An Innovative Control Framework for District Heating Systems: Conceptualisation and Preliminary Results

Nicos Karcanias,Serafeim Moustakidis,Ioannis Meintanis,George Halikias

doi:10.3390/resources8010027

Nicos Karcanias, Serafeim Moustakidis + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/resources8010027

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Journal: Resources	Publication Date: Jan 31, 2019
Citations: 10	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: City, University of London

Abstract

This paper presents a holistic innovative solution for the transformation of the current district heating and cooling systems to automated more efficient systems. A variety of technological advancements have been developed and integrated to support the effective energy management of future district heating and cooling sector. First, we identify and discuss the main challenges and needs that are in line with the EU objectives and policy expectations. We give an overview of the main parts that our solution consists of, with emphasis on the forecasting tools and an advanced control system that addresses unit commitment and economic load dispatch problems. The proposed control approach employs distributed and scalable optimisation algorithms for optimising the short-term operations of a district heating and cooling plant subject to technical constraints and uncertainties in the energy demand. To test the performance and validate the proposed control system, a district heating plant with multiple energy generation units and real-life heat load data were used. Simulation experiments were also used to evaluate the benefits of using thermal storage units in district heating systems. The results show that the proposed method could achieve significant cost savings when energy storage is employed. The proposed control strategy can be applied for both operating optimally district heating plants with storage and supporting investment planning for new storage units.

Highlights

Europe, forced by climate change and the need for a sustainable economic and social growth, should focus on an energy revolution to reverse present-day unsustainable trends and live up to the ambitious policy expectations
The thermal power produced is distributed through a network of pipeline to the connected consumer substations, where the thermal energy from the primary network is transferred to the end-users internal heating system, e.g., radiators
The DH plant we considered in our simulation setup consisted of the following: (i) a biomass boiler burning wood chips; (ii) a gas boiler; and (iii) an oil fuelled boiler

Summary

Introduction

Europe, forced by climate change and the need for a sustainable economic and social growth, should focus on an energy revolution to reverse present-day unsustainable trends and live up to the ambitious policy expectations. The European objectives are distinguished between short-term (towards 2020) and medium term (towards 2030), while taking into account that any of the developments described must remain sustainable and future-proof in the long-term (towards 2050) To achieve these goals and accelerate the development of technological advancements, research efforts should focus on integrated, flexible, highly efficient and environmentally friendly solutions. As previous research studies have shown, the district heating infrastructure has the potential to play a key role in sustainable energy systems [2,3,4,5]

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