Thermal Transients in District Heating Systems

Chertkov, Michael; Novitsky, Nikolai N.

doi:10.1016/j.energy.2018.01.049

Thermal Transients in District Heating Systems

Journal Article · Wed Jan 17 23:00:00 EST 2018 · Energy (Oxford)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.01.049· OSTI ID:1417810

^[1]; Novitsky, Nikolai N. ^[2]

Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Skolkovo Inst. of Science and Technology, Moscow (Russia)
Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Irkutsk (Russian Federation). Melentiev Energy Systems Inst. of Siberian Branch

Heat fluxes in a district heating pipeline systems need to be controlled on the scale from minutes to an hour to adjust to evolving demand. There are two principal ways to control the heat flux - keep temperature fixed but adjust velocity of the carrier (typically water) or keep the velocity flow steady but then adjust temperature at the heat producing source (heat plant). Here, we study the latter scenario, commonly used for operations in Russia and Nordic countries, and analyze dynamics of the heat front as it propagates through the system. Steady velocity flows in the district heating pipelines are typically turbulent and incompressible. Changes in the heat, on either consumption or production sides, lead to slow transients which last from tens of minutes to hours. We classify relevant physical phenomena in a single pipe, e.g. turbulent spread of the turbulent front. We then explain how to describe dynamics of temperature and heat flux evolution over a network efficiently and illustrate the network solution on a simple example involving one producer and one consumer of heat connected by “hot” and “cold” pipes. We conclude the manuscript motivating future research directions.

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-06NA25396

OSTI ID:: 1417810

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--17-20436

Journal Information:: Energy (Oxford), Journal Name: Energy (Oxford) Vol. 184; ISSN 0360-5442

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited By (2)

Performant and Simple Numerical Modeling of District Heating Pipes with Heat Accumulation Kudela, Libor; Chylek, Radomir; Pospisil, Jiri Energies, Vol. 12, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.3390/en12040633	journal	February 2019
Numerical Investigation of Pipelines Modeling in Small-Scale Concentrated Solar Combined Heat and Power Plants Tascioni, Roberto; Cioccolanti, Luca; Del Zotto, Luca Energies, Vol. 13, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3390/en13020429	journal	January 2020

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24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
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Thermal Transients in District Heating Systems

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