عملیات آنلاین بهینه سیستم های μCHP مسکونی با استفاده از برنامه ریزی خطی

Environmental pressures have resulted in an increased importance being placed on the efficient production and consumption of energy. Micro combined heat and power (μCHP) technology has the potential to make an important contribution to make the transition to more sustainable energy systems since it is a highly efficient technology for generating both electricity and heat from a single fuel source. The conventional operation strategies for these technologies are pre-determined and either heat-led or electricity-led. This paper presents an optimal online operation strategy for μCHP systems, which is more efficient than the aforementioned conventional pre-determined operation strategies. A generic optimal online linear programming (LP) optimiser has been developed for operating a μCHP system. It is generic since it is applicable for any μCHP technology or demand profile. This optimiser is capable of minimising the daily operation costs of such a system. Three different simulation scenarios have been investigated: the new feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme; the trade of electricity; the introduction of a carbon tax. In all three investigated scenarios, the results show that the optimiser significantly reduces operation costs when compared to the conventional pre-determined operation strategies. As such, it is suggested that the optimiser has the potential to deliver significant energy savings in practice.

International drives towards increased energy efficiency have led to increased interests in μCHP technologies since they have the potential to deliver both electricity and heat from a single fuel source in a highly efficient manner. Many companies are developing this technology for residential applications based on either an internal combustion engine (ICE), a Stirling engine (SE) or a fuel cell (FC) [1]. For instance, Ceres Power is developing a 1.0 kWe solid oxide fuel cell that is expected to be ready for mass production by the middle of 2011 [2].

n the study presented in this paper, the operation of a μCHP unit, combined with a back-up heater and a thermal storage device for typical residential dwellings, has been evaluated. A generic online LP optimiser to determine the optimal operation of a μCHP system has been developed and evaluated. The optimiser has been formulated in a generic form to allow its use for any demand profile and for any μCHP technologies such as ICEs and SEs. This optimiser is capable of minimising the operation costs of such systems. Three different simulation scenarios have been investigated to evaluate the performance of the online optimiser: the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme, electricity trading and the introduction of a carbon tax.