Explore PLC control for a building with PCM radiant floor heating system powered by an air-source heat pump

For domestic buildings, Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs), as a highly efficient heating method, are ever-growing to meet the heating or cooling demand in domestic buildings, and meet the task of CO2 emission reduction. Radiant floor heating systems (RFHs) provide an indoor thermal comfort environment with low-supply water temperature, which cooperate well with ASHPs. However, the electricity required by heat pumps will add a burden to the electricity grid during peak demand, increasing costs for consumers, which presents barriers to widespread adoption. The slow thermal response with the radiant floor heating (RF) system is also another barrier to the house heating applications. Integrating phase change materials (PCMs) with expandedn graphite (EG) as thermal mass into the RF heating structure can save operating cost and improve the thermal comfort, with quick heating response due to the good heat retention through the heating period. Therefore, this study explores the development of new sustainable and highly efficient thermal energy retention method through lab-progressed composite phase change materials with expanded graphite (PCM-EGs) integrated into the RF heating system with ASHP. As the complicated characteristic of phase change progress along with the heat pump operation, a PLC control system has been implemented to study the optimisation of whole system operation to meet the balance of energy consumption with indoor thermal comfort and variablr conditions along with energy savings. The current paper focuses on the development and implementation of a PLC-based control strategy that integrates multiple operational parameters to enable flexible system operation under varying conditions and to utilise available energy sources efficiently. The study results may provide an insight into applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies for building's heat energy management, which is imperative to meet current and future heating demand throughout the UK.