Integrated energy system (IES) in industrial parks is pivotal to China's carbon neutrality path, where steam plays a critical role as an energy carrier and raw materials in the production process. Utilization of the thermal inertia of steam systems may become a means to address challenges in industrial park IES dispatch.
Recently, Professor Wei Zhong from College of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, and Shanghai Institute for Advanced Study, Zhejiang University, and his collaborators proposed a dynamic hydraulic analytical model (DHAM) of steam systems reflecting the spatial and temporal transportation of steam by introducing the reference temperature and momentum linearization assumptions.
The author developed a steam thermal inertia model (STIM) comprising of five storage key parameters and two indexes to quantify the thermal inertia based on DHAM.
The methodology of DHAM and STIM.
They also illustrated the iterative calculation methods of DHAM-STIM coupling model.
Flow chart of coupling DHAM and STIM.
Two steam systems in China were selected as demo cases. A 24-node steam system in an industrial park in Shaoxing city demonstrated that the relative error is less than 3%, achieving high accuracy, which verified the effectiveness of DHAM. A thermal inertia of a 163-node steam system in two operation conditions was quantified and compared, and the analysis revealed that the actual system had s short scheduling cycle and STIM continues to charge and discharge during this cycle. The results indicated that the steam system had a net maximum heat storage capacity of 7440.30 kg, with a satisfaction rate of 1, suggesting that STIM has ample storage potential and was capable of meeting the daily steam dispatch demand in full. The positive utilization rate of STIM was lower than 3%, indicating that the majority of the thermal inertia of the steam system is not used for steam dispatch.
In summary, the authors developed a DHAM that revealed the transportation dynamics of steam systems and provided a calculation basis for thermal inertia quantification. They also proposed a STIM evaluating the thermal inertia of steam networks in terms of energy storage potential and utilization, thus increasing understanding of steam thermal inertia. They further introduced satisfaction and utilization rates to comprehensively evaluate the dynamic thermal inertia of steam dispatch, which could be used to optimize integrated energy systems that consider steam dynamics and inertia.
The work was published in Journal of Cleaner Production, and could be accessed at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652623010223.
About Professor Zhong
Professor Wei Zhong is the deputy director of the Institute of Thermal Science and Power Systems, Energy Engineering College and deputy director of Power Engineering Center, Polytechnic Institute of Zhejiang University. He is currently a member of the China Urban Heating Association Technical Committee, a member of the Standing Committee of the Standardization Committee of the China Urban Heating Association, and an Adjunct Professor of Shanghai Institute for Advanced Study of Zhejiang University (SIAS).
His research interests include smart energy system, complex thermal hydraulic system modeling and simulation, thermal system engineering, cyber-physical system, model predictive control, artificial intelligence, industrial big data and other thermal energy engineering and information technologies. He is also interested in optimization and control of heating system in future smart cities, district integrated energy system regulation, circular economy and industrial ecology, power plant (industrial boiler) performance design and simulation, and smart power plant engineering application technology researches.
Dr Zhong serves in the editorial board of District Heating and has been awarded more than 10 provincial and ministerial-level scientific and technological progress awards. So far he has undertaken more than 100 major projects including the National Key R&D Project, the Provincial Natural Science Funding Project and other enterprise cooperate projects.
About SIAS
Shanghai Institute for Advanced Study of Zhejiang University (SIAS) is a jointly launched new institution of research and development by Shanghai Municipal Government and Zhejiang University in June, 2020. The platform represents an intersection of technology and economic development, serving as a market leading trail blazer to cultivate a novel community for innovation amongst enterprises.
SIAS is seeking top talents working on the frontiers of computational sciences who can envision and actualize a research program that will bring out new solutions to areas include, but not limited to, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Biology, Computational Engineering and Fintech.