Operation planning method using convolutional neural network for combined heat and power system
The energy efficiency of a combined heat and power (CHP) can reach about 85%, whereas conventional thermal power plants operate only at 45% efficiency or lower. CHPs perform better mainly because the heat from generators can be used as a energy source to meet heat demands or power refrigerators to generate cold water, in other words the “waste” heat is used and not wasted. Therefore, a growing number of factories and commercial buildings are installing combined heat and power (CHP) systems that include various energy storage devices (e.g., heat storage tanks) (Figure 1). To reduce the energy cost of CHPs, optimal operation plans to satisfy time-varying energy demands with minimum energy cost are required. However, conventional operation planning methods using optimized calculation have an issue with long computing time. Especially these days, operation plans need to be generated within a few minutes or even seconds to make up for output of renewable energy sources.
