Heat Generation
Heat load demand, generation concepts, energy storage and efficiency
Heat generation determines the efficiency, emissions and economics of a thermal network. From establishing the heat load demand through choosing the generation technology to integrating thermal storage, the supply side governs the seasonal efficiency of the whole system. This topic area covers load assessment, technology comparison, storage sizing and the evaluation of efficiency ratings.
4 articles in this category
Heat Load Demand and Load Profile
How is the heat load demand of a thermal network determined? Load curves, annual load duration curves and full-load hours
Heat Generation in Thermal Networks
Overview of heat generation technologies: Wood boilers, heat pumps, solar thermal, geothermal, waste heat and CHP in comparison
Thermal Energy Storage
Thermal energy storage for district heating networks: Sensible, latent and thermochemical storage technologies compared. Design and application areas.
Efficiency Ratings and Assessment
Definition and assessment of efficiency ratings in thermal networks: Instantaneous and annual utilization efficiency, weighted assessment of heat and electricity
Overview: Heat Generation
This topic area covers the supply side of thermal networks: how much capacity must be provided, with which technologies, and how their efficiency can be assessed. Every generation concept starts with the heat load demand and load profile. Building heating loads, domestic hot water demand, simultaneity and network losses yield the annual load duration curve against which base-load and peak-load generators are sized.
The overview of heat generation classifies common generation technologies by temperature level, capacity range and operating limits, and shows how base-load and peak-load concepts are structured. Thermal energy storage decouples generation and consumption in time: it smooths load peaks, extends run times and increases the usable share of fluctuating sources. Storage size and generator capacity therefore have to be dimensioned together.
To compare variants, the article on efficiency ratings distinguishes efficiency from utilisation ratio, gross from net values, covers plants with power generation and explains the performance of heat pumps. The results feed directly into the economic analysis and into the choice of network temperatures, since heat pumps, for example, operate considerably more efficiently at low supply temperatures.