Early-stage Feasibility Study of an Ambient-temperature District Thermal Network: A Case Study in Denmark
Abstract
District heating systems have been used for space heating and domestic hot water since the 1880s. Since then, the efficiency of these systems has been improved continuously. The aim of this work is to conduct an early-stage feasibility study to calculate the energy performance of an ambient-temperature district heating and cooling system serving a new urban area located in Denmark. Dynamic energy simulation models of buildings and district network components were developed using Modelica. Results show that primary energy savings of about 40% can be achieved in comparison to a traditional DH network. This is mainly due to the ability of decentralized heat pumps to adapt the temperature of heat distribution to different uses.