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Comparative study and validation of a new analytical method for hydraulic modelling of bidirectional low temperature networks

Abugabbara, Marwan LU orcid ; Lindhe, Jonas LU ; Javed, Saqib LU ; Johansson, Dennis LU and Claesson, Johan LU (2024) In Energy 296.
Abstract

Bidirectional Low Temperature Networks (BLTNs) are an innovative technology of district heating and cooling systems. Because of their intrinsic feature of supplying simultaneous heating and cooling either directly from an energy source/sink or through distributed heat pumps and chillers, circulation pumps installed at each building extract water from the network and a distinct pressure cone is subsequently created. Variations in the amount (and direction) of the extracted water call for accurate hydraulic design and analysis to ensure safe and adequate network operation. This paper proposes a new analytical solution method for fast hydraulic modelling of BLTNs. The analytical method was compared against three numerical solution methods... (More)

Bidirectional Low Temperature Networks (BLTNs) are an innovative technology of district heating and cooling systems. Because of their intrinsic feature of supplying simultaneous heating and cooling either directly from an energy source/sink or through distributed heat pumps and chillers, circulation pumps installed at each building extract water from the network and a distinct pressure cone is subsequently created. Variations in the amount (and direction) of the extracted water call for accurate hydraulic design and analysis to ensure safe and adequate network operation. This paper proposes a new analytical solution method for fast hydraulic modelling of BLTNs. The analytical method was compared against three numerical solution methods and validated using different current and future operating scenarios of a real-world bidirectional network. In all modelled cases, the calculated mass flows and pressure drops using the new analytical method yielded very small Normalised Mean Bias Error (NMBE) and Coefficient of Variation of the Root Mean Square Error (CV(RMSE)), suggesting excellent agreement between the analytical and numerical solution methods. The new analytical method offers better performance over its numerical counterparts due to its explicit nature, ease of implementation, and quick modelling time.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Analytical solution, Bifurcation function, BLTN, District heating and cooling, Pressure gradient curves
in
Energy
volume
296
article number
131168
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85189526284
ISSN
0360-5442
DOI
10.1016/j.energy.2024.131168
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
70a18872-171b-4cb4-80ea-5656bf2761d4
date added to LUP
2024-04-24 14:33:31
date last changed
2024-04-24 14:33:52
@article{70a18872-171b-4cb4-80ea-5656bf2761d4,
  abstract     = {{<p>Bidirectional Low Temperature Networks (BLTNs) are an innovative technology of district heating and cooling systems. Because of their intrinsic feature of supplying simultaneous heating and cooling either directly from an energy source/sink or through distributed heat pumps and chillers, circulation pumps installed at each building extract water from the network and a distinct pressure cone is subsequently created. Variations in the amount (and direction) of the extracted water call for accurate hydraulic design and analysis to ensure safe and adequate network operation. This paper proposes a new analytical solution method for fast hydraulic modelling of BLTNs. The analytical method was compared against three numerical solution methods and validated using different current and future operating scenarios of a real-world bidirectional network. In all modelled cases, the calculated mass flows and pressure drops using the new analytical method yielded very small Normalised Mean Bias Error (NMBE) and Coefficient of Variation of the Root Mean Square Error (CV(RMSE)), suggesting excellent agreement between the analytical and numerical solution methods. The new analytical method offers better performance over its numerical counterparts due to its explicit nature, ease of implementation, and quick modelling time.</p>}},
  author       = {{Abugabbara, Marwan and Lindhe, Jonas and Javed, Saqib and Johansson, Dennis and Claesson, Johan}},
  issn         = {{0360-5442}},
  keywords     = {{Analytical solution; Bifurcation function; BLTN; District heating and cooling; Pressure gradient curves}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Energy}},
  title        = {{Comparative study and validation of a new analytical method for hydraulic modelling of bidirectional low temperature networks}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2024.131168}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.energy.2024.131168}},
  volume       = {{296}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}