Simulation and validation of a hybrid-power gas engine heat pump

•Establish a stable model of hybrid-power gas engine heat pump (HPGHP) system in heating condition.•Conduct experiments to verify the model.•Put forward the optimal torque curve control strategy to distribute power between engine and battery pack.•Fuel-consumed rate and PER as indexes to evaluate economy of HPGHP.

Hybrid-power gas engine heat pump (HPGHP) combines hybrid power technology with gas engine heat pump, which can keep the gas engine working in the economical zone. In this paper, a steady-state model of the HPGHP in heating condition has been established, the optimal torque curve control strategy is proposed to distribute power between the gas engine and battery pack. The main operating parameters of the HPGHP system are simulated on Matlab/Simulink and validated by experimental data, such as operating temperature, coefficient of performance (COP), fuel-consumed rate, etc. Heating capacity and COP of the heating pump system are validated under different ambient temperatures and water flow rates. The simulation and experiment results shows acceptable agreement, the maximum difference is respectively 8.9%, 5.9%, 9.5% and 8.2% for engine torque, motor torque, reclaimed heat and fuel-consumed rate. Based on the simulation results, HPGHP has the lowest fuel-consumed rate of 283 g (kWh)−1 at engine speed of 3000 rpm; the PER of HPGHP system is about 15.9% and 11.4% higher than the GHP under the same load in Mode C and D.