2000

Sipilä, Kari; Ranne, Aulis; Koljonen, Tiina

MODiS (Modular District Heating System) products were developed for either building an entirely new district heating (DH) system or for renovating and extending an existing system. MODiS products comprise highly integrated prefabri-cated and pre-tested modules, where the modules themselves may be boilers, pumping stations, substations, metering devices, automation equipment, planning tools, information and management systems. The MODiS Concept tool was developed by VTT Energy for the rough planning of a MODiS district heating system. As a result, the MODiS Concept model can give the budget for a DH-system divided into the boiler plant, the district heating pipelines and the consumer substations. The annual investment and running cost of the system are evaluated. A dynamic simulation model for MODiS was also created with a real time simulation tool called APROS. The simulator can be used for studying normal operation, behaviour under emergency conditions, and process failures. The APROS simulation program has also been used to investigate an ejector connection in an apartment building and for analysing the operation of the ejector in relation to the entire heating system. A DH system in a Russian district heating zone was modelled with the programs. A knowledge-based tool, PIPECOR, has been developed and it estimates the remaining service life of the pipelines under the defined conditions, and the current corrosion rate. Renovation principles for the East European district heating systems have been developed during the project.