Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Experimental investigation on the dynamic thermal performance of

the parallel solar-assisted air-source heat pump latent heat thermal
energy storage system
Xin Jin , Huihui Zhang , Gongsheng Huang , Alvin CK. Lai *
Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Ave, Kowloon, Hong Kong

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this study, a dual-source solar-heat pump latent heat thermal energy storage system for hot-water
Received 17 December 2020 supply was proposed to take advantage of renewable energy sources. An experimental setup mainly
Received in revised form consisting of a solar heat collector with a gross area of 2 m2 and an air-source heat pump with a
10 August 2021
maximum capacity of 2 kW was established to evaluate the adaptability of the phase-change material to
Accepted 18 August 2021
the solar-heat pump and the feasibility of the heating system. A comparative study was carried out to
Available online 26 August 2021
investigate the effects of the operation modes on the system thermal performance and explore optimal
operating parameters. Compared to the single heating mode, the overall efficiency of the system was
Keywords:
Solar-heat pump
enhanced by about 57.5% under the combined heating mode due to the introduction of solar energy. The
Latent heat thermal energy storage coefficient of performance of the heat pump significantly increased from 2.09 to 2.60 when the flow rate
Phase-change material increased from 0.010 L/s to 0.038 L/s. However, an increase in the flow rate could not significantly
Dynamic thermal performance improve the overall efficiency of the entire heating system due to the higher power consumption of the
Energy efficiency pump. The storage unit exhibits a great storage density of about 211.13 MJ/m3 with a volume saving rate
of 21%.
© 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction
Building sectors occupied about 50% of the total energy con-
sumption and 30% of the carbon dioxide generation in the devel-
oped countries [1]. The building energy consumption will keep
growing by nearly 1.5% per year from 2012 to 2040 [2]. Thereinto,
the heating loads, including space heating and domestic hot water,
account for a large percentage of the total building energy profile
and are highly covered by fossil fuels [3e5]. To reduce this large
amount of non-renewable energy consumption, solar thermal en-
ergy application has rapidly grown in the heating supply market. It
is reported that one solar water heater can indirectly reduce over 50
tons of greenhouse gas emissions during a 20-year lifetime [6]. To
fix the volatile heat generation of the solar water heater, dual-
source heating equipment integrated with the storage technique
has been introduced [7,8]. In response to the highly intermittent
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: cindyjin2-c@my.cityu.edu.hk (X. Jin), hhzhang6-c@my.cityu.
edu.hk (H. Zhang), gongsheng.huang@cityu.edu.hk (G. Huang), alvinlai@cityu.edu.
hk (A.CK. Lai).
solar energy, the heat pump (HP) deployment is an effective solu-
tion to supply heat during weak solar intensity periods. As a
renewable energy harvest supplier, the air to water heat pump
(AWHP) can be widely utilized for hot water production in the
building sector due to its environmentally friendly characteristic
and high efficiency [9]. The solar heat collector (SHC) and the
AWHP collect heat from renewable sources and deliver it to the
thermal energy storage (TES) tank or the end-users through the
heat transfer fluid (HTF) [10]. The TES unit is designed to balance
the mismatch between the supply and the demand [11]. Besides,
combining the HP with the TES unit can avoid the frequent on/off
cycles of the HP during the peak consumption period.
The latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) is a promising
TES technique due to the high energy storage density and nearly
isothermal phase-transition temperature of the phase-change
material (PCM) [12]. These advantages of the PCM can efficiently
reduce the storage tank volume or increase the storage capacity in
comparison with the sensible TES devices. To be a suitable PCM
used in the heating system, properties should be possessed: (1)
phase-change temperature within the operation demand; (2) high
phase-change enthalpy per volume; and (3) large storage density.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.08.067
0960-1481/© 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al. Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657

Nomenclature Abbreviation
AWHP air to water heat pump
A area (m2) COP coefficient of performance
Cp specific heat capacity (kJ/kg$K) CPCM composite phase-change material
D storage density (MJ/m3) HP heat pump
f solar fraction HTF heat transfer fluid
H enthalpy (kJ/kg) LHTES latent heat thermal energy storage
I solar irradiation intensity (kW/m2) PCM phase-change material
J daily solar radiation (kJ/m2$d) SATKU sodium acetate trihydrate-potassium chloride-urea
m mass (kg) SHC solar heat collector
Q thermal energy (kWh) SHP solar-heat pump
t time (s) TES thermal energy storage
T temperature (
C)
U uncertainty Subscripts
V volume (m3) a average
V_ volume flow rate (m3/s) d daily
_
W power consumption (kW) e end
i inlet
Greek symbols l liquid
h efficiency m melting
f volume saving rate o outlet
u PCM fraction s solid
r density (kg/m3) st start
sys system

