Ei IE| ,G't

ELSEVIER

:JUILDII IGEnergy and Buildings 28 (1998) 317-322

Supply water temperature regulation problems in district heating network with both direct and indirect connection
Branislav Jaclmovlc
!

a,,, Branislav Zlvkovlc a, Srbislav Genid Predrag Zekonja b

v.

.p

aFaculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universityof Belgrade, 27 Marta 80, 27 Belgrade, Yugoslavia bBelgrade Municipal DH, Dunavski kej 33, Belgrade, Yugoslavia

Abstract

General form of equations for hot water temperature in house installation and district heating system according to the outside temperature are well known. The influence of heat exchanger type and its fouling on heat output in DH system is experimentally determined. When both direct and indirect connections are applied to the same district heating network, certain exploitation problems have been noticed due to real behavior of heat exchangers. Two technical possibilities are discussed in order to overcome problems. 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
Keywords: District heating; Direct connection; Indirect connection; Heat exchanger; Supply water temperature; Qualitative regulation

1. The consumer (house) installation

Control of space thermal conditions in buildings at the desired level, within predicted tolerance, is realized through regulation of radiator heat output to satisfy current thermal demands. In central hot water heating system, frequent is the application of qualitative control, i.e., change in supply water temperature under constant fluid flow. Determination of water temperature necessary for heating, under certain exploitation conditions, is accompanied with following assumptions. Heat losses of heated objects are linear function of outdoor temperature (heat accumulation of heated objects is neglected, heating system operates at steady-state conditions, overall heat transfer coefficients through building envelope are constant during the heating season). Heat losses due to infiltration depend only on the outdoor temperature (constant wind direction and velocity). Indoor temperature is constant (perfectregulation, with no heating breaks), thus the radiator heat output is equal to instantaneous heat losses. Under these conditions, required supply water temperature and return water temperature in consumer's installation, as the function of the outdoor temperature, depend on the following: nominal (design) temperature of hot water tsN"/trN";
* Corresponding author. Tel.: + 381 33 70363; fax: + 381 33 70364.

indoor temperature; thermal characteristics of heat emitting unit 'm'. Supply and return water temperatures in secondary loop (outdoor/indoor reset schedule, so-called 'sliding diagram' in secondary loop) are [1] as follows. (a) Supply water temperature:
ts,, =AtmN,,z l/m + 2 At N Z +ti
1 t~

(1)

(b) Return water temperature:

tr"=AtmN"Z l / m - ~ At N Z + t i
1 tr

(2)

where parameter Z is defined as:

Z - - ti--t
ti--toN

(3)

In Belgrade district heating (DH) system, design (nominal) outdoor temperature is toN}------ 15C and indoor temperature is ti -- 20C. Secondary loop temperature for design conditions is taken as 90/70C and cast-iron radiators are commonly used as heat emitting units (exponent m = 4/3). For these conditions characteristic hot water temperatures in consumers installation are: ts"=6 2U--to ~ +1 --~
-

+20

(4) (5)

2 3/4 ,, [ 0-to'~ 1/20-to~ /r = 6 0 ~ - " ~ ) - 0~-"~)+20

0378-7788/98/$ - see front matter 1998ElsevierScience S.A. All rights reserved.

Pl1S0378-7788(98)00008-5

318

B. Jadimovic et al. / Energy and Buildings 28 (1998) 317-322

140 130

2. District heating system---direct connection If consumers installation is directly connected to DH system, variation in hot water temperature in piping network ( 'sliding diagram' of primary loop) should provide temperature variation in secondary loop according to Eq. (1), i.e. Eq. (4). In DH system with direct connection, primary and secondary side of installation are not physically separated. As water temperature in primary loop is higher than in consumer's installation, primary supply water and secondary return water are mutually mixed to reach the desired temperature of secondary supply water (Fig. 1). When DH system operates with constant water flow rate, constant mixing rate of primary and secondary water is adopted. This mixing may be realized through mixing link (Fig. la), in which case supply water temperature in hot water network should be [ 1 ] :

, ! ,
~ n

, , , ,
. -r . . . i-r-,
+ i i i

+, ~,
l ,. . .r-~-r .
i ~ i i

, , , v
.... -~-,-,4 i i i

, , , , i , vv
1 ,. .r ., . r-~,,-~---' . . .
i i i i i i i

I -,-r-,-,-

, i

ll0Lq-:ki-! i00

i.

