How data analysis can locate heat loss and help you save money

Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2018 by Steen Schelle Jensen

The data-driven treasure hunt continues

There is a lot of money to be found both above and below the ground with smart meter data analytics – and the treasure hunt has only just begun.

In many industries, the primary purpose of digitalisation is often to make life easier and smarter for the consumer. But digitalisation in district heating involves much more than new end-user services or apps. It impacts a number of different levels in the district heating system, from production, distribution and buildings to consumption (end users) as well as design and planning.

Common to all of them is that digitalisation creates a level of transparency that represents a huge optimisation potential for utilities on both a short-term and long-term basis. Kamstrup’s analytics tool, Heat Intelligence, helps you turn that potential into actual savings.

Short-term potential

Some of the more low-hanging fruits are related to a utility’s daily operations (OPEX) surrounding their core tasks: producing and distributing district heating. These include optimising the production and forward temperature, reducing heat and water loss in the distribution network as well as identifying improvement opportunities for building performance and consumer behaviour decreasing the overall efficiency of the system.

Imagine the savings that can be achieved by efficiently detecting leakages and unexpected heat loss or targeting and improving the 5% of end users that have the highest return temperatures – all based on data from all meters in the network.

Long-term potential

While a low-hanging fruit is per definition obvious to most people, even more impact – and consequently more savings – will come from applying data-based optimisation in areas with a more long-term horizon (CAPEX). Savings here will result from being able to base network design and planning on reality rather than theoretic models.

This includes better utilisation of the existing capacity and predictive maintenance, so utilities can potentially avoid or defer some of the heavy investments in this area. Also, being able to compare the actual network load and capacity to its design criteria will reveal if they actually match in terms of e.g. coincidence factor and pipe dimensions. In this way, you can significantly optimise your asset management and extend the lifetime of your infrastructure.

Kamstrup’s analytics tool, Heat Intelligence, helps you turn the optimisation potential through digitalisation into actual savings on both a short-term and long-term basis.

Only the beginning

There is a lot of money to be found both above and below the ground with smart meter data analytics – and the treasure hunt has only just begun. With its ability to generate data-based simulations of all kinds of future scenarios, Heat Intelligence effectively enables you to see the effect and value of your decisions before you make them. On the path to 4th generation district heating, that is not a bonus but a necessity.

"With its ability to generate data-based simulations of all kinds of future scenarios, Heat Intelligence effectively enables you to see the effect and value of your decisions before you make them."

Do you want to locate heat loss in your utility?

Learn more about our analytics tool, Heat Intelligence, right here.

Author

Steen Schelle Jensen

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Steen is Head of Product Management for Heat/Cooling solutions and has been at Kamstrup for more than 15 years.