A Study on Continuous Operation Strategies of Industrial Heat Pumps under Waste Heat Supply Interruptions

This study presents a control strategy for utilizing an industrial heat pump in the paper drying process, which has been experimentally validated. To address the challenge of intermittent waste heat disconnection, we stabilized the heat source temperature by redirecting heat through a plate heat exchanger, thereby reducing the need for large storage tanks. We modeled the dynamics of the heat exchanger using system identification and optimized a PI controller for the control valve through a state-space model in Simulink. In nine experimental trials, we successfully maintained the heat pump inlet temperature within ±0.5 K of the target, achieving stable responses without excessive oscillation. These findings demonstrate that the proposed strategy enables continuous and reliable operation of MW-scale heat pumps in environments with intermittent waste heat, while also reducing equipment stress and minimizing the required size of storage tanks.