Field investigation on consumer behavior and hydraulic performance of a district heating system in Tianjin, China

With the implementation of heat reforms in China, the application of thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) has been gaining popularity in the new-style district heating systems (DHSs). The objective of this study was to investigate consumer behavior (including regulation of TRVs and opening of windows) and its influences on the hydraulic performance and energy consumption of individuals and the whole system. The concurrence rate of individual behaviors and hydraulic interactions between individuals were analyzed. This study should be helpful to gain a comprehensive understanding of the new DHSs in China and consider a proper design/control strategy for these systems. Questionnaires and field observations of consumer behavior, tests of hydraulic performance, and surveys of energy consumption were carried out in a DHS in Tianjin, which was one of the heat metering and billing demonstration projects in China. The main results of the tests were as follows: water flow performance in apartment-level heating systems were diverse because consumers’ behavior was varied and unpredictable, and the hydraulic interaction between consumers living along the line of a vertical pipe was obvious, and was stronger for terminal consumers with their TRVs set to higher values; however, flow variations in the whole DHS, which included 910 households, were relatively constant. A probability analysis was carried out to explain this phenomenon, and the conclusion was drawn that when there were more than 200 consumers, the stochastic consumer regulation behavior would bring less than 10% of total flow variations. Finally, the power consumption of the circulation pump, heat consumption and energy-saving potential of this type of DHS were discussed and some suggestions for TRV regulation and pump operation were made.