Due to the maximum temperature limitation of the AWHP and the
heat requirement of end-users, the recommended melting tem-
perature of the selected PCM is within the range of 45e48
C [13].
Among the existing PCMs developed for the AWHP, sodium acetate
trihydrate-potassium chloride-urea (SATKU) composite phase-
change material (CPCM) shows the desired melting point and a
relatively larger latent heat of fusion. However, the actual perfor-
mance of the HP LHTES system containing the SATKU CPCM as the
potential storage medium has not been investigated yet.
Some promising studies have been reported about the thermal
performance of the LHTES system. Zhang et al. conducted the
optimization of the discharging performance of an LHTES unit
based on the bionic design method [14]. The fractal tree structure
led to a faster solidification rate of the storage unit. Li et al.
numerically studied the impact of the charging flow rate on the
charging completion time of the AWHP PCM storage system [15].
With the fixed stored thermal energy demand, the charging
completion time decreased with the increase of the water flow rate.
Lin et al. studied the charging and discharging performance of the
multi-flow channel latent heat exchanger at different working fluid
flow rates [16]. Under the nearly constant inlet temperature, the
higher flow rate induced an increment in the average heat transfer
power and a decrement in the total energy. Wu et al. experimen-
tally investigated the heat exchange characteristic of a PCM unit
operating as a condenser of the AWHP [17]. Under the constant
source temperature, the main factors influencing the discharging
performance of the heat exchanger are the pipeline configuration,
the inlet HTF flow rate, and the phase-change temperature. Zou
et al. experimentally compared the performance between the
AWHP combined with an LHTES tank and the conventional water
heater in conjunction with a sensible TES tank [18]. Even though
the gross volume of the LHTES tank was increased, the heat storage
was improved by 14%, and the corresponding coefficient of per-
formance (COP) of the HP was enhanced. Long et al. developed an
AWHP heating system using paraffin (melting point: 56.03
C) as
the latent heat storage medium to take advantage of the off-peak
electricity strategy [19]. The system showed a good performance
as a promising hot water producer concerning the HP pressure,
input power, and stored/released thermal energy of the LHTES unit.
Bayomy et al. numerically predicted the thermal performance of a
domestic hot water LHTES tank (melting point: 36.4
C) operating
under the source temperature of 50
C by quantifying the heat
storage efficiency and the outlet water temperature [20]. The re-
sults revealed that the storage efficiency increased with the greater
end-user demand. Kumar and Mylsamy experimentally evaluated
the thermal performance of the SHC integrated with different
PCMs, referring to energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, and the
discharging water temperature [21]. In comparison with the sen-
sible storage unit with the same volume, the hot water duration of
the LHTES tank was extended.
It is summarized from previous studies that the thermal per-
formance of the heating system highly depends on the design and
operating parameters. However, the investigations mainly focus on
the single latent heat exchanger rather than the coupled heating
system or remain at the constant heat-source temperature level.
Limited research has been carried out regarding the integration of
the PCM with both the HP and SHC. The feasibility of applying the
latent heat storage medium in the solar-heat pump (SHP) heating
system has seldom been conducted. Likewise, the performance of
the dual-source water heater coupled with the LHTES unit in terms
of the dynamic thermal behavior and the efficiency of energy uti-
lization has not been evaluated yet. Hence, the impacts of the PCM
integration and the operating conditions on the dynamic thermal
performance of the SHP heating system need to be systematically
investigated.
To reduce the reliance on fossil fuels, it is significant to combine
the SHC and the HP with the LHTES technique and develop an SHP
LHTES system for heat supply. In this study, to investigate the
feasibility of integrating the LHTES technique with SHP, an exper-
imental setup of the SHP heating system containing the SATKU as
the latent heat storage medium was built up. The experimental
investigation was conducted to evaluate the compatibility of the
PCM to the heating devices. As the thermal performance of the
system highly relies on the operating conditions, a comparative

638
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al.
study was carried out to assess the impacts of the flow rate and
supply water temperature on the thermal characteristics of the
dual-source heating system. Moreover, the system performance
regarding energy efficiency, power consumption, and temperature
variation under different operation modes was compared. The
optimal operating parameters that result in a higher energy-
efficient potential of the heat collection system were then
analyzed and discussed.
2. Material and methods
2.1. System configuration
A test stand was established to evaluate the practical thermal
performance of the SHP LHTES system containing a novel PCM as
the latent heat storage medium. The schematic diagram of the
system prototype, mainly including an SHC LHTES circuit and an HP
LHTES circuit, is shown in Fig. 1. The test rig primarily contains a flat
plate collector, an AWHP, an LHTES unit, a buffer water tank, water
pumps, and flowmeters. The SHP LHTES module was designed to
produce domestic hot water for a single unit, in which a typical
daily hot water consumption was projected to be 50 L. With a larger
hot water demand, the module size could be enlarged in double, or
several system modules could be jointed in series or parallel con-
nections. The initial temperature of the water source was equal to
20
C.
The design collecting area of the solar water heating system was
decided according to the following equation [22]:

the HTF uniformly distributed in its flow direction. The operation
A ¼ Vd Cp;HTF rHTF ðTe  Tst Þf Ja ha ð1  hloss Þ (1)
where Vd is the design daily hot water consumption, and f is the
solar fraction, recommended to be 30%e80%. rHTF and Cp;HTF are the
density and specific heat of HTF, respectively. Ja is corresponding to
the annual average daily solar radiation on the collector surface of
the local site. ha is the annual average efficiency of the collector,
usually set to be 45%e50%. hloss is the heat loss rate of the collector
system, and the empirical value is set at 15%e30%.
The design heat production of the air-source HP unit was
calculated as follows:
. maximum power of 1 kW each were installed parallel to the SHC.
Q_ ¼ KVd Cp;HTF rHTF ðTe  Tst Þð1  f Þ t (2)
where K is the safety factor, assumed at 1.0e1.05, and t is the design
operation time.
The volume of the LHTES unit was estimated by the formula
given below:
Q
VLHTES ¼ h i
ð1  uÞCp;HTF rHTF ðTe  Tst Þ þ urPCM Cp;s ðTm  Tst Þ þ Cp;l ðTe  Tm Þ þ Hm
where V and u are the unit volume and the PCM volume fraction,
respectively. rPCM and Hm are the density and the phase-change
enthalpy of the latent heat storage medium, respectively.
The amount of the latent heat storage medium was computed
by:
mPCM ¼ uVLHTES rPCM (4)
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Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657
The system configurations were then determined based on the
above estimations and the product specifications. The detailed in-
formation of the main compositions of the experimental test rig is
listed in Table 1.
The flow rate range of the solar circulation loop was determined
based on the following equation:
V_ SHC ¼ V_ per unit ASHC (5)
where V_ per unit is the volume flow rate of the working fluid corre-
sponding to the per-unit aperture area of the collector, and the
empirical value is usually set to be 15e20 mL/(s∙m2) [23].
The flow rate range of the air-source HP circulation loop was
estimated as follows:

