Control and operation mode concepts for district heating

District heating networks are currently undergoing a massive change. Existing district heating networks are increasingly being modified in such a way that energy conversion is distributed more decentrally in the network. Plus, temperatures in the network have to be lowered. New types of district heating networks (such as ultra-low district heating networks) take it one step further and convert the energy to the required temperature level at the user's end. These changes pose new challenges for the operation of thermal networks.

With our Digital Twin, we can validate new control concepts in your heating network without interfering with the actual operation. For this purpose, we build a Digital Twin of the energy system and calibrate our model with measurement data. Our detailed model then allows us to evaluate new control concepts and perform sensitivity and risk analysis.

For example, in the case of a temperature reduction, we not only evaluate the savings due to lower network losses, but also show how the operation of the pumps changes, whether the network can continue to be operated hydraulically, and which substations have the greatest influence on the return temperature. We also model the generation structures in detail, so we couple the availability of different components directly with the thermal network and the demands of the buildings and thus optimize the use of the generators. In doing so, we also take into account the sector coupling of your own PV system.