Auto-calibration and control strategy determination for a variable-speed heat pump water heater using optimization

Abstract

This article introduces applications of the GenOpt® optimizer coupled with a vapor compression system model for auto-calibration and control strategy determination toward the development of a variable-speed ground-source heat pump water heating unit. The GenOpt® optimizer can be linked with any simulation program using input and output text files. It effectively facilitates optimization runs. Using the proposed GenOpt® wrapper program, objectives can flexibly be defined for optimizations, targets, and constraints. Those functionalities enable running extensive optimization cases for model calibration, configuration design, and control strategy determination. In addition, a methodology is described to improve prediction accuracy using functional calibration curves. Using the calibrated model, control strategies of the ground-source heat pump water heater were investigated, considering multiple control objectives and covering the entire operation range.