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Energy Savings Potential for Pumping Water in District Heating Stations

Author

Listed:
  • Ioan Sarbu

    (Department of Building Services Engineering, Polytechnic University Timisoara, Piata Bisericii 4A, 300233 Timisoara, Romania)

  • Emilian Stefan Valea

    (Department of Building Services Engineering, Polytechnic University Timisoara, Piata Bisericii 4A, 300233 Timisoara, Romania)

Abstract

In district heating stations, the heat carrier is circulated between the energy source and consumers by a pumping system. Fluid handling systems, such as pumping systems, are responsible for a significant portion of the total electrical energy use. Significant opportunities exist to reduce pumping energy through smart design, retrofitting, and operating practices. Most existing systems requiring flow control make use of bypass lines, throttling valves or pump speed adjustments. The most efficient of these options is pump speed control. One of the issues in using variable-speed pumping systems, however, is the total efficiency of the electric motor/pump arrangement under a given operating condition. This paper provides a comprehensive discussion about pump control in heating stations and analyzes the energy efficiency of flow control methods. Specific attention is also given to the selection of motor types, sizing and pump duty cycle. A comparative energy analysis is performed on the hot water discharge adjustment using throttling control valves and variable-speed drives in a district heating station constructed in Romania. To correlate the pumped flow rate with the heat demand and to ensure the necessary pressure using minimum energy, an automatic system has been designed. The performances of these control methods are evaluated in two practical applications. The results show that approximately 20%–50% of total pumping energy could be saved by using the optimal control method with variable-speed pumps. Additionally, some modernization solutions to reduce the environmental impact of heating stations are described.

Suggested Citation

  • Ioan Sarbu & Emilian Stefan Valea, 2015. "Energy Savings Potential for Pumping Water in District Heating Stations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-15, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:5:p:5705-5719:d:49339
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Guelpa, Elisa & Verda, Vittorio, 2021. "Demand response and other demand side management techniques for district heating: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    2. Wang, Hai & Wang, Haiying & Haijian, Zhou & Zhu, Tong, 2017. "Optimization modeling for smart operation of multi-source district heating with distributed variable-speed pumps," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 1247-1262.
    3. Ioan Sarbu & Matei Mirza & Daniel Muntean, 2022. "Integration of Renewable Energy Sources into Low-Temperature District Heating Systems: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-28, September.
    4. Vivian, Jacopo & Quaggiotto, Davide & Zarrella, Angelo, 2020. "Increasing the energy flexibility of existing district heating networks through flow rate variations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    5. Guelpa, Elisa & Verda, Vittorio, 2020. "Automatic fouling detection in district heating substations: Methodology and tests," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    6. Rogger José Andrade-Cedeno & Jesús Alberto Pérez-Rodríguez & Carlos David Amaya-Jaramillo & Ciaddy Gina Rodríguez-Borges & Yolanda Eugenia Llosas-Albuerne & José David Barros-Enríquez, 2022. "Numerical Study of Constant Pressure Systems with Variable Speed Electric Pumps," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-22, March.
    7. Guelpa, E. & Capone, M. & Sciacovelli, A. & Vasset, N. & Baviere, R. & Verda, V., 2023. "Reduction of supply temperature in existing district heating: A review of strategies and implementations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PB).
    8. Duquette, Jean & Rowe, Andrew & Wild, Peter, 2016. "Thermal performance of a steady state physical pipe model for simulating district heating grids with variable flow," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 383-393.
    9. Jing Lin & Boqiang Lin, 2016. "How Much CO 2 Emissions Can Be Reduced in China’s Heating Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-16, July.
    10. Soleimani, Borhan & Keihan Asl, Dariush & Estakhr, Javad & Seifi, Ali Reza, 2022. "Integrated optimization of multi-carrier energy systems: Water-energy nexus case," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    11. Xu, Wei & Chen, Genglin & Shi, Huijin & Zhang, Pengcheng & Chen, Xuemei, 2023. "Research on operational characteristics of coal power centrifugal fans at off-design working conditions based on flap-angle adjustment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    12. Zheming Tong & Jiage Xin & Chengzhen Ling, 2021. "Many-Objective Hybrid Optimization Method for Impeller Profile Design of Low Specific Speed Centrifugal Pump in District Energy Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-19, September.

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