Modularity in water-water heat pumps with integrated latent heat storage for energy-efficient residential applications

The decarbonization of European buildings is crucial and addresses the necessity to promote energy efficiency measures and employ effective technologies. Exploiting the modular approach, the work integrates water-source heat pumps (WSHPs) with latent heat storage to address diverse thermal demands in a renovated multi-family house apartment. Annual simulations, executed using Modelica/Dymola, explore both serial and parallel hydraulic system connections for WSHP blocks. Results underscore the superiority of the parallel configuration across varying climates, primarily due to reduced electricity consumption. However, in colder climates, a serial connection proves essential to attain higher supply temperatures, particularly for WSHPs and WPW-HEX charging. The approach yields significant reductions in CO2 emissions, compared to conventional systems.