Heating Network Pipeline Segmentation Using Soil-Based Thermal Insulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high investment costs and heat loss in constructing thermally insulated pipeline elements for heating networks, particularly in decentralized renewable heat supply systems, are significant obstacles due to the complex production and installation of double-walled pipeline elements.
Innovation Solution
The pipeline portion is divided into segments based on soil physical parameters, with each segment using a water-permeable bedding material tailored to its specific conditions to provide thermal insulation, reducing the need for extensive thermal insulation of individual pipeline elements and minimizing heat loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If double-walled pipeline elements with thermal insulation are used, then heat loss is reduced, but construction costs and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The thermal insulation function is extracted from the pipeline element itself and transferred to the surrounding soil environment. By selecting pipeline routes and bedding configurations that utilize naturally insulating soil layers, the need for complex double-walled insulated pipeline elements is eliminated, reducing both device complexity and construction costs while maintaining acceptable heat loss performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The natural soil environment is utilized to provide thermal insulation services to the pipeline. By carefully selecting bedding materials and pipeline burial depths, the soil's natural thermal properties are harnessed to reduce heat loss, allowing the system to benefit from the environment's inherent insulating capabilities without requiring additional complex insulation structures.
2Loss of energy
If double-walled pipeline elements with thermal insulation are used, then heat loss is reduced, but construction costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The thermal insulation function is extracted from the expensive factory-produced double-walled pipeline elements and transferred to the naturally occurring soil environment. This approach eliminates the need for costly prefabricated insulated sections while achieving comparable or superior thermal performance through proper site selection and bedding configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution employs simple, inexpensive single-walled pipeline elements that can be easily manufactured and installed, replacing the expensive double-walled insulated elements. The thermal insulation function is provided by the surrounding soil and bedding materials, which are naturally available at minimal cost, thereby dramatically reducing construction expenses.
3Ease of manufacture
If single-walled pipes are used to reduce costs, then construction costs decrease, but heat loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
The surrounding soil and bedding materials serve as an intermediary thermal insulation layer between the single-walled pipeline and the external environment. By selecting soil types with favorable thermal properties and optimizing the pipeline's burial depth and bedding configuration, effective thermal insulation is achieved without requiring complex pipeline structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The thermal performance of the pipeline system is optimized by changing environmental parameters such as burial depth, bedding material composition, and surrounding soil characteristics. By adjusting these parameters, the heat loss from simple single-walled pipes is reduced to acceptable levels, enabling cost-effective construction without compromising thermal efficiency.
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 approach significantly reduces construction costs and heat loss by utilizing soil conditions for thermal insulation, allowing the use of cost-effective single-walled pipes like polyethylene, thereby achieving comparable efficiency to conventional networks at lower costs.
Implementation Method 1
for each segment a segment embedding of a pipeline segment introduced into the trench in this segment in a water-permeable segment bedding material is specified in such a way that, within the segment, a length-unit-related heat loss, averaged over the segment, of the heat transfer fluid transferred in the pipeline segment is less than a specified heat loss limit value
Data Source
AI summary
In a method for setting up a pipeline section of a pipe system in a heat network, which is provided for transferring a heat transfer fluid between a heat provider and a heat consumer, the pipeline section is subdivided into segments in a segmentation step. A segment characteristic variable is determined for each segment based on a physical soil characteristic variable. The determined segment characteristic variables of two adjacent segments differ by more than a predefined segment characteristic variable difference value. In a bedding determination step, segment embedding of a pipeline segment, introduced in the trench in this segment, in a water-permeable segment bedding material is predefined for each segment such that a heat loss of the heat transfer fluid transferred in the pipeline segment, which is averaged over the segment and is based on a unit of length, is lower than a predefined heat loss limit value.