Validation of a new method to estimate energy use for space heating and hot water production from low-resolution heat meter data

One of the initiatives to reach the European decarbonization goal is the roll-out of smart heating meters in the building stock. However, these meters often record the total energy usage with only hourly resolution, without distinguishing between space heating (SH) and domestic hot water (DHW) production. To tackle this limitation, this paper presents the validation of a new methodology to estimate the SH and DHW from total measurements in different building types in three countries (Denmark, Switzerland, and Italy). The method employs a combined smoothing algorithm with a support vector regression (SVR) to estimate the different heating uses. The estimation results are compared with the different countries’ DHW compliance calculations. The comparison showed that the compliance calculations outperformed this method by considering the validation dataset characteristics

Wearable proximity sensors for monitoring a mass casualty incident exercise: a feasibility study

Over the past several decades, naturally occurring and man-made mass casualty incidents (MCI) have increased in frequency and number, worldwide. To test the impact of such event on medical resources, simulations can provide a safe, controlled setting while replicating the chaotic environment typical of an actual disaster. A standardised method to collect and analyse data from mass casualty exercises is needed, in order to assess preparedness and performance of the healthcare staff involved. We report on the use of wearable proximity sensors to measure proximity events during a MCI simulation. We investigated the interactions between medical staff and patients, to evaluate the time dedicated by the medical staff with respect to the severity of the injury of the victims depending on the roles. We estimated the presence of the patients in the different spaces of the field hospital, in order to study the patients' flow. Data were obtained and collected through the deployment of wearable proximity sensors during a mass casualty incident functional exercise. The scenario included two areas: the accident site and the Advanced Medical Post (AMP), and the exercise lasted 3 hours. A total of 238 participants simulating medical staff and victims were involved. Each participant wore a proximity sensor and 30 fixed devices were placed in the field hospital. The contact networks show a heterogeneous distribution of the cumulative time spent in proximity by participants. We obtained contact matrices based on cumulative time spent in proximity between victims and the rescuers. Our results showed that the time spent in proximity by the healthcare teams with the victims is related to the severity of the patient's injury. The analysis of patients' flow showed that the presence of patients in the rooms of the hospital is consistent with triage code and diagnosis, and no obvious bottlenecks were found

Gestione ottimale delle reti di teleriscaldamento utilizzando diverse fonti di flessibilità

