IMPROVEMENT OF A DISTRICT-HEATING NETWORK THROUGH THERMOECONOMIC APPROACH

This paper reports a procedure to optimise district heating networks o n the basis of second law analysis. The approach is derived from the e xergonomic theory. A cost function has been set up and an iterative pr ocedure was employed to determine the minimum value corresponding to t he optimal pipe size and insulation thickness. Such a method was used to analyse an existing district network in Italy. The results show tha t significant savings could be obtained by using the proposed approach . Copyright (C) 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.