Conference article

Modeling of Low Temperature Thermal Networks Using Historical Building Data from District Energy Systems

Ryan Rogers
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University, Canada

Vickram Lakhian
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University, Canada

Marilyn Lightstone
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University, Canada

James S. Cotton
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University, Canada

Download articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.3384/ecp19157543

Published in: Proceedings of the 13th International Modelica Conference, Regensburg, Germany, March 4–6, 2019

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 157:55, p. 8

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Published: 2019-02-01

ISBN: 978-91-7685-122-7

ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)

Abstract

A Modelica library for modelling and comparing District Energy Systems (DES) and Low Temperature Thermal Networks (LTTN) has been developed. The library consists of six unique models and a series of replaceable sub-models that allow for different scenarios for thermal energy generation. The fluid transport model and losses have been tuned using an empirical data set of a district energy system in operation.

An analysis was performed to compare the performance of an existing, operational four-pipe DES against an alternative design that consists of two onepipe LTTN. The results show that the LTTN implementation can drastically reduce the natural gas usage and in turn the carbon emissions of a district energy plant by over 90% during a two-week period in the transitional month of October for a thermal microgrid in Southern Ontario, Canada.

Keywords

thermal microgrid, district energy, thermal transport systems, carbon emissions

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