Enhancing Efficiency and Feasibility of Large-Scale Thermal Energy Storage In District Heating

Description

Large-scale thermal energy storage (TES) plays a crucial role in the expansion of renewables-based district heating (R-DH) effectively bridging the gap in the seasonal mismatch between heating demand and renewable energy availability. This study establishes a techno-economic analysis framework incorporating key performance indicators such as energy and exergy efficiency. Economic feasibility is assessed through TES specific costs leading to the use of levelized cost of stored heat (LCOS) as a practical measure for techno-economic analysis.

For the investigation, validated numerical, multiphysics simulation models are utilized. The work investigates the role of insulation installation on the specific cost and the techno-economic impact of such TES systems. The work further examines the role of groundwater flow in TES surrounding on the performance and costs these stores. Furthermore, the work pays considerable attention to the role of DH temperature level, groundwater flow and, therefore, these are other aspects being under investigation.

The outcomes highlight the advantage of pyramid-shaped insulation distribution over conventional installation within the TES envelope. Furthermore, the outcomes reveal that the presence of groundwater in TES surroundings leads to a notable increase in the specific costs of TES due to the additional requirements needed to reduce the TES-groundwater impact. As a result, an increase in the LCOS leading to a necessity of optimization as this is addressed as well.

Period	26 Sept 2024
Event title	BauSIM 2024
Event type	Conference
Conference number	10
Location	Vienna, AustriaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International