Feasibility study of collector-distributor district heating system

Abstract

One of the ways to improve efficiency of district heating systems is to use thermohydraulic dispatchers (THD) along with distributed variable speed pumps (DVSP) for reducing electricity consumption. First part of this paper deals with the application of THD at consumers to evaluate its technical and economic advantages. Although the result of the analysis shows that savings are quite small for Moscow conditions, the solution still might be applicable due to low additional capital expenditures. The second part of the paper uses the obtained result and summarizes previous works in this field to introduce collector-distributor district heating system which extensively incorporates THD and DVSP. Feasibility study of the proposed system was performed in comparison with a conventional district heating system. Electricity saving potential of collector-distributor district heating system is estimated to be 42-129 MW*hr/yr, while discounted payback period of additional capital expenditures is less than 2 years.