City Heat Pump Network: Dispatch & Thermal Storage (2D)

The 3D original renders a city-scale heat pump network as a decorative particle scene; this 2D companion turns it into an actual dispatch problem. Three heat pump plants feed a shared 55°C main whose coefficient of performance is set by a Carnot-limited model against the live ambient-temperature slider, while total building demand follows a heating-degree curve — a fixed hot-water base load plus a slope term that grows as it gets colder below an 18°C balance point. A rate-limited thermal storage tank absorbs the mismatch: it charges on surplus capacity and discharges to cover a deficit, both capped at a realistic fraction of its size per simulated hour. Push a cold snap and watch demand spike and COP drop at the same time — the network's real worst case — until storage runs out and unmet demand appears on the building grid.