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A master's thesis from Aalborg University
Book cover


Economic Production Balancing of District Heating Portfolio

Translated title

Balanceregulering af fjernvarmeproduktion

Author

Term

4. term

Publication year

2015

Submitted on

Pages

93

Abstract

Dette speciale undersøger, om en balanceringskontrol baseret på modelprædiktiv regulering (MPC) kan skabe økonomisk optimal drift i en portefølje af fjernvarmeproduktionsenheder, samtidig med at alle forbrugerkrav og fysiske begrænsninger overholdes. Der udvikles producent- og forbrugermodeller for fjernvarme i Modelica og de anvendes sammen med MATLAB/Simulink til simulering og controllerdesign. MPC-problemet formuleres i to sammenhængende dele: at holde trykket i distributionsnettet og at minimere produktionsomkostninger (brændselsforbrug), begge under hensyntagen til systemets begrænsninger. Formålet er at øge fleksibiliteten og understøtte integrationen af grøn energi i varmesektoren. Simulationsresultaterne indikerer, at det er muligt at designe en controller, som kan opretholde de nødvendige driftsbetingelser og samtidig reducere brændselsomkostningerne. Dog havde den lineære prædiktionsmodel vanskeligt ved at forudsige de stærkt ikke-lineære dynamikker i fjernvarmesystemet, og der blev anvendt afbødende tiltag for at håndtere dette. Arbejdet omfatter analyse af energihandelsmarkeder, modeludvikling, implementering af kontrolstrategien med måledata samt en diskussion af resultaterne.

This thesis investigates whether a model predictive control (MPC) based balancing controller can achieve economically optimal operation in a portfolio of district heating production units while meeting all consumer demands and physical constraints. Producer and consumer models for district heating are developed in Modelica and used with MATLAB/Simulink for simulation and controller design. The MPC problem is formulated in two coupled parts: maintaining pressure in the distribution network and minimizing production (fuel) costs, both subject to system limits. The approach aims to increase flexibility and support the integration of green energy in the heating sector. Simulation results indicate that it is possible to design a controller that maintains required operating conditions while reducing fuel costs. However, the linear prediction model struggled to capture the strongly nonlinear dynamics of the district heating system, and mitigation measures were introduced to address this. The work includes analysis of energy trading markets, model development, controller implementation using measurement data, and discussion of the results.

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