Air/Water Heat Pumps in Existing Heating and Hot Water Systems for Better Urban Air Quality and Primary Energy Savings: Scenarios of Two Italian Cities

Alberta Carella, Luca Del Ferraro and Annunziata D’Orazio ()
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Alberta Carella: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Astronautica, Elettrica ed Energetica, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Luca Del Ferraro: Daikin Applied Europe S.p.A., Via Piani di S. Maria 72, 00072 Ariccia, Italy
Annunziata D’Orazio: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Astronautica, Elettrica ed Energetica, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy

Energies, 2022, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: In a previous work, a significant contribution to urban air pollution, related to fuel-fired heating systems, was recorded. Thus, the replacement of existing boilers for space heating and domestic hot water (DHW) production systems with high-temperature air/water heat pumps (which can operate with radiators, the most common terminals in the existing building stock), is proposed for the improvement of the urban air quality. Scenarios of substitution within the entire residential building stock of two Italian cities, Milan and Salerno, belonging to different climate zones and with their own thermophysical characteristics, were analyzed. For each of them, the consequences of the replacement intervention on emission reduction, primary energy savings and lower CO 2 production were evaluated. The results show that reduction of primary energy consumption, evaluated at design outdoor temperature and for the present generation mix, varied between 34% and 54% in Milan and between 43% and 60% in Salerno, for two values of renewable fraction in electricity generation. The reduction of CO 2 production was in the range 30–52% in Milan and 39–58% in Salerno, respectively. The only unfavorable case occurred for Milan for a completely non-renewable electricity generation scenario. The replacement intervention, which implies a significant decrease of emissions of pollutants in urban areas, is unobtrusive to citizens, since the heat pumps (HPs) are coupled with current radiators, without the internal distribution system being modified.

Keywords: urban air quality; heat pumps; primary energy; CO 2 emissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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