IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v137y2015icp773-781.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Potential of residential buildings as thermal energy storage in district heating systems – Results from a pilot test

Author

Listed:
  • Kensby, Johan
  • Trüschel, Anders
  • Dalenbäck, Jan-Olof

Abstract

Heat demand in a district heating system can have a significant variation within 1day, which produces problematic conditions for efficient heat generation. Short-term thermal energy storage can decrease this daily variation and make the conditions for generating heat more favorable. By periodically overheating and underheating buildings, causing small variations in indoor temperature, building thermal inertia can be utilized for thermal energy storage. This study presents the results from a pilot test where the potential to function as thermal energy storage was tested for five multifamily residential buildings in Gothenburg, Sweden. The signals from the outdoor temperature sensors were adjusted in different cycles during a total of 52weeks. The delivered heat and indoor temperature were measured during the test. The results indicate that heavy buildings, with a structural core of concrete, can tolerate relatively large variations in heat deliveries while still maintaining a good indoor climate. The study also demonstrated that a fixed time constant is not accurate enough to describe the variations in indoor temperature caused by the utilization of the buildings as short-term thermal energy storage. Degree hours is instead proposed as a simple yet adequate measurement for the thermal energy storage capacity in buildings. Storing 0.1kWh/m2floor area of heat will very rarely cause variations in indoor temperature larger than ±0.5°C in a heavy building.

Suggested Citation

  • Kensby, Johan & Trüschel, Anders & Dalenbäck, Jan-Olof, 2015. "Potential of residential buildings as thermal energy storage in district heating systems – Results from a pilot test," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 773-781.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:137:y:2015:i:c:p:773-781
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.07.026
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261914007077
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.07.026?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhou, D. & Zhao, C.Y. & Tian, Y., 2012. "Review on thermal energy storage with phase change materials (PCMs) in building applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 593-605.
    2. Arteconi, A. & Hewitt, N.J. & Polonara, F., 2012. "State of the art of thermal storage for demand-side management," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 371-389.
    3. Difs, Kristina & Bennstam, Marcus & Trygg, Louise & Nordenstam, Lena, 2010. "Energy conservation measures in buildings heated by district heating – A local energy system perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 3194-3203.
    4. Gadd, Henrik & Werner, Sven, 2013. "Daily heat load variations in Swedish district heating systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 47-55.
    5. Nuytten, Thomas & Claessens, Bert & Paredis, Kristof & Van Bael, Johan & Six, Daan, 2013. "Flexibility of a combined heat and power system with thermal energy storage for district heating," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 583-591.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guelpa, Elisa & Verda, Vittorio, 2019. "Thermal energy storage in district heating and cooling systems: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Danica Djurić Ilić, 2020. "Classification of Measures for Dealing with District Heating Load Variations—A Systematic Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-27, December.
    3. Turski, Michał & Nogaj, Kinga & Sekret, Robert, 2019. "The use of a PCM heat accumulator to improve the efficiency of the district heating substation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    4. Luca Brunelli & Emiliano Borri & Anna Laura Pisello & Andrea Nicolini & Carles Mateu & Luisa F. Cabeza, 2024. "Thermal Energy Storage in Energy Communities: A Perspective Overview through a Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-27, July.
    5. Chen, Yongbao & Chen, Zhe & Xu, Peng & Li, Weilin & Sha, Huajing & Yang, Zhiwei & Li, Guowen & Hu, Chonghe, 2019. "Quantification of electricity flexibility in demand response: Office building case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    6. Finck, Christian & Li, Rongling & Kramer, Rick & Zeiler, Wim, 2018. "Quantifying demand flexibility of power-to-heat and thermal energy storage in the control of building heating systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 409-425.
    7. Lizana, Jesús & Chacartegui, Ricardo & Barrios-Padura, Angela & Ortiz, Carlos, 2018. "Advanced low-carbon energy measures based on thermal energy storage in buildings: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3705-3749.
    8. De Coninck, Roel & Helsen, Lieve, 2016. "Quantification of flexibility in buildings by cost curves – Methodology and application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 653-665.
    9. Gijs J. H. De Goeijen & Gerard J. M. Smit & Johann L. Hurink, 2016. "An Integer Linear Programming Model for an Ecovat Buffer," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-21, July.
    10. Jankowski, Nicholas R. & McCluskey, F. Patrick, 2014. "A review of phase change materials for vehicle component thermal buffering," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1525-1561.
    11. Kaisa Kontu & Jussi Vimpari & Petri Penttinen & Seppo Junnila, 2018. "City Scale Demand Side Management in Three Different-Sized District Heating Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-18, December.
    12. Ehsan Khorsandnejad & Robert Malzahn & Ann-Katrin Oldenburg & Annedore Mittreiter & Christian Doetsch, 2023. "Analysis of Flexibility Potential of a Cold Warehouse with Different Refrigeration Compressors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-22, December.
    13. Vandermeulen, Annelies & van der Heijde, Bram & Helsen, Lieve, 2018. "Controlling district heating and cooling networks to unlock flexibility: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 103-115.
    14. Bian, Yadong & Wang, Kejian & Wang, Julian & Yu, Yongsheng & Liu, Mingyue & Lv, Yajun, 2021. "Preparation and properties of capric acid: Stearic acid/hydrophobic expanded perlite-aerogel composite phase change materials," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1027-1035.
    15. Werner, Sven, 2017. "District heating and cooling in Sweden," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 419-429.
    16. Englmair, Gerald & Moser, Christoph & Schranzhofer, Hermann & Fan, Jianhua & Furbo, Simon, 2019. "A solar combi-system utilizing stable supercooling of sodium acetate trihydrate for heat storage: Numerical performance investigation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1108-1120.
    17. Alessia Arteconi & Fabio Polonara, 2018. "Assessing the Demand Side Management Potential and the Energy Flexibility of Heat Pumps in Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-19, July.
    18. Comodi, Gabriele & Giantomassi, Andrea & Severini, Marco & Squartini, Stefano & Ferracuti, Francesco & Fonti, Alessandro & Nardi Cesarini, Davide & Morodo, Matteo & Polonara, Fabio, 2015. "Multi-apartment residential microgrid with electrical and thermal storage devices: Experimental analysis and simulation of energy management strategies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 854-866.
    19. Gao, Datong & Zhao, Bin & Kwan, Trevor Hocksun & Hao, Yong & Pei, Gang, 2022. "The spatial and temporal mismatch phenomenon in solar space heating applications: status and solutions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    20. Englmair, Gerald & Moser, Christoph & Furbo, Simon & Dannemand, Mark & Fan, Jianhua, 2018. "Design and functionality of a segmented heat-storage prototype utilizing stable supercooling of sodium acetate trihydrate in a solar heating system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 522-534.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:137:y:2015:i:c:p:773-781. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.