V_ HP ¼ Q_ Cp;HTF rHTF DT (6)
where DT is the water temperature rise by the HP unit during
heating, assumed at 5.0e8.0 K.
Based on the above estimations and the practical operation
manual of the heating device provided by the manufacturer, the
flow rate value ranging from 0.010 L/s to 0.038 L/s was selected in
the experiment. To conduct the comparative measurement, the
system was tested in an environment-controlled chamber, taking
advantage of its controllable and repetitive operating conditions.
Regarding the indoor experimental test, the following assumptions
were made [28]: (a) ambient environment kept consistent during
the test, (b) isolation was considered stable at the initial setting, (c)
principles of each mode are described in the following sections.
2.2. Solar-heat pump latent heat thermal energy storage system
test
2.2.1. Solar heat collector latent heat thermal energy storage mode
test
In the SHC LHTES mode, the tungsten-halogen lamp was used as
the solar simulator due to its resembling infrared spectral distri-
bution to sunlight and the low price [24,25]. Solar simulators with a
During the charging process, the solar simulator array was kept
running to provide irradiance for the SHC. The average irradiance
received by the SHC was approximately 0.83 kW/m2, following the
test conditions recommended and outlined in studies [24e27].
Meanwhile, the circulating HTF was pumped to the SHC and then
reversely flowed back to the LHTES unit to transfer the thermal
energy to the storage medium continuously. During the discharging
(3)
process, the tungsten halogen lamps were turned off, and the main
water was delivered to the LHTES unit for extracting the stored
thermal energy.
2.2.2. Heat pump latent heat thermal energy storage mode test
A conventional AWHP was considered as the second heat source
that could work during the low-radiation periods. The low-grade
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al. Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657

Fig. 1. (a) The picture of the solar-heat pump (SHP) latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) system test rig and (b) the schematic diagram of the system configuration.

640
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al.
Table 1
Information on the main components of the SHP LHTES system.
Equipment Information
Solar heat collector (SHC) Manufacturer
Type
Gross area
Heat pump (HP) Manufacturer
Type
Refrigerant
Heating capacity
COP
Maximum load
Condenser
Evaporator
Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) unit Manufacturer
Type
Solar simulator Manufacturer
Type
Water pump Manufacturer
Type
Frequency converter Manufacturer
Type
Insulation layer Manufacturer
Type
thermal energy from the ambient environment was absorbed by
the evaporator and then released to the liquid stream through the
condenser. The charging process was kept driving until the high-
pressure protection mechanism of the HP was activated. After-
ward, the discharging loop was started by regulating the three-way
valve. Similar to the SHC LHTES mode, the city water was then
introduced to the LHTES heat exchanger.
2.2.3. Solar-heat pump latent heat thermal energy storage mode
test
The dual-source heating system is a hybrid apparatus in which
the heat can be collected from both the solar source and the at-
mosphere. In this combined operation mode, the dual-source
heating equipment was connected in parallel. The operating pa-
rameters and test conditions were identical to those of the above-
mentioned single heating modes. The circulating working fluid
was heated by the SHC and the HP simultaneously and then flowed
to the storage unit for heat exchange. The fluid worked as a high-
temperature heat source and rejected the heat to the storage me-
dium. The unit outlet liquid stream further flowed back to the
heating devices to achieve a complete working cycle. During the
charging period, both the solar simulator and the compressor were
kept running. The charging process maintained activating until the
over-load cut-out of the HP occurred.
2.3. Latent heat thermal energy storage unit
The schematic diagrams of the LHTES tank and the built-in
stainless-steel tube for PCM are shown in Fig. 2. The vertically
designed shell and tube type heat exchanger owns good effec-
tiveness and can be easily manufactured [29]. The SATKU CPCM was
prepared by the melt-blending method, and further details are
given elsewhere [13]. The PCM was fully melted to the liquid state
by heating in the thermostat and then slowly poured into the tailor-
made tube, as shown in Fig. 2(a). The heating and cooling cycles
were performed for the PCM tubes, and the PCM was continuously
added to the tube to ensure the trapped air in the PCM disappeared.
About 9 kg PCMs were encapsulated in eighteen tubes, which were
evenly integrated into the thermal storage unit. The unit was
assembled by the nitrile butadiene rubber insulation layer to
reduce the heat loss.
To capture a transient heat exchange process, a real-time
641
Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657
Dongguan Tegu New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.
Flat plate collector
2.0 m2
P.A.Hilton Ltd.
Air to water heat pump (AWHP)
Tetrafluoro ethane, CH2FCF3 (R134a).
2 kW
2e4
0.5 kW
Flat plate water-cooled condenser
Continuous tube-externally finned-copper/aluminum galvanized steel construction
Hailing Yanan Hardware Store
Shell and tube heat exchanger
Shanghai Tingmei electronic commerce Co., Ltd.
QVF13
Flojet Co., Ltd.
PT416916
Xuzhou Rlpe Automation Control Equipment Co., Ltd.
AT2-0.75
Xiamen Lianyou Network Technology Co., Ltd.
Nitrile butadiene rubber
measurement was adopted. Four thermocouples were fixed at the
entrances and exits of both the condenser and SHC, respectively, to
monitor the temperature fluctuation of the coming and exiting HTF
of the heating equipment during the charging process. The power
consumption profiles of the AWHP and the water pump were log-
ged through the power quality analyzer during the operation
period. The temperature distribution of the LHTES tank was
continuously recorded via the probes during the endothermic and
exothermic processes. The average temperature of the PCM in three
tubes located at different radius was selected to represent the
overall temperature evolution of the latent heat storage medium.
Four thermocouples were inserted in the multilayers of the PCM in
each cylindrical tube, as plotted in Fig. 3. Meanwhile, the temper-
ature variation of the working fluid surrounding the PCM tubes at
the same height level was simultaneously monitored via the ther-
mal probes. Data profiles were obtained through the data acquisi-
tion recorders at intervals of 30 s. The flow rate of HTF was
monitored through the variable area flowmeter and adjusted by the
frequency converter. The parameters and accuracies of the main
fabricated devices are tabulated in Table 2.
2.4. Data processing for the solar-heat pump latent heat thermal
energy storage system test
The total accumulated thermal energy delivered by the LHTES
unit was estimated as [16]:
tðe ,
 
QLHTES ¼ V_ HTF rHTF Cp;HTF TLHTES;o  TLHTES;i dt 3600 (7)
tst
where V_ HTF is the volume flow rate of HTF. TLHTES;i and TLHTES;o are
the coming and exiting temperatures of the LHTES unit, respec-
tively. tst and te are the time corresponding to the start and end of
the procedure, respectively.
The total accumulated thermal energy produced by the SHC,
QSHC , was computed as:
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al. Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657

Fig. 2. (a) The picture of the LHTES unit prototype and the schematic diagrams of the (b) phase-change material (PCM) tube and (c) the LHTES unit.

