• Energy Research

Survey of Aberdeen City residents conducted by the James Hutton Institute for the SMARTEES project in December 2019 to January 2020 (n=838). The survey aims to understand what influences people's decisions to join a district heating network and includes data pertaining to their attitudes, behaviours and social networks. Files include the dataset in three formats: .csv, .rdata and .sav. The questionnaire, a data dictionary and background and sampling details are also included.

Ultra-Low temperature district heating introduces multiple benefits at network level, as the reduction of heat losses and the improvement of heat generation efficiency. ULTDH also facilitates the integration of low temperatures renewable energy sources and waste heat into the district heating network. Renewable heat sources as solar thermal and heat pumps can be coupled to the district heating network and the buildings through specially designed district heating substations.

Of the global energy demand, 20% can be allocated to residential energy demand. Most of this energy is produced by fossil fuels, which raises the importance of energy production in a more sustainable way. In order to do this on the level of residential heating applications, the Dutch government aims to make its residential neighborhoods natural gas-free. An often considered solution is making residential areas all-electric. However, when considering the heating of these households based on electricity, high peaks may occur in the electricity grid due to simultaneous heating at times of high demand. This could cause problems regarding the capacity of the electricity grid. Subsequently, the generation of electricity is nowadays associated with relatively high CO2 emissions, raising the awareness for alternative methods of heating. One of these methods is district heating coupled to (more) sustainable energy sources. A problem occurring with this combination is a possible discrepancy between the supply and demand of energy. Therefore, it could be beneficial to implement thermal energy storage in district heating. This research assesses the feasibility of different configurations of thermal energy storage integrated into district heating. For this research, a case study is conducted in which district heating for a residential area coupled with thermal energy storage is modeled. The model is based on the thermodynamic equilibrium of the network and is able to compute the required characteristics and key performance indicators of the district heating network. For the case study, multiple scenarios have been created which assess different distribution characteristics and heat sources. For reference, an all-electric scenario has been designed as well. The results of the case study show that the implementation of thermal energy storage in district heating is able to lower peak loads on the heat source by two-thirds. This implementation goes paired with an increase in levelized cost of energy of 10-16% and 8-73% higher ...

The development of district heating networks in urban areas descibes an approach to achieve the goals and targets for energy saving, reduction of CO2-emissions and sustainbale energy that are stated by the government. For the development of district heating networks energy conversion systems are used of generating heat and networks are used to distribute heat. The Thesis descibes how to select possible district heating network alternatives and how to support decision makers in selecting a prefered district heating network by applying screening strategies and determining of environmental, technical and economical impacts. ; Transport & Planning ; Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Immer wieder wird im Kontext der Effizienzsteigerung der Wärmeversorgung mittels leitungsgebundener Systeme über das Für und Wider von Netztemperaturabsenkungen debattiert. Die Realität sieht heute weiterhin so aus, dass überwiegend Netze mit verhältnismäßig hohen Temperaturen im Bereich 130°C/90°C und 110°C/70°C betrieben werden. Wird von Niedertemperaturnetzen gesprochen, so finden sich unter diesem Label oft Netztemperaturen im Bereich von 90°C/50°C. Letztlich stellt sich also immer noch die Frage, was denn nun eigentlich die ideale Netztemperatur ist. Um hierauf eine Antwort aus einem thermodynamisch fundierten Blickwinkel geben zu können, wird das Problem mit Hilfe eines exergetischen Ansatzes betrachtet, der das Versorgungsziel (Raum bei 20°C) mit dem theoretisch minimalen thermischen Einsatz in Bezug setzt.

The article concerns the analysis of the impact of distributed heat storages (accumulators) type TES (Thermal Energy Storage) on the parameters of the district heating network. The simulation results show that the heat storage has a significant impact on the functioning quality of the heating system, reduces the time delay of transport and as well as minimizes heat loss during distribution process. The comparative analysis of simulation results and the data obtained from measurements confirmed the correctness of simulation studies.

W artykule przedstawiono stan sektora ciepłowniczego w Polsce i jego kierunki rozwoju do roku 2050. Omówiono elementy nowoczesnego zarządzania, inteligentne systemy ciepłownicze i problemy integracji systemu ciepłowniczego z elektroenergetycznym i gazowym. Scharakteryzowano cztery filary, na których powinny opierać się nowoczesne systemy ciepłownicze.

Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors The computational complexity involved in modelling district heating (DH) networks impedes the integration of network operations into comprehensive DH system studies. We developed a flexible, accurate, and fast dynamic thermal simulation model utilising discrete event simulation (DES). This model is versatile, suitable for any tree-shaped DH network with a central heating plant and can estimate node temperatures and calculate pipe heat losses. The speed of the model is improved via using variable time steps and by incorporating two advanced techniques: lazy evaluation and a customised priority queue. To further improve the computational speed, we developed a technique to eliminate redundant sampling points. This model was tested and demonstrated excellent consistency with actual measurements. Remarkably, reducing sampling points can speed up the simulation by a factor of three without compromising the temperature accuracy. A 72-day simulation of a network with 102 pipes was completed within 0.219 s. Our findings highlight the significant potential of the DES model for large-scale dynamic network simulations and offer a promising solution for DH network simulations and system optimisation. Peer reviewed

Daily energy production (in Gigacalories) enclosed for 5 largest DH plants. Brought together with outdoor temp., network supply temp., supply water flow (tonne per hour), etc.