Le reti di teleriscaldamento sono un'infrastruttura chiave per decarbonizzare il settore del riscaldamento urbano, permettendo l'integrazione di impianti cogenerativi, impianti rinnovabili e calore di scarto. Tuttavia, ci sono alcuni problemi. Per gli impianti cogenerativi, la produzione di elettricità può essere conveniente in momenti diversi rispetto alla domanda di energia termica, mentre per gli impianti rinnovabili e il calore di scarto, ci può essere uno scostamento tra la domanda di riscaldamento e il calore fornito da queste fonti. Una soluzione è rappresentata dalle fonti di flessibilità energetica nel sistema rete di teleriscaldamento, che possono aumentare l'efficienza dal punto di vista economico e ambientale. I gestori di rete usano serbatoi di accumulo centralizzati per disaccoppiare l'offerta dalla domanda delle sottostazioni, ma i vincoli di spazio possono minare questa possibilità. Quindi può essere utile sfruttare le fonti di flessibilità che sono intrinsecamente parte del sistema. In una prima fase, la ricerca ha avuto lo scopo di valutare il potenziale di flessibilità fornito dalla capacità termica del fluido termovettore nelle tubazioni della rete e nelle strutture degli edifici connessi. Il caso studio preso in considerazione è stata la rete di teleriscaldamento di Verona Centro Città, che fornisce calore ad utenze residenziali, terziarie e industriali, operando a temperatura costante e portata variabile. Sono state effettuate simulazioni al computer per calcolare la risposta termica della rete alle variazioni della portata circolante, per causare un spostamento del carico termico in anticipato o ritardato rispetto al picco giornaliero. Le simulazioni sono state eseguite utilizzando un modello dettagliato della rete di teleriscaldamento, Nemo. Tali simulazioni hanno mostrato che il processo di precarica raggiunge risultati significativi nella riduzione dei picchi e nello spostamento del carico. Per produrre la variazione desiderata della portata, il gestore di rete dovrebbe installare uno o più tubi di bypass. Sono stati studiati gli effetti delle diverse distribuzioni e del diverso numero di bypass sul comportamento dinamico della rete. Per quanto riguarda invece la capacità termica dell’involucro degli edifici, sono stati analizzati due edifici rappresentativi (un condominio e una scuola) collegati alla rete di Verona. Considerando i relativi modelli dettagliati, modificando il setpoint e anticipando l'accensione dell'impianto di riscaldamento, è stata valutata la variazione della domanda di calore e il suo impatto sul comfort termico con simulazioni di Active Demand Response (ADR). In una seconda fase, l'obiettivo del lavoro di ricerca è stato quello di sfruttare queste fonti di flessibilità con due diversi tipi di controllo. Questi sono il controllo della centrale termica (SSC), che considera l’accumulo termico di serbatoi centralizzati e la capacità termica dell'acqua nelle tubazioni della rete, e il controllo delle sottostazioni (DSC), che sfrutta la capacità termica dell'edificio. L'SSC si basa su un problema di ottimizzazione MILP per programmare lo scheduling degli impianti di generazione del calore in base alla domanda di calore delle sottostazioni, alla disponibilità di calore di scarto e alle previsioni del prezzo dell'elettricità. L'accoppiamento del problema di ottimizzazione al modello NeMo, ha permesso di eseguire simulazioni settimanali della rete di teleriscaldamento. Per quanto riguarda il controllo delle sottostazioni, il concetto è stato quello di considerarle come serbatoi virtuali di accumulo termico. Dai risultati delle simulazioni ADR ottenuti nella prima fase, è stato possibile definire il volume dei serbatoi di accumulo virtuali e il loro coefficiente di scambio termico. Poi, considerando il prezzo dell'energia termica e le previsioni di temperatura esterna, l'ottimizzazione è stata eseguita a livello di distretto.District heating networks (DHNs) are a key infrastructure to decarbonize the heating sector, allowing cogeneration plants, renewable plants, and waste heat integration. However, there are some problems related to these integrations. Regarding the cogeneration plants, electricity production can be cost-effective at different times than the thermal energy demand, while about the renewable plants and the waste heat, there may be a mismatch between the heating demand and the heat provided by these sources. A solution can be the sources of energy flexibility in DHNs system, which can increase the efficiency of DHNs from both economic and environmental standpoints. Usually, district heating operators use centralized storage tanks to decouple the supply from the demand of the substations, but space constraints can undermine this possibility. As a result, it can be useful to exploit the sources of flexibility that are inherently part of the system and don't need to be added. In a first step, the research aimed to assess the flexibility potential provided by the thermal inertia of the heat carrier fluid in the network pipelines and the building structures. The case study under consideration was the district heating network of Verona Centro Città (Italy), which supplies residential, tertiary and industrial customers, operating at constant supply temperature and variable flow rate. Computer simulations were carried out to calculate the network's thermal response to circulating mass flow rate variations. The latter were designed to cause an early or late shift in the daily peak thermal load. The simulations were conducted using a detailed district heating network model, Nemo, based on a finite difference method. They showed that the pre-charge process achieves significant peak shaving and load shifting results. To produce the desired change in the mass flow rate, the district heating operator would need to install one or more bypass pipes. The effects of the different flow distributions on the network's dynamic behaviour, obtained with different numbers of bypasses, were investigated. About the thermal inertia of the building structure, two representative buildings (an apartment building and a school) connected to the Verona district heating network were analyzed. Considering the related detailed Energy Plus models, modifying the setpoint and anticipating the switch on of the heating system, the heat demand pattern modification and its impact on the thermal comfort were evaluated. Furthermore, the influence of the building envelope type, the user behaviour and the weather conditions were analyzed. Energy flexibility was assessed using mainly two indicators: the available thermal storage capacity and the Active Demand Response event efficiency. As a second step, the objective of the research work was to exploit these sources of flexibility with two different types of control. These are the supply station control (SSC), which considers centralized thermal storage and the thermal inertia of the water in the network pipelines, and the demand side control (DSC), which exploits the building thermal inertia. The SSC is based on a MILP optimization problem to schedule the heat supply units of the district heating network of Verona based on heat demand, waste heat availability and electricity price forecasts. Coupling the optimization problem to the model NeMo, allowed to repeat the scheduling with a rolling horizon scheme. About the demand side control, the concept was to consider the substations as virtual storage tanks. From the ADR simulation results obtained in the first step, it was possible to define the virtual storage tanks' volume and heat transfer coefficient. Then, considering the thermal energy price and the external temperature forecasts, the optimization was performed at the district level, determining the optimized energy demand and the average indoor temperature of some substations connected to Verona DHN

