Adjustable performance analysis of combined cooling heating and power system integrated with ground source heat pump

The difference in the electricity to cooling/heating ratio between a building and combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) system has a significant influence on the system configuration and performance. This paper designs a CCHP system coupled with a ground source heat pump (GSHP) to coordinate the match between system supplies and building demands. The energy flows in the cooling and heating work conditions are analyzed, and the thermodynamic models of components constructed. By means of a case study, the performances of the coupling CCHP system, under design and off-design working conditions, are evaluated and analyzed using energetic indicators, including the primary energy ratio and exergy efficiency, respectively. The adjustable areas expressed by electricity and cooling/heating, as well as the adjustable performance distributions, are obtained and discussed in order to guide operation regulation of the CCHP system integrated with the GSHP. Comparisons between the CCHP system with and without GSHP indicate that the coupling CCHP system in the specific case study can save averagely 40.6% and 39.5% of the primary energy in cooling and heating work conditions, respectively.