Planning low-temperature district heating and cooling (LTDHC) networks still poses many challenges. It requires research, especially in the scalability of the networks and the connected energy producers and heat sources. In the GeoWaermeWende project, a simulation model is developed and validated as a digital representation of an existing LTDHC network. For this purpose, a monitoring concept will be developed that allows for a comprehensive collection of relevant operating parameters at different network locations, which will be compiled and processed in a database. With the help of these measurement data, individual submodels can be validated, which provide the basis for a holistic district model consisting of buildings, plant engineering, borehole heat exchanger, underground processes, and the heating network. The simulation of the thermally coupled network components enables a variety of promising analyses regarding the network dynamics under changing boundary conditions and the interaction of the network with the subsurface. Both analytical and numerical approaches are considered, and various physical influences, such as weather boundary conditions, are integrated into a multi-physics model.
The calculation tools and all necessary data are aggregated at a central location and merged in a geothermal network information system with georeferenced heat networks and a web-based geoportal for user interaction. Based on the resulting findings, a geographic information system (GIS) will be developed as a web-based planning platform that can be used to configure and analyze LTDHC networks. In addition to technical information about the network, such as the predicted storage effects in the subsurface or the overlapping proportion from heating and cooling demands, the planning tool also enables analyses, iterative probe design, and system comparisons based on economic and ecological decision parameters.
For technical demonstration and public involvement, an augmented reality app is being developed that visualizes the LTDHC network at the project site and provides essential knowledge on various topics of heat transition.