Management of a district heating network using model predictive control with and without thermal storage

District heating and cooling networks are a key infrastructure to decarbonise the heating and cooling sector. Besides the design of new networks according to the principles of the 4th and 5th generation, operational aspects may significantly contribute to improve the efficiency of existing networks from both economic and environmental standpoints. This article is the second step of a work that aims to exploit the flexibility of existing networks and improve their economic and environmental performance, using the district heating network of Verona as a case study. In particular, the first part of the research demonstrated through numerical simulations that the thermal inertia of the water contained in the pipes can be used to shift the heat production of the generators over time by acting on the flow rate circulating in the network. This article shifts the focus from the heat distribution side to the heat supply. A model predictive control strategy was formulated as a MILP optimization problem to schedule the heat supply of the cogeneration plants, heat pump and gas boilers as a function of heat load, waste heat production and electricity price forecasts. Computer simulations of considered district heating network were carried out executing the optimization with a rolling-horizon scheme over two typical weeks. Results show that the proposed look-ahead control achieves a reduction in the operational costs of about 12.5% and 5.8%, respectively in a middle season and a winter representative week. Increasing the flexibility of the system with a centralized heat storage tank connected to the CHP and HP units, these percentage rise to respectively 20% and 6.3%. In the warmest periods, when the total installed power of the CHP and HP plants is sufficient to supply the entire heat demand during the peak, and the modulation of these plants has a higher impact, the cost reduction related to the additional thermal energy storage is more relevant

A solar-assisted low-temperature district heating and cooling network coupled with a ground-source heat pump

Towards the development of highly integrated and energy efficient heating and cooling systems, with an energy community perspective, the present paper proposes a novel technical solution for the provision of airconditioning, domestic hot water and electricity to a small residential district in heating-dominant regions. Three reference climates have been considered: Helsinki, Berlin and Strasbourg. Detailed dynamic models have been created using TRNSYS and NeMo, and long term operations of the energy system, including a newgeneration ultra-low temperature district heating and cooling network have been performed. The core of the energy system is the network supplied by a high-efficiency ground source heat pump and used as the source and sink by booster heat pumps installed in the substations. Rooftop photovoltaic thermal panels partially meet the electrical demand of the district, as well as the thermal load for domestic hot water production. Moreover, the panels are cooled by the network, obtaining a reduction in the thermal unbalance to the ground and enhancing their electrical efficiency. This solution allows obtaining high coefficient of performance for the heat pumps in the substations and supply stations, reaching values of 5.4 and 4.0, respectively, for heating provision in the coldest locality. The proposed multi-energy district reaches an electrical self-consumption of 71% in the coldest locality and efficiently combines different renewable energy sources at district level in cold climates

Simulation-Based Comparison Between the Thermal Behavior of Coaxial and Double U-Tube Borehole Heat Exchangers

In this study, the thermal behavior of the coaxial and double U borehole heat exchangers was investigated using numerical simulations in both the long- and short-term. As a reference for borehole heat exchanger specifications, the existing coaxial and double U probes of a geothermal heat pump installed within the Horizon 2020 research project named \u201cCheap GSHPs\u201d were considered. Nine years of simulations revealed that when borehole heat exchangers are subjected to a balanced thermal load, and intermittent operating modes of the ground source heat pump system are set, the coaxial pipes\u2019 configuration provides better thermal performance due to the higher thermal capacitance of the heat-carrier fluid and the lower borehole thermal resistance. The analysis was conducted considering two different types of ground with different thermal conductivity values. As result, the more conductive ground type highlights the higher yield of the coaxial probe

2020 Dataset on local gambling regulations in Italy

The dataset provides the complete enumeration of gambling policies implemented by Italian Municipalities between 2003 and 2021. The dataset comprises information on all municipalities existing in 2017 and following years (thus considering also merging). The following variables are available: Municipality ISTAT Code (ID), Municipality Name (Name) Province, Region, Researcher, and a series of variables identifying the number and the type of rulings adopted ('regolamento', 'ordinanza' and 'delibera'). The rulings are distinguished between identified and downloaded or only identified (because the document is no longer available). Additional variables describe municipal activism with other administrative acts (Anti-gambling Manifesto, events, projects or tax reductions). Overall, the dataset comprises 8031 units