~
:::'4"]',i

'

Z
',1:
i i i t L

', - ~
."5::
i + i i .... . i . i

: :',:'I::;'
i

,
801

....

i i

i i

....
i

i i , i

i i

i "1 i i ~

L.2~I
i

~ i i

t _

]~ i , ~

70 "-i-! i i ]
i i

i n

--

- [ - ~
I I I I ~ ~ I I

,0
30

,f--1-r-:-7-i-I
r i I I ~-~-~-!-, -,- ~-,

20 .......
o

',' ', : ', i

', ', ', : ' I ', i ', ......

i:i:
15 10 5 0 -5 t o [C] in hot water network for -10

ts, =AtmN,,Z~/m+(AtN, - ~AtN 1 ,,~ ~Z+ti

-15

(6)
Fig. design 2. 'Sliding regime diagram' of

Outside tmperatme water temperature

In case of DH system 140/70C under design conditions, mostly used by Belgrade Municipal DH, required change of supply and return water temperature in hot water network (outdoor/indoor reset schedule, or ' sliding diagram' of primary loop) is shown in Fig. 2. Type of heat emitting units and design conditions are adequate for water temperature in house installation used in the example. Another technical solution for direct connection is presented in Fig. 1b. If three-way mixing valve is placed between hot water network and consumer' s installation, minimal supHeal Emilling

140/70C.

Pipr~Nelwork 1
Loop
Fig.

v I

I Heal

Exchanger /

H O u s e
Loop

4 .... ~---~?i,,;.} .... I _ ~ I

--

'

i___~:_~__~a:~,;a;._y_+ u,,,
connection.

Instatlalion

~ Heat

'<J Emitting

3. DH

system

with

indirect

(~ Unit ts'~L
Pump ts' Mixing

ply water temperature in piping network is equal to the one presented in Fig. 2 for direct connection with mixing link. Due to various rates of mixing provided by mixing valve, supply water temperature could be higher than for installation with mixing link.

1"r"
Secondary

Loop

ii Link

3. District heating system--indirect connection

Piping Network

(a)

re'

Primary Loop Heal Emitling

~) Unit Pump ~Z~ valve ~

Indirect connection in DH system is realized by heat exchanger (HE) placed in substation (Fig. 3). Secondary loop supply water temperature ts" defined by Eq. (1) is provided by primary loop supply water. For countercurrent HE supply, water temperature is given by following equation
[2]:

fr"
SoeCOndary Three-way mixing

op

ts'=tr"+ p

At n
(7)

Is"

Piping Network

and using Eq. (2), this temperature is:

(b)
Fig. 1. D H

lr"

Primary Loop
with direct connection. (a) Mixing link. (b) Three-way

tst~AtmNtrgl/m-~-A,N#(~--~-~-fi
where

(8)

system

mixing

value.

B. Ja6imovic et al. / Energy and Buildings 28 (1998) 317-322

319

P is temperature efficiency parameter of countercurrent HE: I-exp[-(1-R).NTU"]

140 130 120'

w b i t i i , t i ~ i i

i i

i i

* i t

i 7_

i r

~-F~-r

-r~-~-,-

-,-'r-,-r--l-,-~-,---,-~-r~, ....
'
i i I

p= 1-R.exp[-(1-R).NTU"] for R ~ I
NTU" 1 '+~ NTU R is heat capacity ratio R= ~
W"

(9)

.... t .... , .... . . . . . . . . . . .

, , i , t i , l i ~

'
*

;t';
~ i i

~ ' ' ',a~ ; "' '

i i i i i i

..... ' ~ ' '

i ~ i

for R = 1

t ,

i J

, i

i i

~ r " ~ - - 1 J L

i ~

i i

t i

,,,,,~ q

i ,

i i

i i

~ 90 ' : . . . . .

'' '

<' . . . . . .

W'

(10)

i ,
60
30 -qm ~1F ~F / - T i L l-t T q -i7 - I- - iq - C ~ l q l 7 /7

NTU" is the number of transfer units for cold fluid N T U " = US W" (11)

20'-111:'::11'11

..................