642
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al. Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657

The thermal energy efficiency of the SHC, hSHC , was calculated

using:
 
V_ HTF rHTF Cp;HTF TSHC;o  TSHC;i
hSHC ¼ (10)
ASHC I

where A is the total effective area of the SHC, and I is the solar
irradiation intensity.
The total accumulated thermal energy transferred to the liquid
stream flowing through the HP, QHP , was expressed as:

tðe ,
 
QHP ¼ V_ HTF rHTF Cp;HTF THP;o  THP;i dt 3600 (11)
tst

where THP;i and THP;o are the HTF temperature of the HP at the inlet
and outlet, respectively.
The average heat exchange power of the HP, Q_ , was given by: HP

tðe
1  
Q_ HP ¼ V_ HTF rHTF Cp;HTF THP;o  THP;i dt (12)
ðte  tst Þ
tst
Fig. 3. Location of measured points in the LHTES unit.
The COP of the HP was obtained by:
 
V_ HTF rHTF Cp;HTF THP;o  THP;i
COP ¼ (13)
W_ HP
tðe ,
  _ HP is the electric power consumed by the HP.
QSHC ¼ V_ HTF rHTF Cp;HTF TSHC;o  TSHC;i dt 3600 (8) where W
tst
The efficiency of the HP LHTES system, hHP;sys , was determined
by the following equation:
where TSHC;i and TSHC;o are coming and exiting HTF temperatures of  
the SHC, respectively. V_ HTF rHTF Cp;HTF THP;o  THP;i
hHP;sys ¼ (14)
The average heat exchange power of the SHC, Q_ , was ob- SHC W _ þW _ pump
HP
tained by:
where W_ pump is the power profile of the circulating pump.
tðe The overall efficiency of the SHP LHTES system, hSHP;sys , was
1  
Q_ SHC ¼ V_ HTF rHTF Cp;HTF TSHC;o  TSHC;i dt (9) determined by the following equation:
ðte  tst Þ
tst

   
V_ HTF rHTF Cp;HTF TSHC;o  TSHC;i þ V_ HTF rHTF Cp;HTF THP;o  THP;i
hSHP;sys ¼ _ P _ (15)
W þ W
HP pump

Table 2
Detailed parameters of other fabricated devices.

Instruments Manufacturer Type Accuracy

Power quality analyzer Fluke Co., Ltd. 43B ±2.0%

Temperature recorder Lutron Electronic Enterprise Co., Ltd. BTM-4208SD ±0.1%
Precision hygrometer Lutron Electronic Enterprise Co., Ltd. HT-3027SD ±0.4%
Flowmeter MPB Industries Ltd. 1200 ±2.0%
Solar power meter Lutron Electronic Enterprise Co., Ltd. SPM-1116SD ±5.0%
Thermocouple Shanghai Yulai Instruments & Apparatuses Co., Ltd. K-type ±0.4%

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X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al. Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657

Fig. 4. Temperature evolution of the water with different charging flow rates: (a) 0.038 L/s, (b) 0.030 L/s, (c) 0.020 L/s, and (d) 0.010 L/s.

Fig. 5. Temperature evolution of the PCM with different charging flow rates: (a) 0.038 L/s, (b) 0.030 L/s, (c) 0.020 L/s, and (d) 0.010 L/s.

