An optimization procedure for district heating networks

The drive for achieving high values of fuel utilization factor, in the last years, has led to an increasing attention to combined heat and power (CHP) plants. In this scenario, the district heating allows to achieve high conversion efficiencies by centralizing in few large power plants the need of thermal energy in household sector. The power plants that feed the District Heating Networks (DHNs) usually work by combined heat and power set-up. District Heating Networks have found a large development after the World War II. The main advantage of DHNs is the reduction of pollutant and thermal emissions in the city area. Further, the large use of DHNs increases the safety, due to the absence of combustion systems at the final users of thermal energy. For the same reason also the transportation of fuel in the city area can be drastically reduced by the use of DHNs. On the basis of the previous observations, in this study a technical-economical optimization procedure for DHN design is presented in order to both minimize the pumping energy consumption and the thermal energy losses on one hand and maximize the yearly annual revenue on the other hand.