Prosumer Based District Heating Model

The entire industry, including central heating, is currently being transformed into its 4th generation. In addition to technical and technological changes, it is also necessary to adapt simulation models to this. This article introduces the model that is being developed at the presenter's workplace. Proposed model incorporates prosumer elements - objects that do not have to have a fixed role, i.e. be a producer or consumer of energy, but this role can be variable over time. The concretely implemented solution in the model can be called a pulling variant of the plug flow. In this variant, heat-carrying plugs are pulled into prosumer objects. The model parameters were set based on the real system of the local DH operator. Based on its operational data, the model was therefore tested and validated. Its behaviour was monitored for parameters: heat loss and transport delay in the pipelines. The experiment that will be described in this article shows the behaviour of the model in a situation where the heat demand on the consumption side is known and it is necessary to determine the course of the load for producers over time. The results achieved by the pull plug flow model are satisfactory, the consistency between the measured values and the simulation results are very promising.