644
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al.
3. Results and discussions
A prototype of the SHP water heating system combined with the
LHTES technique was established in the present study. A series of
experimental tests were conducted to investigate the compatibility
of the PCM to the SHP water heater and evaluate the impacts of the
operating conditions on the dynamic thermal performance of the
system. The system thermal behavior under different heating
modes was characterized through the energy charging and dis-
charging processes. The optimal operating parameters were further
analyzed by the system performance comparison related to the
storage medium temperature evolution, the overall efficiency, the
thermal output, the recovered energy, and the power consumption
among different scenarios. The important results of the experi-
mental investigation are presented in the following sections.
3.1. The thermal energy performance of the solar heat collector
latent heat thermal energy storage mode
3.1.1. Water and phase-change material temperature variation in
the charging process
The water temperature variation of each layer of the LHTES unit
at the given charging flow rates of 0.010 L/s, 0.020 L/s, 0.030 L/s, and
0.038 L/s under the single SHC heating mode is illustrated in Fig. 4.
The SHC produced heat by absorbing the simulant light source
during the charging process. The heat was then collected by the
HTF running in tubes attached to the plate, resulting in an incre-
ment of the HTF temperature. It can be seen that the stratification
phenomenon existed within the storage tank for all flow rates. A
clearer distinction between each layer was found in the scenarios
flow rate lower than 0.020 L/s. The rate of increase in temperature
of the upper test point rose as the flow rate decreased, while it
showed a reverse trend for the water located at the bottom layer.
For the flow rate of 0.010 L/s, the highest temperature of the upper
layer could reach up to 65.7
C. However, the final temperature of
the bottom layer was only 58.9
C. The largest temperature differ-
ence between the upper and bottom layers was 18.4 K, while the
corresponding variation was 4.2 K for the flow rate of 0.038 L/s. It
was observed that the lower flow rate of HTF facilitated the strat-
ification phenomenon.
Fig. 5 illustrates the temperature distribution of the PCM varying
with different charging flow rates. The charging process of the PCM
Fig. 6. The efficiency of the SHC with different flow rates against time.
645
Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657
Fig. 7. Total accumulated charging energy and average power of the SHC with different
flow rates.
can be divided into three stages: (1) sensible pre-heating stage, (2)
latent heating stage, and (3) sensible super-heating stage. The PCM
temperature grew rapidly at the first stage, in which only the
sensible heat of the solid phase was stored. After reaching the onset
melting temperature of the PCM (47.3
C), an endothermic platform
appeared in each temperature curve, indicating that the phase-
change process was started. The charging energy was then absor-
bed and mainly stored as the latent heat thermal energy of the
storage medium. As a result, the temperature rising rate became
relatively lower during the solid-liquid phase-change period. The
third stage took place when the temperature rose to the end
melting point. At the final stage, the PCM temperature grew faster
again and stored the thermal energy in the sensible heat of the
liquid phase. It can be observed that the top layer of the PCM took
the least time to reach both the onset melting point and the end
melting point among all testing layers. This phenomenon may be
driven by the larger temperature gap between the storage medium
and the environment at the unit top layer and the buoyancy effect
[30]. In contrast, the bottom layer underwent the longest phase-
change duration due to the lower environmental medium
temperature.
The temperature driving potential between the LHTES medium
and the HTF significantly affects the heat transfer performance [31].
The temperature difference between the PCM and the water in the
top layer maintained a higher level at the flow rate of 0.010 L/s,
which accelerated the heat absorption of the heated PCM and led to
a faster temperature growth for the upper part of the PCM. The final
temperatures of the PCM in the upper layer were 65
C and 62
C,
concerning the flow rates of 0.010 L/s and 0.038 L/s, respectively.
The temperature difference between each layer became larger as
the HTF flow rate decreased. This may be attributed to the more
obvious stratification phenomenon of the unit working with a
lower flow rate. Therefore, the temperature-increasing rate of the
PCM at the bottom layer for the flow rate of 0.010 L/s was much
lower than other groups. It can be found that the bottom PCM
reached a maximum temperature of 55
C for the flow rate of
0.038 L/s, while only 50
C was observed for the flow rate of 0.010 L/
s. It indicates that the higher flow rates mitigate the stratifications
of both the PCM and the water.
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al.
Fig. 8. Temperature evolution of the PCM with different discharging flow rates: (a) 0.038 L/s, (b) 0.030 L/s, (c) 0.020 L/s, and (d) 0.010 L/s.
3.1.2. Instantaneous efficiency and charging energy in the charging
process
The efficiency versus time profiles of the SHC working with
different flow rates are depicted in Fig. 6. The instantaneous effi-
ciency decreased with time due to the source temperature varia-
tion. The higher supply water temperature may induce a decrease
in the efficiency of the heating device. The efficiency of the SHC was
slightly enhanced as the working fluid flow rate increased within
the investigation range. The variation became smaller since the
flow rate increased to 0.020 L/s. The SHC outlet temperature with
the lower flow rate was much larger than that of the higher flow
rate because of the longer residence of the HTF in the SHC. How-
ever, the HTF was exposed to the radiation for a longer time. It thus
triggered more convection and radiation heat loss to the ambient
environment, which may result in a decrease in the efficiency of the
SHC [32,33]. Fig. 7 shows the accumulated thermal energy and the
average power collected from the SHC at different charging flow
rates. The heat produced by the SHC was observed to slightly rise
with the flow rate increase may due to the increasing convective
heat transfer coefficient between the finned heat exchanger and the
HTF and less heat loss [34].
3.1.3. Phase-change material and water temperature variation in
the discharging process
Fig. 8 shows the PCM temperature variation, varying with the
HTF flow rate during the discharging period. At the first cooling
stage, the PCM temperature rapidly decreased to release the stored
sensible thermal energy. Then, the temperature gradient suddenly
reduced, and an exothermic platform appeared at the turning point
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Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657
of around 47
C, illustrating that the crystallization of the PCM
occurred. It can be found that the exothermic plateau of the PCM in
the upper layer was wider than that of the bottom layer. The
accelerated solidification of the bottom PCM results from the larger
temperature gap between the latent heat storage medium and the
environment. The late response of the upper layer was more
obvious for the flow rate of 0.010 L/s. This, in turn, the PCM in the
upper layer displayed a more stable exothermic platform and a
longer constant-temperature period of about 30 min. Moreover, the
crystallization process took place faster with a higher discharging
flow rate. This may refer to the accelerated heat transfer and the
increasing mass of the inlet city water at the higher flow rate [16].
Besides, it can be seen that the endothermic process took much
longer than the exothermic one since the discharging temperature
difference is larger than the charging temperature difference [35].
Fig. 9 depicts the outlet HTF temperature profiles of the LHTES
unit with various discharging flow rates. It is observed that the
temperature of the drain water from the LHTES unit gradually
decreased with time. All temperature curves displayed a turning
point at around 45
C, after which the inclination rate of the tem-
perature curve showed a decreasing trend. The PCM solidified at a
nearly constant temperature and released the stored latent heat to
the inlet city water [36]. At the higher flow rate, the discharging
period became shorter. The valid periods of the outlet water
exceeded 40 min and 110 min for the flow rates of 0.038 L/s and
0.010 L/s, respectively.
3.1.4. Discharging energy in the discharging process
The accumulated thermal energy and the average power
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al.
Fig. 9. Temperature evolution of the outlet water with different discharging flow rates: (a) 0.038 L/s, (b) 0.030 L/s, (c) 0.020 L/s, and (d) 0.010 L/s.
Fig. 10. Total accumulated discharging energy and average power of the LHTES unit
with different flow rates.
released from the LHTES unit are shown in Fig. 10. The cumulative
recovered energy of the LHTES unit lay within the range of
1.81 kWh to 1.94 kWh. The average released power revealed an
increasing tendency as the flow rate increased, ranging from
0.76 kW to 1.46 kW. The increment results in the faster heat ex-
change with a higher discharging flow rate. However, a reversed
tendency was observed in the total discharging energy. The stored
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Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657
thermal energy could not be inadequately supplied to the main
water at the higher flow rate may owing to the large thermal
resistance of the storage medium [16].
3.2. The thermal energy performance of the heat pump latent heat
thermal energy storage mode
3.2.1. Water and phase-change material temperature variation in
the charging process
The temperature evolutions of the water in the scenarios
working with different charging flow rates under the single HP
heating mode are shown in Fig. 11. The profiles showed a similar
trend with the temperature curves presented in Fig. 4. The strati-
fication phenomenon became more apparent as the charging flow
rate decreased. At the early stage, a higher temperature rising rate
of the top testing point was observed for the lower HTF flow rate
groups of 0.010 L/s and 0.020 L/s due to the higher temperature at
the condenser outlet. However, the duration was prolonged for the
bottom point to reach the same target value at the lower flow rate.
In addition, the HP compressor was automatically switched off as
the condenser pressure rose above approximately 1700 kN m2
gauge. The lower HTF flow rate led to the overloaded compressor,
thus accelerating the high-pressure cut-out of the HP.
Fig. 12 presents the PCM temperature variation during the
charging process, differing from the inlet HTF flow rates. It was
observed that the upper part of the PCM took less time to accom-
plish the phase-change process due to the stratification phenom-
enon. Besides, the higher HTF flow rate resulted in a larger liquid
fraction of the PCM. Due to the early thermal cut-out, the PCM
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al. Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657

