Performance comparison of LFPSC-ASHP and VTSC-ASHP heating systems based on oil and gas gathering and transportation stations

To addressing the high operating costs, low energy efficiency, and severe carbon emissions of high-carbon heating systems in oil and gas collectors, we proposes a new dynamic and complementary energy supply framework that couples an inverted air source heat pump with a solar collector. Unlike existing hybrid heating systems for intermittent residential demand, our solution is specifically designed for continuous heat load requirements (90% load stability), extremely low temperature adaptation (-30°C), and corrosion resistance inherent to industrial oil field operations. The large flat plate (LFPSC) and vacuum tube solar collector (VTSC) coupled systems were compared by TRNSYS simulation. Compared to the LFPSC, the VTSC-ASHP has a peak efficiency of 67.9%, an average collector efficiency of 34.99%, a heating efficiency increase of 13.10%, an energy saving of 16.78%, and a higher SEER (5.23 vs. 4.61). Crucially, VTSC-ASHP reduces annual coal consumption by 2230.89 kg (80.61% primary energy saving) and shortens payback period by 1.82 years through dynamic multi-energy coordination. The core innovation of this study is that it achieves both energy cost optimisation for industrial heat networks and fills the gap in the technology for low-carbon retrofit of oil and gas gathering and transportation stations for all-weather stable energy supply.