The Effects of Lowered Delivery Temperatures in District Heating : A Quantitative Study

Abstract: With development within district heating leading to more incorporation of decentralized production, lowered temperature levels are required to enable these possibilities. Therefore, this study was conducted in collaboration with Fortum with the purpose of investigating and quantifying the effects of lowered delivery temperatures on mass flow and return temperatures. When these effects had been determined, the limiting factors were identified as well as the adjustments needed to enable the lowering delivery temperatures. This study is divided into two sections: a modeling of four type buildings and two case studies of specific areas of the Stockholm district-heating grid. The two sections of the study both use an Excel constructed model to examine the effects of the new proposed delivery temperature levels. The first section uses four type buildings with varying internal temperature levels to display how different secondary systems react to the changes in delivery temperature. The second section contains two case studies of outer parts of the grid where actual buildings are modeled. In the case studies the pipes speeds and secondary systems are analyzed to determine limiting factors for the lowering of the delivery temperatures. Overall this study contributes with quantified results of the effects of four lowered delivery temperature profiles on different customer systems. Analysis of the delivery temperatures showed that the largest change was shifting from the actual delivery temperatures of 2011 to the delivery profile that Fortum currently promised to deliver. The pipes of the studied areas were found not to be a limiting factor even in cases where the when mass flows increased three fold. The greatest limiting factor was determined to be the internal temperatures of the buildings, which set a strict limit and cannot be altered by Fortum without the customers’ cooperation. In conclusion a range of limiting factors were identified that proved to be potential limitations depending on the circumstances of a specific case. Depending on the investment needs in a specific case the economic viability was deemed to most likely be positive. When implementing lowered delivery temperatures in reality it is vital to acquiring data on secondary systems in order to identify the specific limitations of the proposed area. In addition an area of more research on the effects of lowered temperatures on the entirety of the grid as this study only investigates isolated sections.