Potentials of the new design concepts of district heating and cooling toward integration with renewable energy sources

摘要

This paper discusses the opportunities of the new design concepts of district heating and cooling towards the integration of renewable energy sources. A comparison between the medium-temperature district heating and the last generation of low-temperature networks is provided. Simulation models and performance evaluations of three different district heating design concepts are carried out. On one hand, the medium-temperature district heating was modeled with combined heat and power generation. On the other hand, the simulation of the low-temperature district heating was carried out including renewable energy sources such as solar energy, geothermal and wind energy . For the three cases analyzed the customer connection to the district network was carried out by using substation types without a local storage tank. The present work aims to investigate the renewable energy utilization in low-temperature district heating which is modeled as a hybrid solar panel and wind turbine assisted geothermal heat pump. We present a case study for a district heating distribution network which supplies heat to 75 apartments. The paper quantifies the performance of different district heating design concepts. The results highlight the potential of the new district heating design concepts towards solutions for sustainable energy planning.