CHP Fuel Control With Heat Buffer for Demand-Price Balancing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
CHP installations face inefficiencies due to mismatched demands for heat and electricity, fluctuating market prices, and the need for complex management of multiple energy sources, making it difficult to optimize energy delivery and storage effectively.
Innovation Solution
A fuel control system with a hybrid open loop/closed loop regulatory mechanism that uses stochastic variable control to manage energy supply and demand, optimizing energy storage and distribution by determining fuel needs based on historical market prices and heat demand probabilities, ensuring the energy buffer remains within set limits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If CHP installations are used to recuperate heat energy, then energy efficiency is improved, but the complexity of managing multiple energy sources increases
Solution Approach 1:
A buffer system is introduced as an intermediary component between the CHP installation and the heat consumer. This buffer stores excess heat energy when production exceeds demand and releases stored heat when demand exceeds production, thereby decoupling the CHP operation from immediate heat demand and simplifying overall system management while maintaining high energy efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts operational parameters including CHP power output, buffer charge/discharge rates, and conventional heating unit operation based on real-time conditions. By changing these parameters adaptively, the system optimizes energy recovery while managing complexity through automated control rather than manual coordination.
2Reliability
If a buffer is introduced to store heat energy, then energy supply reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The buffer acts as a mediating energy storage component that simplifies the interaction between CHP and heat consumers. Rather than requiring complex real-time coordination between production and consumption, the buffer provides a straightforward store-and-release mechanism that improves reliability while adding only one additional component to the system.
Solution Approach 2:
The buffer pre-stores heat energy during periods of excess production before demand occurs. This preliminary action of storing energy in advance eliminates the need for complex real-time balancing and ensures reliable heat supply during high-demand periods without requiring sophisticated control systems.
3Reliability
If conventional heating units are added to ensure heat supply safety, then energy supply reliability is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The conventional heating unit is merged with the CHP installation and buffer system to form an integrated hybrid heating system. This combination allows the conventional unit to supplement CHP output when needed, providing reliable heat supply while sharing control and management infrastructure with the CHP system, thereby reducing overall complexity compared to completely separate systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the operational parameters of the conventional heating unit based on CHP output and heat demand conditions. By changing the conventional unit's operation from continuous to conditional/ supplemental mode, the system ensures reliability while minimizing the complexity and cost associated with operating an always-on backup system.
4Productivity
If CHP runs at moments of high electricity need, then electricity profit is improved, but heat supply may be insufficient when electricity need is low
Solution Approach 1:
The buffer serves as a mediating heat storage system that decouples electricity production timing from heat supply timing. When CHP operates during high-electricity-demand periods, excess heat is stored in the buffer. When electricity demand is low and CHP runs less, the buffer releases stored heat to meet demand, thereby allowing optimized electricity sales without compromising heat supply reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The buffer pre-stores heat energy during periods when CHP operates at high electricity output. This preliminary heat storage action ensures that heat supply needs are met later when electricity prices are lower and CHP operation is reduced, allowing the system to prioritize electricity profit without sacrificing heat supply adequacy.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a fuel control system for a local energy supplying and/or an energy consuming system. The local energy system comprises at least a first controllable electrical unit outputting electrical power and generating a first heat flux within a series of time periods, a controllable fuel powered heating unit for outputting a further heat flux within the series of time periods, a controllable heat buffer for storing the heat fluxes and outputting a fourth heat flux within the series of time periods and a heat flux user thermally coupled to the heat buffer.