Application of multipurpose heat pumps in museums: a case study

The present work deals with the achievable benefits of using multipurpose heat pumps in museums, where heating and cooling are simultaneously required to ensure proper indoor conditions for artworks preservation. Air-handling units are usually installed to control temperature and relative humidity through both hot and cold coils that are usually fed by dedicated heat generators (e.g., heat pumps, boilers, and chillers). Using a multipurpose heat pump can reduce electrical input, as the same device can concurrently provide both heating and cooling power with a single energy input and recovering energy between the cold and the hot coils. In this perspective, the present work presents a representative real case study for Mediterranean climate. The building thermal load and the HVAC performances have been simulated in TRNSYS 17 and MATLAB with an hourly time step. The multipurpose heat pump provides an energy saving equal to 25% in cooling season compared to the use of a separate heat pump and a chiller. Indeed, the heating load is almost entirely met through the recovery of the condenser heat without significant additional energy input.