If the HE overall heat transfer coefficient is constant over the whole range of outdoor temperature (which is commonly assumed), temperature efficiency parameter is also constant and can be calculated by:
p=

15

10

-5

-10

-15

Outside t m'pm~ur~ t o [C] F i g . 4. ' S l i d i n g d i a g r a m ' f o r w a t e r t e m p e r a t u r e i n h o t w a t e r n e t w o r k f o r

--/rN , ,, tsN -- t ~
tsN

(12)

d e s i g n r e g i m e 140/75(2. Table 1 Average values of a

Considering hot water DH system 140/75C, ( Ate" = 20C and P = 0.2857), and previously mentioned characteristic values in house installation, appropriate temperature of supply and return water in primary loop, as the function of outside temperature, are presented in Fig. 4. As expected, supply water temperature is identical in both cases presented in Figs. 2 and 4 [2] : is'=6 ~ 3/4+6 ~ +20

HE type Shell and tube HE with straight tubes Shell and tube HE with helical tubes Plate HE

Fouled HE -4.5 -5.0 - 17.0

Clean HE - 14 - 14 -23

which means that both direct (140/70C) and indirect ( 140/ 75C) systems may be connected to the same DH network. However, above noted assumption for constant HE overall heat transfer coefficient over the heating season is found not to be true, due to change in primary and secondary loop temperatures, which significantly affect water thermophysical properties (primarily viscosity). This causes the decrease of HE duty with the increase of outdoor temperature, so the HE overall heat transfer coefficient is not constant, while 'sliding diagram' in Fig. 4 is determined with constant U value. According to experimentally obtained results, the following linear relation was found [ 3 ] :

U=UN-a(toN--to)

(14)

Table 1 shows empirical values of the coefficient a. The data are the results of long-term measurements in substations in Belgrade DH system. The term 'clean surface' means that there is no fouling of heat transfer surfaces (clean, metal glance surface). According to numerous measurements, average fouling resistances referred to each surface are 0 . 0 5 )< 1 0 - 3 - - 0 . 2 5 X 1 0 - 3 m 2 K / W , depending on HE type. These fouling resistances significantly decrease thermal performances of HE.

There are three types of HE used in Belgrade: shell and tube HE with straight and helical tubes and plate HE. For shell and tube HE with straight tubes, average value of Uc = 1100 W / ( m 2 K) is obtained, while in case of fouled HE it decreases to Uf = 710 W / ( m 2 K). It means that for the same heat duty, HE surface should be 35% larger if average fouling occurs. In case of shell and tube HE with helical tubes, average value of the overall heat transfer coefficient for clean HE surface is Uc = 1500 W / ( m 2 K), and fouled HE should be 31% larger ( U f = 1035 W / ( m 2 K ) ) . Fouling factor value for plate HE is significantly lower than for shell and tube HE. Typically Uc = 2500 W / ( m 2 K) due to fouling decreases to Us = 2000 W / ( m 2 K). Table 2 and Fig. 5 show relative change of U vs. outdoor temperature, for various types of HE surface fouling (clean and fouled HE). As expected, changes of U vs. outdoor temperature are greater for clean HE.

4. District heating s y s t e m m b o t h direct and indirect connection

In one part of Belgrade (New Belgrade), direct and indirect systems are connected to the same DH network. At the

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B. Jadimovic et al. / Energy and Buildings 28 (1998) 317-322

Table 2 Relative change of overall heat transfer coefficient U~ UN Fouled HE Shell and tube HE with straight tubes a UN -4.5 710 Shell and tube HE with helical tubes -5.0 1035 1.000 0.976 0.952 0.928 0.903 0.879 0.855 Plate HE Clean HE Shell and tube HE with straight tubes - 14.0 i 100 1.000 0.936 0.873 0.809 0.745 0.682 0.618 Shell and tube HE with helical tubes - 14.0 1500 Plate HE

- 17.0 2000 1.000 0.958 0.915 0.873 0.830 0.788 0.745

-23.0 2500

to
- 15 - 10 - 5 0 5 10 15

U/ UN
1.000 0.968 0.937 0.905 0.873 0.842 0.810

1.000
0.953 0.907 0.860 0.813 0.767 0.720

1.000
0.954 0.908 0.862 0.816 0.770 0.724

1.00

:ff 0.80
0.75 I 0.70 0.65 ~ Cleanbe~ ~aanger A1- ShellandtubeHE
with straight tubes B I - Shdl and tube HE

withhelicaltubes CI - PlateHE -I0 -5 0 5 Outsidetealxratu~to [C] 10 15

-15

Fig. 5. HE overall heat transfer coefficient vs. outside temperature, surface fouling and HE type.

