. 90 2.4 0.247
Shanghai 15 Nov.-28.Feb. 100 3 0.309
Wuhan 15 Nov.-15 Mar. 120 2.53 0.260
Chengdu 30 Nov.-28 Feb. 90 1.89 0.194

I Left:heating with gas heater only

1.4 II Middle:heating with current control strategy
Right: current control strategy, electricity
China III
Relative heating season emissions

Electricity heating portion emission factor decreased by half

Gas heater heating portion
1.2 For each city
1.0
Fuel source share for electricity generation

Fuel source type

Fuel source share comparison

0.9 Coal
1.0
for electricity generation

Hydro
for different countries

0.8 Natural gas

Nuclear
0.7
0.8 Renewable
0.6 Others

Emission factor (kg CO2-eq./kW.h)

0.5
0.6
0.4 China 0.973
USA 0.547
0.3 UK 0.508
0.4 0.2 S. Korea 0.504

0.1

0.2 0.0
ina US
A rea
Ch UK . Ko
S
0.0
an
g ng an ao fei ha
i an u
eiji Xi' gd He gd
eny B Qin ang Wuh hen
Sh Sh C

Fig. 10. Environmental impact assessment comparison for several cities in China and fuel source share comparison for electricity generation for different countries.

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Acknowledgements
The author would like to express the deepest appreciation to Z. Li
and P. Li for their endless love, support, and encouragement during the
uncertainty career path. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or
other recommendations expressed in this material are those of the au-
thor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ingersoll Rand.
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