Optimal Operation Control of Composite Ground Source Heat Pump System

During the operation of the ground source heat pump (GSHP) system, the operations of the chiller system should be controlled by adjusting the difference between water temperature and wet bulb temperature. Therefore, it is important to consider the control strategy for the switch time (ST) and wet bulb temperature difference (WBTD) of the chiller system. This paper sets up two control strategies, namely, the strategy to control the ST of system operations, and the strategy to control the WBTD. Then, theoretical modeling was carried out to compare the system energy consumption and borehole wall temperature under different strategies. The modeling results were referred to optimize the control strategy for composite GSHP systems. It was found that, under the ST control strategy, the best wet bulb temperature is 2℃, and the best chiller operation hours are 3h; under the WBTD control strategy, the best wet bulb temperature is 3.5℃, and the best WBTD is 1.5℃. In addition, the ST control strategy is superior to the WBTD control strategy, in terms of system energy consumption, borehole wall temperature and initial investment.