time when that part of DH system was built, most of the consumer installations were directly connected (using mixing link) to the DH system. Recently built skyscrapers and buildings in the same part of the town are connected to the DH network by HE (substations with indirect connection). Radiator heat output regulation for directly connected consumers is possible only through central diminishing of supply water temperature in primary loop, which is done in heat plant. Quality of this type of regulation is obviously not so high. On the other hand, indirectly connected consumers require different 'sliding diagram' of supply water due to upward explained real HE thermal performances. The difference in supply water 'sliding diagram' for directly and indirectly connected consumers is shown in Table 3. Shell and tube HE with straight tubes require the greatest modification of supply water temperature in primary loop. There are two possible ways to overcome this situation. (1) Heat plant provides supply water temperature for most 'inconvenient' sliding diagram of primary loop (for shell and tube HE with straight tubes). In such a case, certain overheating occurs in other heating systems: indirectly connected

with other type of HE or directly connected with mixing link (Fig. 1a ), i.e., supply water temperatures in house installation (ts") are higher than required. If the direct connection is provided with mixing valve (Fig. lb), appropriate supply water temperature in secondary loop can be reached using different mixing ratio. (2) Central regulation in heat plant follows the request of direct connection heating system. For this case, for outdoor temperatures higher than nominal, all substations with indirect connection run under insufficient secondary loop temperatures. This problem is partly solved by designing the HE for temperature regimes in primary and secondary loop defined for mean outdoor temperature of heating season (for Belgrade it is + 4C), instead for the nominal conditions (outdoor temperature - 15C). Obviously, this causes that HE duty is lower than required if outdoor temperature is greater than the mean outdoor temperature and HE duty greater than required for outdoor temperatures lower than the mean one. Fig. 6 presents the ratio of heat duty of shell and tube HE with straight tubes with a = - 4 . 5 W / ( m 2 K 2) and required heat duty according to 'sliding diagram'. Underheating at higher outdoor temperatures is very small due to local climate effects. DH system in New Belgrade runs according to qualitative regulation for direct connection, because this kind of consumers installation are still more frequently used [ 4].

5. Conclusion DH primary and secondary loop water temperatures, for direct and indirect connection to DH network, are commonly obtained with following assumptions: heat losses of heated objects are linear function of outdoor temperature; indoor temperature is constant; HE overall heat transfer coefficient is constant. Under these assumptions, directly and indirectly connected consumer installations run under the same temperature of supply water in primary loop during the heating season.

B. Jadimovic et al. / Energy and Buildings 28 (1998) 317-322

Table 3 Required supply water temperature in hot water piping network Direct connection Indirect connection Fouled HE Constant U-value Shell and tube HE, straight tubes - 4.5 710 140.00 137.07 134.14 131.19 128.22 125.24 122.25 119.24 116.21 113.17 111.11 107.03 103.94 100.82 97.68 94.52 91,33 88.13 84,89 81.63 78.33 75.01 71.65 68.25 64.81 61.33 57.79 54.20 50.54 46.80 42.98 Shell and tube HE, helical tubes - 5.0 1035 140.00 137.06 134.10 131.13 128.15 125.15 122.14 119.12 116.08 113.02 109.95 106.86 103.75 100.62 97.48 94.31 91.12 87.90 84.67 81.40 78.11 74.78 71.42 68.03 64.60 61.12 57.59 54.01 50.37 46.65 42.84 Plate HE Clean HE Shell and tube HE, straight tubes - 14.0 1100 140.00 137.16 134.30 131.43 128.54
125.64

321

Shell and tube HE, helical tubes - 14.0 1500 140.00 137.11 134.21 131.30 128.37 125.43 122.46 119.49 116.50 113.48 110.45 107.40 104.33 101.24 98.12 94.98 91.81 88.62 85.40 82.14 78.86 75.53 72.17 68.77 65.32 61.82 58.26 54.64 50.95 47.18 43.31

Plate HE

a UN to - 15 - 14 - 13 - 12 - 11 - 10 -9 -8 -7 -6 - 5 - 4 - 3 -2 - 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

