Can digital twinning improve heat network performance?
The virtual replication of real-life environments is used in many industries to ensure safety and efficiency prior to spending money. Steve Morris, head of maintenance at Insite Energy, explores what it could do for heat networks.
Managing heat networks is a complex business. Optimum approaches vary according to numerous factors including the number of properties served, the equipment used to generate energy, and the type of piping installed. As every heat network is unique, engineering teams can’t always rely on past experience to know what’s needed.
Additionally, the rapid pace of growth in the UK heat network sector is creating a problematic skills gap. The number of engineers with the right training and experience to optimise systems is not yet enough to meet demand.
This ultimately results in poor system performance, driving up bills, carbon emissions and customer dissatisfaction. The stark reality is that most UK heat networks lose 55-65% of their heat before it reaches end-users, making them only half as efficient as the average domestic gas boiler*.
Something needs to change.
From diagnosis to cure
Inefficiency is not easy to pin down, however. Often, the organisation responsible for operating a heat network, A.K.A the heat supplier (usually the building owner), only becomes aware their system is under-performing when bills are sky-high, and equipment faults increase.
And awareness is just the first step. There’s a big difference between understanding something’s wrong and knowing how to fix it.
At Insite Energy, we talk a lot about the importance of continuous monitoring of heat network performance data to identify issues early, before they become big, costly headaches. And, of course, we’re not alone in this. However, what no one else apart from us seems to be doing yet is making use of digital twinning technology to then tackle poor system performance.
Unlike data monitoring software, which tracks the live performance of individual components in real time so problems can be spotted, twinning technology enables you to evaluate the potential impacts of different interventions to fix them. It should therefore be used with – not instead of – data monitoring systems.
Digital twins are routinely used to design new heat networks but almost never to improve badly performing existing ones, even though it’s often the older installations, which may have had design or commissioning errors left to fester for years, that could benefit from it the most. This is certainly missing a trick. A digital twin can be an invaluable resource, both to help identify engineering problems within a live system and anticipate equipment failures to support predictive maintenance regimes. Twinning unlocks the ability to upgrade, refurbish and improve networks with a data-driven approach, removing the risk of unnecessary spending.
How does digital twinning work?
Digital twinning technology has been used for some time in industries like manufacturing, construction, telecommunications, and retail to improve the design, safety, and efficiency of real-world systems and structures. Its particular advantage is that it can provide a degree of certainty about the impact of any intervention before proceeding.
In the context of heat networks, digital twinning involves creating an accurate virtual model of your entire system using powerful cloud-based HVAC simulation and calculation software known as Hysopt.
By making a very precise schematic model of the hydronic design of the entire heat network, Hysopt lets you see if it’s as good as it can be – and if not, why not. It can help you answer specific questions such as, are the pumps sized correctly? Is the set-up unnecessarily complex? Is the installation adequate? And what’s the likely longevity of each component? You can then try out different options, taking into account carbon emissions, CapEx and OpEx, to see what will give the best outcomes and cost-benefit ratio, without any of the expense, risk or disruption of real-world alterations.
We’ve been using Hysopt for about five years because it’s the only platform designed specifically for use with heating and cooling systems. It doesn’t replace the expertise of engineers, in fact it’s designed to be used by people with that level of technical knowledge. It enables us to identify and resolve inefficiencies in our clients’ heat networks and help them make purchasing decisions. Often the problems we uncover relate to flow rates or temperature issues caused by hydronic design flaws.
Hysopt’s helped us to optimise the district heating system supplying the world-famous green houses at Kew Gardens, and prevent a very large engineering undertaking that would have had little impact at a 190-unit apartment building in East London. Most recently, we’ve installed the platform at another modern London development of 131 homes.
When to twin
Digital twinning can be particularly helpful when there are big decisions to be made, like whether to install a combined heat and power (CHP) system or switch to a renewable heat generator, such as a biomass boiler or heat pump. You can see the precise potential impact of each scenario on energy use and emissions and get a highly detailed breakdown of what each would cost.
That said, using a digital twin to improve the day-to-day performance of a heat network can typically generate OpEx savings of around 40%, meaning ROI can be quite rapid. And, once it’s set up, a twin can be used again and again to save money and avoid upheaval. So, arguably it makes sense to invest in the technology sooner rather than later, to maximise returns.
Heat networks are critically important, complex, high-value, inter-connected systems. Work on any single part can have unintended knock-on effects across the entire scheme. Anything that can help to eliminate the risk of escalating costs, failure or undesirable outcomes is surely worth serious consideration.
