Economic Evaluation and Simulation for the Hasselt Case Study: Thermochemical District Network Technology vs. Alternative Technologies for Heating

Thermochemical-technology has high potential for utilizing surplus heat from industrial processes and renewables. This paper examines the economic potential and thermochemical-technology behavior at a network level. The city of Hasselt (Belgium), was chosen as a case study for technology application...

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Main Authors: Muhannad Delwati, Ahmed Ammar, Philipp Geyer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-04-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/7/1260
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spelling doaj-b1897c022ee94421a41d2f27b3071de22020-11-24T21:49:07ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732019-04-01127126010.3390/en12071260en12071260Economic Evaluation and Simulation for the Hasselt Case Study: Thermochemical District Network Technology vs. Alternative Technologies for HeatingMuhannad Delwati0Ahmed Ammar1Philipp Geyer2Architectural Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 1-box 2431, 3001 Leuven, BelgiumArchitectural Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 1-box 2431, 3001 Leuven, BelgiumArchitectural Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 1-box 2431, 3001 Leuven, BelgiumThermochemical-technology has high potential for utilizing surplus heat from industrial processes and renewables. This paper examines the economic potential and thermochemical-technology behavior at a network level. The city of Hasselt (Belgium), was chosen as a case study for technology application due to its typical mid-European urban structure. An integrated heating system was proposed which transports energy potential from available surplus-heat sources to the demand side over long distances by a thermochemical-district-heating network, which serves for building heating with heat-pump assistance. A dynamic simulation model of the thermochemical-technology was developed using the experiments and Hasselt data to determine the technology’s energy performance. To examine the technology’s feasibility in the context of a large district energy network, an economic and environmental evaluation of the thermochemical-technology was performed. To compare key economic parameters between our integrated technology and other heating systems a sensitivity analysis to identify favorable market-conditions for wider deployment of the proposed technology was performed. The simulations indicated a 72% reduction of heat-pump heating energy usage as a benefit of the thermochemical system. Network pumping-energy and thermochemical-fluid mass were found via simulation to be 80 kWh and 300 tons, respectively. In comparison to domestic-gas-boilers, the proposed technology shows 95% lower carbon emissions, however at 37% higher annualized cost.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/7/1260thermochemical district heating networksimulation of thermochemical absorption processesspace heatingheat energyeconomic evaluationcase study
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Muhannad Delwati
Ahmed Ammar
Philipp Geyer
spellingShingle Muhannad Delwati
Ahmed Ammar
Philipp Geyer
Economic Evaluation and Simulation for the Hasselt Case Study: Thermochemical District Network Technology vs. Alternative Technologies for Heating
Energies
thermochemical district heating network
simulation of thermochemical absorption processes
space heating
heat energy
economic evaluation
case study
author_facet Muhannad Delwati
Ahmed Ammar
Philipp Geyer
author_sort Muhannad Delwati
title Economic Evaluation and Simulation for the Hasselt Case Study: Thermochemical District Network Technology vs. Alternative Technologies for Heating
title_short Economic Evaluation and Simulation for the Hasselt Case Study: Thermochemical District Network Technology vs. Alternative Technologies for Heating
title_full Economic Evaluation and Simulation for the Hasselt Case Study: Thermochemical District Network Technology vs. Alternative Technologies for Heating
title_fullStr Economic Evaluation and Simulation for the Hasselt Case Study: Thermochemical District Network Technology vs. Alternative Technologies for Heating
title_full_unstemmed Economic Evaluation and Simulation for the Hasselt Case Study: Thermochemical District Network Technology vs. Alternative Technologies for Heating
title_sort economic evaluation and simulation for the hasselt case study: thermochemical district network technology vs. alternative technologies for heating
publisher MDPI AG
series Energies
issn 1996-1073
publishDate 2019-04-01
description Thermochemical-technology has high potential for utilizing surplus heat from industrial processes and renewables. This paper examines the economic potential and thermochemical-technology behavior at a network level. The city of Hasselt (Belgium), was chosen as a case study for technology application due to its typical mid-European urban structure. An integrated heating system was proposed which transports energy potential from available surplus-heat sources to the demand side over long distances by a thermochemical-district-heating network, which serves for building heating with heat-pump assistance. A dynamic simulation model of the thermochemical-technology was developed using the experiments and Hasselt data to determine the technology’s energy performance. To examine the technology’s feasibility in the context of a large district energy network, an economic and environmental evaluation of the thermochemical-technology was performed. To compare key economic parameters between our integrated technology and other heating systems a sensitivity analysis to identify favorable market-conditions for wider deployment of the proposed technology was performed. The simulations indicated a 72% reduction of heat-pump heating energy usage as a benefit of the thermochemical system. Network pumping-energy and thermochemical-fluid mass were found via simulation to be 80 kWh and 300 tons, respectively. In comparison to domestic-gas-boilers, the proposed technology shows 95% lower carbon emissions, however at 37% higher annualized cost.
topic thermochemical district heating network
simulation of thermochemical absorption processes
space heating
heat energy
economic evaluation
case study
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/7/1260
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AT ahmedammar economicevaluationandsimulationforthehasseltcasestudythermochemicaldistrictnetworktechnologyvsalternativetechnologiesforheating
AT philippgeyer economicevaluationandsimulationforthehasseltcasestudythermochemicaldistrictnetworktechnologyvsalternativetechnologiesforheating
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