Investigation of control strategies for dual-temperature district heating substations with two absorption heat pumps and two heat exchangers

With the rapid development of heating technology, heating terminals are developing toward low temperatures and diversification, resulting in the simultaneous presence of different temperature demands in district heating systems. To reduce the primary return water temperature and satisfy the temperatures of different terminals, a dual-temperature district heating substation supplying dual temperatures of hot water with two absorption heat pumps and two heat exchangers has been proposed based on the design conditions. However, whether the dual-temperature district heating substation can operate and how to control this system during the entire heating period have not been explored. In this paper, the models for the substation with two absorption heat pumps and two heat exchangers and its subsystems were established to analyze and compare the operational conditions for the substation and its subsystems at different outdoor temperatures. By comparing the primary return water temperatures of all subsystems, control strategies and a combined system for efficient operation during the heating season were determined. Then a case study and analysis of the combined system were conducted under the proposed control strategies and compared with two other systems – two heat exchangers and two absorption heat exchangers – used in dual-temperature heating stations. Results show that 1) The original system with two absorption heat pumps and two heat exchangers could only operate when the outdoor temperature was −8–1℃. 2) The subsystem with a high-temperature absorption heat pump and two heat exchangers and the subsystem with two heat exchangers which could achieve efficient operation under outdoor temperature ranges of 1–7 °C and 7–11 °C respectively were considered in the combined system to broaden the operating range of the original system. 3) The combined system had the lowest return water temperature (23.8℃) and the highest coefficient of performance (6.60) during the entire heating season. The payback period of the combined system was 1.54 years. This study provides a reference for the efficient operation of dual-temperature district heating substations at different ambient temperatures during the heating season.