- 17.0 2000 140.00 137.10 134.19 131.27 128.33 125.37 122.40 119.42 116.41 113.39 110.35 107.30 104.22 101.12 97.99 94.85 91.67 88.47 85.25 81.99 78.70 75.38 72.01 68.61 65.16 61.67 58.12 54.51 50.83 47.07 43.21

-23.0 2500 140.00 137.11 134.21 131.29 128.36

125.42

140.00 137.00 133.98 130.96 127.92 124.88 121.82 118.75 115.67 112.58 109.48 106.36 103.22 100.07 96.90 93.72 90.52 87.30 84.05 80.79 77.50 74.18 70.83 67.45 64.04 60.59 57.09 53.55 49.94 46.27 42.51

140.00 137.00 133.98 130.96 127.92 124.88 121.82 118.75 115.67 112.58 109.48 106.36 103.22 100.07 96.90 93.72 90.52 87.30 84.05 80.79 77.50 74.18 70.83 67.45 64.04 60.59 57.09 53.55 49.94 46.27 42.51

122.73 119.79 116.84 113.87 110.88 107.87 104.83 101.78 98.70 95.59 92.45 89.28 86.08 82.85 79.58 76.27 72.91 69.51 66.05 62.54 58.96 55.32 51.59 47.77 43.84

122.46 119.48 116.48 113.47 110.44 107.39 104.31 101.22 98.10 94.96 91.79 88.60 85.37 82.12 78.83 75.51 72.14 68.74 65.29 61.79 58.24 54.62 50.93 47.16 43.30

Practice has shown that HE overall heat transfer coefficient is not constant, which means that direct and indirect connection system in real operating conditions require different ' sliding diagrams' of primary loop (different outdoor/indoor reset schedule). Due to this fact, if both direct and indirect systems are connected to the same network, some operating problems should be expected. There are two solutions for this problem. ( 1 ) Heat plant follows supply water temperature for shell and tube HE with straight tubes, in which case certain over-heating occurs in all other heating systems, except for directly connected with mixing valve; (2) Heat plant follows the request of direct connection heating system with mixing link and HE are designed for water temperature regime defined at mean outdoor temperature of heating season. In this case, consumers with indirect connection are overheated for outdoor temperatures lower than mean and slightly underheated for outdoor temperatures higher than mean.

J 100

-15

-10

-5 0 5 Outsidetmpcrau~ to[q

10

15

Fig. 6. HE duty vs. outside temperature for HE designed for mean outdoor temperature of heating season.

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B. Jadimovic et al. / Energy and Buildings 28 (1998) 317-322

6. Nomenclature a, W/(m 2 K 2) Empirical coefficient Thermal characteristic of heat emitting unit m NTU Number of transfer units P Heat exchanger temperature efficiency parameter Heat exchanger duty OnE, W Heat losses of heated object QHL, W Heat capacity ratio R S, m2 Heat exchanger surface Indoor temperature ti,C Outdoor temperature to,C t, C Water temperature At, C Difference between supply and return water temperatures Difference between mean water Arm, C temperature in heater and indoor temperature U, W / ( m 2 K) Heat exchanger overall heat transfer coefficient Heat capacity W, W/K Subscripts
c

N
r s

Mean Design (nominal) conditions Return water Supply water

Superscripts
I

Primary loop (district heating piping network) Secondary loop (house installation)

References
[ 1] P. Zekonja, B. ~ivkovic, General form of equations for determining 'sliding diagram' in house installation and district heating system with direct connection, J. KGH, Vol. 2, SMEITS, Belgrade (in Serbian), 1996. [2] B. ~ivkovic, P. Zekonja, General form of equations for determining 'sliding diagram' in district heating system with indirect connection, J. KGH, Vol. 3, SMELTS, Belgrade (in Serbian), 1996. [3] B. Ja6imovid, S. Genid, D. Lelea, Qualitative regulation in district heating system and heat exchangers performance prediction, International Symposium of Thermotechnics, Thermal Machines and Road Vehicles, Timisoara, Romania, 1996. [4] H. Recknagel et al., Taschenbuch fOr Heizung und Klimatechnik, Oldenbourg Verlag GmBH, Miinchen, 1994.

Clean heat exchanger surface Fouled heat exchanger surface