Comparing strategies for improving thermal performance of an existing district heating (DH) network: low temperature DH in Omsk, Russia

In Russia district heating (DH) systems are characterized by the high wear-out rate of key facilities, particularly energy distribution networks and plants, the inadequate reliability of operation, significant heat losses, and the polluting impact on the environment. The objective of this paper is to indicate the feasibility and advantage of the renovation on a traditional high-temperature DH network. All the calculations are performed in Zulu©, Russian commercial software for simulation of a district energy system’s behavior. Reference operational data for the DH system was obtained from database established by the local heat supply company in the form of Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet file. The second idea (Case-2) envisages installing a heat pump and increasing the supply temperature in peak load periods during the heating season to limit a size of a heat pump. Case-3 and -4 are related to installing in-room terminal units and operating the system ‘as is’ respectively. Terminal units include consoles, fan-coils, blower coils, furnaces, chimneys, and radiant panels. The fifth option introduces low temperature district heating (LTDH) concept representing a paradigm shift in DH development and features a low supply temperature and smart control. When designing all errors should be less than local regulations allowable for each object. Presented research revealed that the issue of modernisation in Omsk, Russia cannot be easily and clear resolved. The future state-determination of results of DH network retrofitting is innovatively proposed in this paper