Integrating existing water and wastewater assets to reduce domestic heating emissions

A study was undertaken to explore opportunities for achieving reducing greenhouse gas emissions from UK domestic heating by using existing drinking water and wastewater assets as energy storage and recovery mechanisms, coupled with modest local renewable energy generation. The sensitivity of the solutions to future projections for domestic heating demands and climate change effects was explored. Simulations optimised the available energy supply, potential for storage, heat recovery and heat demand to minimise emissions at a scale that could be adopted in most UK towns. The approach may be able to deliver significant emissions reductions with more limited capital investment than more centralised renewable energy approaches. Results from two UK locations showed that integrated water–energy systems could theoretically reduce emissions by about 50%. Furthermore, the system could satisfy demand for about 70% of the time periods each year. Future scenarios were tested and it was found that the projected annual emissions reduction was similar across all scenarios, suggesting this would be a robust approach.

Operational feasibility assessment of geothermal heat harnessing systems

Renewable energy sources are now essential to establish sustainable development. This paper examines one kind of source the geothermal energy. For geothermal energy when combined with a heat pump COP can be used for evaluation. For solely geothermal sources different approach is needed thus in the paper, a new geothermal heat production coefficient is used to examine the operational feasibility. For the assessment, many hypothetical buildings were created to model their heat demands. Two types of calculation methods are used for heat demand calculation. Based on the results, the maximum depth of a geothermal borehole and economically critical qualitative coefficient was concluded.

Evaluation of Heat Decarbonization Strategies and Their Impact on the Irish Gas Network

Decarbonization of the heating sector is essential to meet the ambitious goals of the Paris Climate Agreement for 2050. However, poorly insulated buildings and industrial processes with high and intermittent heating demand will still require traditional boilers that burn fuel to avoid excessive burden on electrical networks. Therefore, it is important to assess the impact of residential, commercial, and industrial heat decarbonization strategies on the distribution and transmission gas networks. Using building energy models in EnergyPlus, the progressive decarbonization of gas-fueled heating was investigated by increasing insulation in buildings and increasing the efficiency of gas boilers. Industrial heat decarbonization was evaluated through a progressive move to lower-carbon fuel sources using MATLAB. The results indicated a maximum decrease of 19.9% in natural gas utilization due to the buildings’ thermal retrofits. This, coupled with a move toward the electrification of heat, will reduce volumes of gas being transported through the distribution gas network. However, the decarbonization of the industrial heat demand with hydrogen could result in up to a 380% increase in volumetric flow rate through the transmission network. A comparison between the decarbonization of domestic heating through gas and electrical heating is also carried out. The results indicated that gas networks can continue to play an essential role in the decarbonized energy systems of the future.

Mapping Bio-CO2 and Wind Resources for Decarbonized Steel, E-Methanol and District Heat Production in the Bothnian Bay

Hydrogen is a versatile feedstock for various chemical and industrial processes, as well as an energy carrier. Dedicated hydrogen infrastructure is envisioned to conceptualize in hydrogen valleys, which link together the suppliers and consumers of hydrogen, heat, oxygen, and electricity. One potential hydrogen valley is the Bay of Bothnia, located in the northern part of the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden. The region is characterized as having excellent wind power potential, a strong forest cluster with numerous pulp and paper mills, and significant iron ore and steel production. The study investigates the hydrogen-related opportunities in the region, focusing on infrastructural requirements, flexibility, and co-operation of different sectors. The study found that local wind power capacity is rapidly increasing and will eventually enable the decarbonization of the steel sector in the area, along with moderate Power-to-X implementation. In such case, the heat obtained as a by-product from the electrolysis of hydrogen would greatly exceed the combined district heat demand of the major cities in the area. To completely fulfil its district heat demand, the city of Oulu was simulated to require 0.5–1.2 GW of electrolyser capacity, supported by heat pumps and optionally with heat storages.

Peak Power of Heat Source for Domestic Hot Water Preparation (DHW) for Residential Estate in Poland as a Representative Case Study for the Climate of Central Europe

Due to the energy transformation in buildings, the proportions of energy consumption for heating, ventilation and domestic hot water preparation (DHW) have changed. The latter component can now play a significant role, not only in the context of the annual heat demand, but also in the context of selecting the peak power of the heat source. In this paper, the comparison of chosen methods for its calculation is presented. The results show that for contemporary residential buildings, the peak power for DHW preparation can achieve the same or higher value as the peak power for heating and ventilation. For this reason, nowadays the correct selection of the peak power of a heat source for DHW purposes becomes more important, especially if it uses renewable energy sources, because it affects its size and so the investment cost and economic efficiency. It is also indicated that in modern buildings, mainly accumulative systems with hot water storage tanks should be taken into account because they are less sensitive to design errors (wrongly selected peak value in the context of the uncertainty of hot water consumption) and because they result in acceptable value of peak power for DHW in comparison to heating and ventilation.

Towards Sustainable Heat Supply with Decentralized Multi-Energy Systems by Integration of Subsurface Seasonal Heat Storage

In the energy transition, multi-energy systems are crucial to reduce the temporal, spatial and functional mismatch between sustainable energy supply and demand. Technologies as power-to-heat (PtH) allow flexible and effective utilisation of available surplus green electricity when integrated with seasonal heat storage options. However, insights and methods for integration of PtH and seasonal heat storage in multi-energy systems are lacking. Therefore, in this study, we developed methods for improved integration and control of a high temperature aquifer thermal energy storage (HT-ATES) system within a decentralized multi-energy system. To this end, we expanded and integrated a multi-energy system model with a numerical hydro-thermal model to dynamically simulate the functioning of several HT-ATES system designs for a case study of a neighbourhood of 2000 houses. Results show that the integration of HT-ATES with PtH allows 100% provision of the yearly heat demand, with a maximum 25% smaller heat pump than without HT-ATES. Success of the system is partly caused by the developed mode of operation whereby the heat pump lowers the threshold temperature of the HT-ATES, as this increases HT-ATES performance and decreases the overall costs of heat production. Overall, this study shows that the integration of HT-ATES in a multi-energy system is suitable to match annual heat demand and supply, and to increase local sustainable energy use.

Volcanic Tuff as Secondary Raw Material in the Production of Clay Bricks

The present work examines an innovative manufacturing technique for fired clay bricks, using tuff as a secondary raw material. Samples were made of clay and tuff (0–30 wt.%) fired at 900 to 1100 °C. The chemical and mineralogical compositions and physical and thermal analyses of raw materials were investigated by using SEM-EDS, RX and DTA-TG curves. The samples were analysed from the mineralogical, technological and mechanical points of view. The result show that the tuff’s presence in the clay mixtures considerably reduced the shrinkage of the product during the firing process, and the manufactured samples were of excellent quality. The compressive strength of the bricks varied from 5–35.3MPa, being influenced by the tuff content, clay matrix properties and firing temperatures. Finally, the heat demand for increasing the temperature from room to the firing temperature of the sample with 10% tuff content was 22%.