Modelling and optimising the marginal expansion of an existing district heating network

Although district heating networks have a key role to play in tackling greenhouse gas emissions associated with urban energy systems, little work has been carried out on district heating networks expansion in the literature. The present article develops a methodology to find the best district heatin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energy (Oxford) 2017-12, Vol.140, p.209-223
Main Authors: Delangle, Axelle, Lambert, Romain S.C., Shah, Nilay, Acha, Salvador, Markides, Christos N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case studies
District heating
District heating network expansion
Emissions
Emissions control
Energy
Expansion
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Heating
Integer programming
Investment schedule
Low carbon heat
Mixed-integer linear programming
Networks
Optimization
Studies
Viability
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Summary:Although district heating networks have a key role to play in tackling greenhouse gas emissions associated with urban energy systems, little work has been carried out on district heating networks expansion in the literature. The present article develops a methodology to find the best district heating network expansion strategy under a set of given constraints. Using a mixed-integer linear programming approach, the model developed optimises the future energy centre operation by selecting the best mix of technologies to achieve a given purpose (e.g. cost savings maximisation or greenhouse gas emissions minimisation). Spatial expansion features are also considered in the methodology. Applied to a case study, the model demonstrates that depending on the optimisation performed, some building connection strategies have to be prioritised. Outputs also prove that district heating schemes' financial viability may be affected by the connection scenario chosen, highlighting the necessity of planning strategies for district heating networks. The proposed approach is highly flexible as it can be adapted to other district heating network schemes and modified to integrate more aspects and constraints. •A novel methodology evaluates the marginal expansion of district heating networks.•MILP optimisation model either maximizes profit or minimizes CO2 emissions.•The model selects and operates the best mix of technologies to run the network.•The pipes layout is also optimised; model tested on a real case study.•Results show the influence of connection strategies on investment schedules.
ISSN:0360-5442
1873-6785
DOI:10.1016/j.energy.2017.08.066