The dynamic modelling and simulation of a domestic air source heat pump system with integrated thermal energy storage and automatic mode switching functionality

Thorburn, Adam (2026) The dynamic modelling and simulation of a domestic air source heat pump system with integrated thermal energy storage and automatic mode switching functionality. MSc(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Heat pump technologies are currently seen as crucial to the decarbonisation of the heating sector and the eventual phasing-out of fossil fuel-based heating systems. However, heat production using heat pumps only accounts for 10% of the total global heating demand in buildings, which is mainly due to their high upfront costs and poor performance in cold climates. The flexible heat pump concept is one such technology currently in development in collaboration between researchers at the University of Glasgow and the University of Liverpool which aims to improve the energy efficiency and performance of existing air source heat pump systems. This novel system incorporates a thermal energy storage tank into a standard Evans-Perkins vapour compression heat pump cycle in order to recover and store excess heat for later use during periods where standard operational modes would be unviable. The modelling and simulation of heat pump systems is often assessed while assuming constant steady-state conditions at the cost of constructing less accurate models, whereas dynamic modelling strategies allow for greater accuracy and complexity with regards to their real-life counterparts. In order to evaluate the realistic behaviours of a transient heat pump system, the flexible heat pump system with automatic mode switching functionality was constructed and simulated within a dynamic simulation environment based on the Modelica programming language. These models were primarily built using the Dymola software package and the TIL Suite component library, and were simulated for forty-nine iterations of the flexible heat pump system. Dynamic simulations of the modelled system demonstrated a potential coefficient of performance improvement of 25.2% in comparison to a standard, non-flexible heat pump system of equivalent size and scale. Furthermore, the performance of the modelled system was improved when the refrigerant choice, local climate, storage tank size and mode switching control scheme temperature setpoints were selected to fully leverage the flexible aspects of the system and to promote peak load shaving strategies.

• Item Type: Thesis (MSc(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Subjects: T Technology > T Technology (General); T Technology > TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Colleges/Schools: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering
• Funder's Name: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
• Supervisor's Name: Zhang, Dr. Yihuai
• Date of Award: 2026
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2026-85919
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 01 May 2026 14:34
• Last Modified: 05 May 2026 10:19
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85919
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85919