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Abstract This paper proposes a new flexibility management method which can offer incentives to flexibility service providers so that they are encouraged to actively participate into the congestion management of distribution grids. The proposed method consists of a three-stage market clearing method and three types of flexible block offers: flexible demand bids, flexibility service offers, and energy arbitrage blocks. These cover most of the needs of flexibility providers. These flexible block offers are more efficient in terms of computation burden in comparison with the other flexibility offers in the existing literature. Flexibility prices are specified in these flexible block offers, which can guarantee a certain level of rewards for the customers who can help in the congestion management process. Case studies on a modified Roy Billinton Test System demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed flexibility management method for managing congestion and encouraging customers to provider flexibility services.

Abstract This paper proposes a new flexibility management method which can offer incentives to flexibility service providers so that they are encouraged to actively participate into the congestion management of distribution grids. The proposed method consists of a three-stage market clearing method and three types of flexible block offers: flexible demand bids, flexibility service offers, and energy arbitrage blocks. These cover most of the needs of flexibility providers. These flexible block offers are more efficient in terms of computation burden in comparison with the other flexibility offers in the existing literature. Flexibility prices are specified in these flexible block offers, which can guarantee a certain level of rewards for the customers who can help in the congestion management process. Case studies on a modified Roy Billinton Test System demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed flexibility management method for managing congestion and encouraging customers to provider flexibility services.

The definition of overall district heating network performance indicators is under-investigated in the literature. This study reviews existing methods of performance estimation and develops a convenient methodology for an array of district heating networks applied to a Danish case study. Performances of the networks with state-of-art pipe transmission coefficients are compared to older traditional pipes using an effective average approach. The reported efficiencies and analysis of contributing factors show, that a single parameter is not sufficient to compare large-scale district heating systems and a multiparametric analysis must be employed. The effective average total heat transmission coefficient is evaluated based on the Technical Evaluation Factor and a multivariate regression is performed on typical sets of network parameters: pipe type, pipe series, pipe age, and operational temperature. The developed methodology is applied to testing an array of geographically independent district heating networks, pointing to possible performance bottlenecks, and discussing potential remedies.

The definition of overall district heating network performance indicators is under-investigated in the literature. This study reviews existing methods of performance estimation and develops a convenient methodology for an array of district heating networks applied to a Danish case study. Performances of the networks with state-of-art pipe transmission coefficients are compared to older traditional pipes using an effective average approach. The reported efficiencies and analysis of contributing factors show, that a single parameter is not sufficient to compare large-scale district heating systems and a multiparametric analysis must be employed. The effective average total heat transmission coefficient is evaluated based on the Technical Evaluation Factor and a multivariate regression is performed on typical sets of network parameters: pipe type, pipe series, pipe age, and operational temperature. The developed methodology is applied to testing an array of geographically independent district heating networks, pointing to possible performance bottlenecks, and discussing potential remedies.

The concept and methodology of a magnetocaloric heating network is proposed. A small thermal network consisting of several magnetocaloric heat pumps (MCHP) is considered from the point of their scaling and connection properties. We found a linear scaling law following the heating power variation with AMR mass, which can be included in an MCHP lookup table produced by a 1D transient AMR model. To estimate the performance of networks with different number of MCHPs, a set of single MCHPs coupled through temperature boundary conditions are modelled and network formulas are applied for the reference case of Gd packed beds. A performance optimum is found for specific design points compliant with building heating applications.

The concept and methodology of a magnetocaloric heating network is proposed. A small thermal network consisting of several magnetocaloric heat pumps (MCHP) is considered from the point of their scaling and connection properties. We found a linear scaling law following the heating power variation with AMR mass, which can be included in an MCHP lookup table produced by a 1D transient AMR model. To estimate the performance of networks with different number of MCHPs, a set of single MCHPs coupled through temperature boundary conditions are modelled and network formulas are applied for the reference case of Gd packed beds. A performance optimum is found for specific design points compliant with building heating applications.

An open source Modelica package for a specific type of Phase Change Material (PCM) ventilation unit is developed. The model is built as a part of the Termonet library of components from Modelica Standard Library (MSL) and International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA) library aiming at open source models for households and utility companies to help to integrate sustainable technologies into district energy networks. The PCM heat exchanger model instantiating IBPSA library fluid components is compared to the MSL PCM implementation with no fluid components and Matlab-inspired textual Modelica model. MSL-based and textual models are shown to produce identical results, whereas an account of fluid properties leads only to a slight deviation. This can motivate the use of the MSL and IBPSA-based models as control and emulator models in model predictive control applications. Essential fluid models from IBPSA library can be compiled and simulated using OpenModelica with minimal tuning, which shows the potential of the IBPSA library as a fully open source building performance simulation tool.

An open source Modelica package for a specific type of Phase Change Material (PCM) ventilation unit is developed. The model is built as a part of the Termonet library of components from Modelica Standard Library (MSL) and International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA) library aiming at open source models for households and utility companies to help to integrate sustainable technologies into district energy networks. The PCM heat exchanger model instantiating IBPSA library fluid components is compared to the MSL PCM implementation with no fluid components and Matlab-inspired textual Modelica model. MSL-based and textual models are shown to produce identical results, whereas an account of fluid properties leads only to a slight deviation. This can motivate the use of the MSL and IBPSA-based models as control and emulator models in model predictive control applications. Essential fluid models from IBPSA library can be compiled and simulated using OpenModelica with minimal tuning, which shows the potential of the IBPSA library as a fully open source building performance simulation tool.