Fig. 11. Temperature evolution of the water with different charging flow rates: (a) 0.038 L/s, (b) 0.030 L/s, (c) 0.020 L/s, and (d) 0.010 L/s.

Fig. 12. Temperature evolution of the PCM with different charging flow rates: (a) 0.038 L/s, (b) 0.030 L/s, (c) 0.020 L/s, and (d) 0.010 L/s.

648
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al.
Fig. 13. (a) The COP, (b) the power consumption of the HP, (c) the efficiency, and (d) the power consumption of the HP LHTES system with different flow rates against time.
Fig. 14. Total accumulative charging energy and average power of the HP with
different flow rates.
could not complete the phase transition when the HTF flow rate
was lower than 0.030 L/s. As observed, the maximum PCM tem-
perature in the bottom part reached about 52
C at the flow rate of
0.038 L/s. In contrast, it was limited to 42
C at the flow rate of
0.010 L/s. Only the PCM located at the first test point position could
reach the super-heating stage before the high-pressure cut-out at
the flow rates of 0.020 L/s and 0.030 L/s. The charging phase of the
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Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657
PCM was mainly worked as the sensible heat at the lower flow rate
of 0.010 L/s.
3.2.2. Instantaneous efficiency and charging energy in the charging
process
Fig. 13(a) and (b) depict the instantaneous COP and the power
consumption of the HP versus time with different flow rates. As
observed, the instantaneous COP got the peak value initially and
then decreased by about 40% at the end of the heating process. The
COP exhibited a decreasing trend due to the growth of the HP inlet
HTF temperature [37e39]. Also, the COP of the HP reduced with the
decrease in the HTF flow rate. The average COP at the HTF flow rates
of 0.010 L/s and 0.038 L/s were recorded as 2.09 and 2.60, respec-
tively. On the contrary, the power drawn by the HP rose with the
increasing inlet temperature, as well as with the decreasing flow
rate. The overall efficiency variation with the flow rate showed the
same trend as that of the COP. The average efficiency of the HP
LHTES system working at the HTF flow rates of 0.010 L/s and
0.038 L/s were 1.97 and 2.27, respectively. However, the total power
consumed by the HP heating system decreased first and then
increased with the increase in the flow rate. Therefore, the effi-
ciency increment caused by the higher flow rate became slight
compared to that of the COP due to the increasing total power
consumption of the system at higher flow rate levels.
Fig. 14 presents the accumulative charging energy and average
power of the HP working at different flow rates. The accumulated
charging energy transferred to the HTF increased as the flow rate
increased, which may be caused by the appreciable growth of the
heat transfer ability and less heat loss. The average heat exchange
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al.
Fig. 15. Temperature evolution of the PCM with different discharging flow rates: (a) 0.038 L/s, (b) 0.030 L/s, (c) 0.020 L/s, and (d) 0.010 L/s.
power of the HP was enhanced by about 0.16 kW, with the charging
flow rate varying from 0.010 L/s to 0.038 L/s. It can also be seen that
the cases charging at the flow rate of 0.010 L/s to 0.020 L/s might
not satisfy a large thermal energy demand within the single heating
operation. The HP needs to restart for accomplishing the same heat
storage, which results in the frequent switch of the equipment.
Therefore, the operation problems related to the HP repeated start-
stops might emerge when the operating flow rate is low.
3.2.3. Phase-change material and water temperature variation in
the discharging process
Fig. 15 depicts the temperature variation of the PCM differing
from flow rates during the discharging process. The slope of all
temperature curves was observed to decrease at the inflection
point of about 47e50
C, at which the PCM was beginning to so-
lidify. After releasing the latent heat, the PCM temperature
decreased rapidly again as only the sensible heat was transferred to
the incoming HTF at the final cooling stage. The PCM at the upper
layer displayed a more stable exothermic platform, which exceeded
20 min at the discharging flow rate of 0.020 L/s. The constant
temperature period was relatively shorter for the PCM at the bot-
tom layer. In addition, the higher flow rate is effective in shortening
the discharging time of the PCM. The discharging process running
with a higher flow rate of 0.038 L/s was completed around 20 min
earlier than that of the scenario working with a lower flow rate of
0.020 L/s.
The temperature evolution of the drain water from the LHTES
unit is shown in Fig. 16. As the flow rate increased, the outlet water
temperature decreased more rapidly. The effective duration of the
outlet water was approximately 30 min and 48 min after being
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Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657
discharged with the flow rates of 0.038 L/s and 0.020 L/s, respec-
tively. The turning point in the temperature curves of the dis-
charging water occurred within the range of 40
Ce50
C.
3.2.4. Discharging energy in the discharging process
The recovered energy and the average power of each discharg-
ing test for the HP LHTES mode are presented in Fig. 17. It can be
found that the average heat exchange power of the LHTES unit went
up as the discharging flow rate increased. This is related to the fact
that the heat transfer was accelerated with the higher flow rate of
the working fluid. However, the cumulative recovered energy was
decreased as the flow rate increased may due to the large thermal
resistance laid in the PCM.
3.3. The thermal energy performance of the solar-heat pump latent
heat thermal energy storage mode
3.3.1. Water and phase-change material temperature variation in
the charging process
The water temperature of the LHTES unit varying with different
flow rates under the SHP operation mode is compared in Fig. 18. The
temperature evolution curves showed a similar tendency as the
single charging mode. Nevertheless, the temperature rising rate
under the combined heating mode was significantly higher than
the single heating mode. Compared to the SHC heating mode, the
time taken for the average temperature to increase to 50
C was
declined by about 63.2% at the flow rate of 0.038 L/s under the SHP
heating mode. The stratification phenomenon existed under all
flow rate scenarios, and the temperature difference between
different layers became smaller since the flow rate increased. As
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al.
