Methodological Approach to the Integrated Optimization of the Heat-Source Structure in the Problems of Developing Heat-Supply Systems

Abstract

The question on the optimal development of the heat sources in the developing heat-supply systems (HSSs) is considered. The current state of research in the field in question is analyzed. It is noted that this issue has aroused increased interest in recent years. The description and mathematical formulation of the problem of optimizing the structure of the heat sources in the developing HSSs are provided. The best distribution of the load between the former is determined and the choice of the optimal parameters of the heat-supply networks under permissible technical, economic, and ecological restrictions is made. For the first time, the problem has been formulated and implemented using the method of directed search for possible variants of the heat source’s power and equipment content in a preplanned redundant heat-source configuration that was previously used to search for the best configuration of the heat-supply network. To devise redundant configurations and subsequently calculate them, methodological approaches oriented towards the construction of P-graphs and energy hubs that have been developed in recent years can be successfully applied. Every heat-source structure variant outlined within the framework of the redundant configuration competes with other variants not only in terms of the minimum costs but also in terms of the minimum impact on the environment. The proposed methodology was implemented in the form of a software package that enables the user to interactively communicate with the digital model of the system to obtain a solution for the development and reconstruction of the HSS under investigation. The practical application of the methodological and computational tools to solve the problem of the development of heat-supply systems is exemplified by the configuration of the heat-supply system of the settlement of Magistralnyi, Irkutsk region.