Validation of Black-Box Performance Models for a Water-to-water Heat Pump Operating under Steady State and Dynamic Loads

The use of simple mathematical models for describing the behaviour of heat pumps is important for assessing the energy performance of this equipment when installed in buildings. However, because of their simplicity, commonly used simple models, may not be able to fully account for the dynamic performance of heat pumps during transient phases. In this study, different performance black box models for an on-off water-to-water heat pump are validated by comparison with laboratory experimental results at steady state and dynamic cycling conditions. The models range from the solution based on the interpolation on the heat pump performance map to the detailed dynamic solution that combines correlations for the quasi-steady state operation and activation functions to model the transient phases. The output temperatures, electrical and thermal power and coefficient of performance from simulations were compared with experimental data from a water-to-water heat pump of 40.5 kW nominal heating capacity operating under cycling conditions. After validation with experiments, annual energy performance simulations of a tertiary building provided with a heat pump were conducted. These simulations quantifying the uncertainty expected when using heat pump performance models in simulation environments for estimating their annual energy performance.