Fig. 16. Temperature evolution of the outlet water with different discharging flow rates: (a) 0.038 L/s, (b) 0.030 L/s, (c) 0.020 L/s, and (d) 0.010 L/s.
Fig. 17. Total accumulated discharging energy and average power of the LHTES unit
with different flow rates.
can be observed, the high-pressure cut-out was advanced due to
the rapid temperature increment compared to the single HP heat-
ing mode.
The temperature evolution of the latent heat storage medium,
differing from various flow rates under the combined heating
mode, is shown in Fig. 19. The temperature increased quickly in the
sensible heat charging stage, and the growth rate became lower
during the latent heat charging stage. The temperature curves
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Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657
showed an inflection point of about 47
C, at which the PCM started
to melt. The PCM temperature measured at the top testing point
increased faster for all scenarios due to the larger heating driving
force and the density gradients [40]. In addition, the temperature of
the storage medium at the tube bottom increased faster at higher
flow rates. A more uniform temperature distribution along the tube
direction was observed at the flow rate of 0.038 L/s. This indicates
that the stratification phenomenon was aggravated when charging
by the lower flow rate. Compared to the single heating mode, the
PCM temperature grew faster under the dual-source heating mode.
The duration taken for the bottom storage medium to reach the
phase-change stage was reduced by about 51.6% at the charging
flow rate of 0.020 L/s. The liquid sensible-heat charging period was
not exhibited in each test point owing to the relatively inadequate
charging. The charging performance might be limited by the heat
transfer resistance of the LHTES unit, which was mainly caused by
the PCM [16,41,42]. Due to the lower heat transfer ability of the
LHTES unit, the heat absorbing was insufficient before the system
shut down. To achieve enhanced charging energy, the heat transfer
efficiency of the LHTES tank still requires further improvement.
3.3.2. Instantaneous efficiency and charging energy in the charging
process
The instantaneous efficiency profiles of each heating device and
the entire dual-source heating system are presented in Fig. 20. Due
to the rapid increase of the inlet HTF temperature, the decreasing
rate of the SHC efficiency and the HP COP became larger in com-
parison with the single heating mode. The time taken for the same
efficiency drop was shortened to around 50% when switching to the
dual-source heating mode. Like the single HP heating mode, an
improvement in the HP COP was found by increasing the flow rate
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al.
Fig. 18. Temperature evolution of the water with different charging flow rates: (a) 0.038 L/s, (b) 0.030 L/s, (c) 0.020 L/s, and (d) 0.010 L/s.
under the combined heating mode. The average COP was enhanced
by about 16.5% as the flow rate increased from 0.010 L/s to 0.038 L/s.
The average overall efficiency of the dual-source heating system
was enlarged by about 57.5% compared to that of the single HP
heating mode at the flow rate of 0.038 L/s due to the introduction of
solar thermal energy. However, the overall efficiency of the SHP
system was slightly varied with the flow rate due to the power
consumption difference.
As shown in Fig. 21(a), the power consumption of the HP under
the SHP heating mode followed the same pattern with the single HP
heating mode; it increased as the supply water temperature
increased. The growth rate was significantly enlarged in compari-
son with the single heating mode. The average system power rose
by about 6.4% compared to the single HP operation mode at the
flow rate of 0.038 L/s. The power consumption of the HP showed an
increasing trend with the lower flow rate. On the contrary, the total
power evolution of the dual-source heating system against the flow
rate presented an opposite tendency. Within the same operation
time, the system power consumptions were reduced by around
4.4% and 4.0% as the flow rate decreased from 0.038 L/s to 0.020 L/s
and 0.010 L/s, respectively. The total accumulative heat produced by
the SHP system showed an increasing trend with the higher flow
rate, as depicted in Fig. 22. The charging energy ranged from
1.01 kWh to 1.66 kWh for the flow rates of 0.01 L/s to 0.038 L/s. The
average power supplied by the SHP was enhanced by around 6.1%
as the flow rate increased from 0.01 L/s to 0.038 L/s.
3.3.3. Phase-change material and water temperature variation in
the discharging process
Fig. 23 presents the temperature variation of the latent heat
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Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657
storage medium during the discharging process. The same trend
was observed in all discharging profiles of the PCM. The exothermic
platform ranged from about 50
C to 45
C to release the latent heat.
The liquid phase exothermic process was not discovered in the
bottom test points due to the inadequate heat charging. The tem-
perature gradient became larger after the latent heat release. The
crystallization of the storage medium was shortened as the flow
rate increased. The heat release duration was reduced by about
57.1% as the flow rate increased from 0.010 L/s to 0.038 L/s.
The drain water temperature profiles of the LHTES unit during
the discharging process are depicted in Fig. 24. The discharging
temperature evolution under the combined mode showed a similar
trend as the single mode. A turning point at about 45
C was
exhibited in all outlet water temperature curves, after which the
temperature variation became slow due to the large phase-change
enthalpy of the latent heat storage medium. PCMs with favorable
thermal properties could delay the rapid temperature decrease of
the LHTES unit. The drain water temperature was maintained at a
relatively higher level for a longer period at the lower flow rate. The
approximate constant temperature period under the discharging
flow rate of 0.010 L/s was also prolonged to about four times longer
than 0.038 L/s.
3.3.4. Discharging energy in the discharging process
The recovered energy of the LHTES unit in the discharging
process is shown in Fig. 25. The average power was enhanced by
about 115% when the discharging flow rate increased from 0.010 L/s
to 0.038 L/s. However, it can be observed that the lower the flow
rate, the greater the energy released to the liquid stream. The
released energy was decreased by about 7.9% as the flow rate
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al. Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657

