InnoWP
Collaborative project: InnoWP - Innovative power electronics for high-efficiency compressor drives in the heat pump mass market; Subproject: System simulation and evaluation
Project management: Dr. Andreas Velte-Schäfer
Funding period: 01.04.2024 - 31.03.2027
Funding code: 03EN4080F
Funding body: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK)
Promoter: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH (PtJ)
In InnoWP, improved inverters and semiconductors are being researched for the accelerated market rampup of heat pump (HP) systems. The project addresses the entire performance range of HPs in residential buildings from new single-family homes to existing large multi-family buildings. The main objectives are:
1. Increase the average inverter efficiency during real-life operation from approx. 94 % to min. 96 % (i.e. increase the annual coefficient of performance of HPs by min. 2 % and thereby reduce the annual electricity consumption of HP systems by approx. 2 %).
2. Research of wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor solutions of silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) with matched gate drivers (GD) to increase the efficiency of HPs.
3. Researching optimized inverter topologies with WBG to halve the thermal losses of the inverter power stage, reduce the grid load, improve electromagnetic compatibility, and reduce the amount of copper used by 50%.
4. Researching GD with internally controlled multi-stage slew rate control (switching edge rising speed control) for inverters of HPs.
5. Research into digital condition monitoring of semiconductors in HP inverters for lifetime enhancement through de-rating (i.e. temporary reduction of electrical and thermal stress) and function monitoring.
The consortium combines leading expertise in the fields of semiconductors, power electronics, HP and building technology and represents the entire value chain of HP systems. The achieved research results and performance improvements are evaluated and quantified against jointly defined benchmarks. This is done on the basis of comprehensive tests of prototypes of the researched HP components and systems as well as with the help of validated component and system simulations.
Subproject: System simulation and evaluation
At INATECH, the simulative evaluation of the improvement of the seasonal performance factor (SCOP) of heat pumps through optimized power electronics and adaptive control approaches is being researched. The basis are existing component models from previous projects in the programming language Modelica with the software Dymola. Overall system models with hydraulics and control technology are created and new models from ISE and TLK are integrated. The work also includes matching with hardware-in-the-loop measurements, model reduction, and optimization of control strategies. Further investigations concern the effects of component optimizations (heat exchangers, compressors), sensitivity analyses and quantification of the benefits of the optimized power electronics in terms of grid serviceability, self-power utilization, reduction of reactive power and efficiency increase.