District Cooling Grid Dual-Purpose Design for Heating and Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current energy distribution grids for heating and cooling in cities are inefficient, leading to increased environmental impact and high investment costs, with waste heat energy in district cooling grids not being utilized effectively.
Innovation Solution
A combined heating and cooling system that integrates a district cooling grid with local heating and cooling systems, where the district cooling grid serves both purposes by using its return conduit heat energy to preheat the heat pump inlet and the heat exchanger outlet, reducing the load on both systems and allowing for reduced infrastructure investments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a separate district heating grid and district cooling grid are provided, then heating and cooling can be supplied independently, but investment costs and system complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The district cooling grid is designed to serve dual purposes: providing cooling during hot periods and providing heating during cold periods. The cooling fluid circulation system is used for both cooling buildings (via heat exchangers) and heating buildings (via heat pumps), eliminating the need for separate heating and cooling grids and reducing overall system complexity while maintaining reliable supply of both services
2Loss of energy
If waste heat energy in the return conduit is not utilized, then the system operation is simple, but energy efficiency decreases and environmental impact increases
Solution Approach 1:
The waste heat energy in the return conduit, which would normally be discarded, is converted into a useful resource. Heat exchangers extract this waste heat to provide heating to buildings, transforming an environmental problem (waste heat discharge) into a beneficial solution (free heating source), thereby improving energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact
Solution Approach 2:
The district cooling grid serves itself by utilizing its own waste heat for heating purposes. The system's return conduit, which carries warm cooling fluid, becomes a heat source for heating buildings, allowing the grid to meet its own heating needs without external energy input and improving overall energy efficiency
3Ease of manufacture
If heavy investments are made in providing both district cooling and district heating grids, then heating and cooling infrastructure is available, but investment costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The existing district cooling grid infrastructure is made multi-functional by enabling it to provide both cooling and heating services. The same cooling fluid circulation system, pipes, and pumping stations are used for cooling during hot periods and for heat extraction during cold periods, eliminating the need for separate heating grid infrastructure and significantly reducing investment costs while maintaining full infrastructure availability
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This integrated system reduces energy consumption and investment costs by utilizing waste heat energy, allowing for efficient dual-purpose use of the district cooling grid for both heating and cooling, and enabling the use of existing infrastructure for heating applications.
Implementation Method 1
a local cooling system being configured to absorb heat from a first building and comprising a heat exchanger having a heat exchanger inlet and a heat exchanger outlet; wherein the heat exchanger inlet is connected to the feed conduit of the district cooling grid
Implementation Method 2
a local heating system being configured to heat the first or a second building and comprising a heat pump having a heat pump inlet and a heat pump outlet; wherein the heat pump inlet is connected to the return conduit of the district cooling grid
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention refers to a combined cooling and heating system (100) comprising: a district cooling grid (1) having a feed conduit (5) for an incoming flow of cooling fluid having a first temperature, and a return conduit (8) for a return flow of cooling fluid having a second temperature, the second temperature being higher than the first temperature; a local cooling system (300) being configured to absorb heat from a first building (2) and comprising a heat exchanger (9) having a heat exchanger inlet (14a) and a heat exchanger outlet (14b); and a local heating system (200) being configured to heat the first or a second building (2) and comprising a heat pump (10) having a heat pump inlet (15a) and a heat pump outlet (15b). The heat exchanger inlet (14a) is connected to the feed conduit (5) of the district cooling grid (1); and the heat pump inlet (15a) is connected to the return conduit (8) of the district cooling grid (1) and to the heat exchanger outlet (14b).