AN INTEGRATED SIMULATION TOOL PROPOSED FOR MODELING AND OPTIMIZATION OF CCHP UNITS

A novel framework for operation optimization of a combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) system has been proposed. The goal of the study was to develop an automatic optimization tool based on the integration of IPSEpro simulation software and the MATLAB programming environment to strategically manage the operation of a hybrid energy system of micro gas turbine (MGT), auxiliary boiler, and absorption chiller. Data exchange between the tools was organized via a COM interface. An experimentally validated model of the commercial AE-T100 CCHP unit was utilized, the objective being to minimize a cost function of operational and capital investments costs, subject to a set of constraints. The micro CCHP plant was considered to be a part of a grid. Electricity trading was therefore taken into account. The performance of the developed framework was investigated through the optimization task, case study data for a 24-hour period in July and December, different electricity and gas price profiles and ambient conditions being used. The operation strategy could be heat-led or power-led. The optimum number and load of the CCHP units and the boilers and the amount of electricity which should be bought from and/or sold to the grid were therefore determined by the optimization strategies. Lastly, the results were analyzed and show that the integrated optimization tool developed provides a valuable contribution to the enhanced management of such a CCHP system, specifically when a large number of distributed units are considered. In other words, the proposed framework was flexible enough and has the potential to be extended and further developed to handle more complicated energy systems and operational conditions.