Fig. 19. Temperature evolution of the PCM with different charging flow rates: (a) 0.038 L/s, (b) 0.030 L/s, (c) 0.020 L/s, and (d) 0.010 L/s.

increased to the maximum value.
In addition to the thermal performance of the heating system,
the volume of the LHTES unit also required consideration.
Regarding the limitation of building area in the high-density dis-
trict, the storage system shall be well designed to avoid occupying
too much space as well as imposing excessive loading on the
building structure. The corresponding volume saving rate (f) can
be estimated by the following equation [43]:
VNo PCM  VPCM
f¼  100%
VNo PCM
Table 3 lists the volume storage density of the LHTES unit and its
corresponding volume saving rate. Only the sensible heat would be
stored in the water, leading to significant growth in the volume of
the unit without PCM. The volume storage density of the unit was
effectively increased to around 211.13 MJ/m3, 25.97% larger than
that of water. To achieve the desired thermal capacity, the entire
space occupation of the unit decreases with the higher storage
density, corresponding to a larger volume saving rate. About 21% of
space could be saved by adopting SATKU as the latent heat storage
medium, which results in a compact heat storage unit for flexible
installation.
3.4. Uncertainty analysis
The uncertainty assessments of the efficiency of the SHC and the
COP of the HP were conducted to evaluate the assurance of the
(16) experiment in this study. The efficiency and COP uncertainties are
related to the accuracy of each independent variable in their cal-
culations. The corresponding information of each measured vari-
able is listed in Table 2. The differentiations of the specific heat
capacity, the gross area of the SHC, and the density of the working
fluid were neglected in the calculation [45]. The uncertainties in the
efficiency of the SHC (UhSHC ) and the COP of the HP (UCOP ) were
given by the following equations [46]:

vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u0 12 !2 
u   
u v h vhSHC 2 vhSHC vhSHC 2
UhSHC ¼ ±t@Um_ HTF SHC A þ UT þ U TSHC;i þ U I (16)
vm_ HTF SHC;o
vTSHC;o vTSHC;i vI

vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u0 12 0 12
u  2 !2
u vCOP vCOP vCOP vCOP
B C
UCOP ¼ ±u
t@Um_ HTF _ A þ UT þ UTHP;i þ @UW_ HP
_ HP A
(17)
vmHTF HP;o
vTHP;o vTHP;i vW

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X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al. Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657

Fig. 21. (a) The power consumption of the HP and (b) the power consumption of the
SHP LHTES system with different flow rates against time.

where U is the error of each variable.

The maximum errors were ±0.03 and ± 0.11 for the efficiency
and COP, respectively. The maximal relative uncertainties in
determining the efficiency of the SHC and the COP of the HP in this
study were 5.4% and 3.0%, respectively.

4. Conclusion

This study evaluated the compatibility of the SATKU to the SHP

and the dynamic thermal behavior of the dual-source heating
system. In addition, comparative experiments were performed to
explore the effects of the operating parameters and operation
modes on the system performance. The findings are summarized as

Fig. 20. (a) The efficiency of the SHC, (b) the COP of the HP, and (c) the overall effi-
ciency of the SHP LHTES system with different flow rates against time.

654
X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al. Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657

 The average COP of the HP increased from 2.09 to 2.60, as the

HTF flow rate increased from 0.010 L/s to 0.038 L/s. Besides, the
average power drawn by the HP decreased with a higher flow
rate.
 Compared to the single heating mode, the temperature-rising
rate of the heating system became larger under the combined
heating mode. The average efficiency of the coupled SHP system
was improved by around 57.5% compared to the single HP
heating mode at the flow rate of 0.038 L/s because of the
introduction of solar thermal energy. Nevertheless, the power
consumption of the entire heating system was slightly increased
due to the larger pump consumption relative to the higher flow
rate.
 The volume storage density of the LHTES unit was about
211.13 MJ/m3, 25.97% larger than that of the sensible heat stor-
age medium. As a result, the space occupation could be reduced
by about 21% in comparison with the sensible TES tank.

Fig. 22. Total accumulative charging energy and average power of the SHP system with
different flow rates.
follows:
 The phase-change area of the SATKU was adapted to the
working condition of the SHP. The latent heat storage medium
could achieve the phase-change stage under each operation
mode at the inflection point of about 47
C.
The experimental test rig of the SHP LHTES system was estab-
lished in this study, providing theoretical references for coupling
the LHTES technology to the low-carbon heating system. The test
results revealed the potential to implement the SHP heating system
for hot water production and presented the impacts of the charging
modes and operating conditions on the system thermal behavior,
which deliver the design guideline of the novel heating supplier. To
further systematically investigate the system performance, an
experimentally validated numerical model characterizing the dy-
namic performance of the system should be established as future
work. The practical application of the SHP LHTES system

Fig. 23. Temperature evolution of the PCM with different discharging flow rates: (a) 0.038 L/s, (b) 0.030 L/s, (c) 0.020 L/s, and (d) 0.010 L/s.

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X. Jin, H. Zhang, G. Huang et al. Renewable Energy 180 (2021) 637e657

Fig. 24. Temperature evolution of the outlet water with different discharging flow rates: (a) 0.038 L/s, (b) 0.030 L/s, (c) 0.020 L/s, and (d) 0.010 L/s.

the economic and energy-saving benefits of the proposed heating

system, future work in terms of the optimal control framework for
the heating system should also be developed.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Xin Jin: Conceptualization, Writing e original draft, Investiga-

tion. Huihui Zhang: Methodology. Gongsheng Huang: Writing e
review & editing. Alvin CK. Lai: Supervision, Methodology,
Investigation.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing

financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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