Performant and Simple Numerical Modeling of District Heating Pipes with Heat Accumulation
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Date
2019-02-16
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Referee
Mark
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Publisher
MDPI
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Abstract
This paper compares approaches for accurate numerical modeling of transients in the pipe
element of district heating systems. The distribution grid itself affects the heat flow dynamics of a
district heating network, which subsequently governs the heat delays and entire efficiency of the
distribution. For an efficient control of the network, a control system must be able to predict how
“temperature waves” move through the network. This prediction must be sufficiently accurate for
real-time computations of operational parameters. Future control systems may also benefit from
the accumulation capabilities of pipes. In this article, the key physical phenomena affecting the
transients in pipes were identified, and an efficient numerical model of aboveground district heating
pipe with heat accumulation was developed. The model used analytical methods for the evaluation
of source terms. Physics of heat transfer in the pipe shells was captured by one-dimensional finite
element method that is based on the steady-state solution. Simple advection scheme was used for
discretization of the fluid region. Method of lines and time integration was used for marching. The
complexity of simulated physical phenomena was highly flexible and allowed to trade accuracy
for computational time. In comparison with the very finely discretized model, highly comparable
transients were obtained even for the thick accumulation wall.
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Peer-reviewed
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en