Energy management for thermal batch processes with temporarily available energy sources– Laboratory experiments

Predictive energy management systems (EMS) enable the optimization of industrial energy supply systems (ESS) without cost-intensive structural changes. Despite intensive research on EMS, few publications address industrial applications - and even fewer address practical experiments with industrial EMS in physical laboratory environments. This paper describes the design and usage of a test rig emulating an industrial ESS including temporarily available heat recovery systems and batch-type heat demands. In addition, the performance of a recently proposed modular two-layer EMS is assessed on this test rig. The experimental setup consists of a heat pump, an electric boiler, an instantaneous water heater, and a thermal energy storage system. To emulate an industrial ESS current values of volatile energy prices, emissions footprint and industrial measurement data of heat loads are used. The experiments validate that the test rig can emulate an industrial ESS. Further, the results show that the EMS makes optimal use of the laboratory ESS and takes full advantage of temporarily available energy sources. Bottlenecks in heat supply were avoided, and for this specific setup energy cost-reductions of 5–12% and CO2-reductions of 9–42% were achieved compared to a hysteresis controller.