*1.3. Contributions and Novelty of This Study*

A JCHP is more likely to obtain higher COP than a traditional HP under certain circumstances. However, there have been so far just a few studies on the use of JCHP and industrial processes. There is also a gap in the literature for a comparative analysis of different HP types, including the emerging JCHP. The COP equations of HP have some ideal assumptions. These results are in some deviation from the actual performance of the HP, which cannot well represent the real performance of the HP.

This study simulates and optimises the operation of the main classes of HPs in a process simulation software—Petro-SIM [27]—to get the performance of the HP, as much close to the reality as possible. These classes include the VCHP, TCHP and the JCHP.

The setting of various parameters considers possible process configurations. All COP curves and heat duties in the GCC for process and HP integration will be plotted against the actual data calculated in Petro-SIM. The choice of HP type should be performed based on the temperature–enthalpy profile of the considered industrial process for obtaining optimal performance. In this paper, the performance and application scope of three different HP systems—JCHP, VCHP, and TCHP—are discussed and compared to understand the energy-saving potential of applying the HP.

Section 2 introduces the simulation and optimisation of the considered HP types and the method of integration with the process for achieving heat recover. In Section 3, the suitability of the HP types to different temperature–enthalpy (T–H) profiles is evaluated, aiming at the minimisation of power consumption. The optimal COP of each integration case was obtained by optimising the operating parameters of the HP when given source and sink at different temperatures. In Section 4, the model is further applied to the integration of HP and different industrial process cases using Pinch Analysis, and the energy-saving potential of different types of HP is evaluated using the GCC [28].
