Design and feasibility study of combined heat and power systems integrated with heat pump

This paper presents the design and feasibility analysis of a combined heat and power system integrated with a residential heat pump (CHP-HP). The proposed CHP-HP model consists of a power generation unit (PGU) driving a heat pump and a heat recovery system for the PGU used to offset the heat pump heating load and the domestic water heating requirements. The proposed system is evaluated for a single family residential building in ten different U.S. locations representing different climate zones. The performance of the proposed system is compared to the performance of conventional systems in the same locations. Two parameters, the electrical power ratio (PRelec.) and the electricity to fuel cost ratio (EFCR), are used to investigate the effect of the electricity consumed by the auxiliary heater and energy prices on the CHP-HP operation. Results show that the proposed CHP-HP system can be effective in cold climate zones by supplementing the auxiliary heater energy consumption with the recovered waste heat from the PGU.