TRICOM

The purpose of the research program is firstly Experimental Development of a new concept of thermal heat pump for residential heating market, reducing fuel consumption from current and condensing boilers by 25 to 50% and secondly Industrial Research leading to the definition of a micro-cogeneration boiler of second generation. The underlying concept of this thermal heat pump is completely innovative. It has been developed by the company boostHEAT SAS with the main goal to propose a new generation of boiler (oil, gas, wood) with an integrated heat pump effect. This heat pump uses fuel directly (or any heat source) and not electricity to realize a thermal compression. This technology incorporates a completely original multistage regenerative thermal compressor with an external heat source and has been filing a patent application (February 11, 2011, FR1151098) by the company boostHEAT. One of the most important positive of this compressor is its technological simplicity. This system is part of the family of trithermal heating systems with a theoretical maximal coefficient of performance (COP) that is much greater than unity for the intended applications, due to a significant portion of the usable heat coming from the environment. The numerical modeling of the technology boostHEAT shows that the expected coefficient of performance is between 1.5 and 2 depending on operating conditions. The used thermodynamic model and the implemented methods in the modeling tools have been studied and validated by the LaTEP, who regularly uses the ESS tool and who also has participated in the integration of correlations in the calculation module of the exchangers and this under the existing partnership between LaTEP and boostHEAT SAS. This project is a collaboration between firstly the Laboratory of Thermal Energy and Processes, University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour (LaTEP) for aspects of Industrial Research and scientific aspects (modeling), and secondly jointly boostHEAT SAS and LaTEP for the Experimental Development and in particular for the achievement of the experimental prototype, the test bench and the instrumentation.