Improvement of anautomatic networkdrawing algorithm in thecontext of utility networks

Sammanfattning: The European Union’s ambitious climate targets necessitate substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly within the heating and cooling sector, which accounts for a significant portion of energy consumption. District Heating and Cooling (DHC) systems emerge as a key solution for decarbonizing this sector by enabling high efficiency heat production and the integration of renewable and carbon-neutral energy sources. Despite the potential inherent in DHC systems, their utilization is limited, partly due to challenges associated with network topology selection. This master’s thesis addresses the optimization of District Heating Network layout expansion while tackling these challenges. Situated within the framework of an European funded project coordinated by EIFER, the research aims to develop an algorithm for modeling and planning the expansion of DHN networks, considering geographical location of pipes and heat production and consumption nodes. Building upon the Automatic Network Drawing Algorithm (ANDA) tool provided by EIFER, the project seeks to enhance it to generate expansion scenarios incorporating loops, a feature critical for network robustness absent in the current output. The tool pandapipes is used for fluid system modeling, effectively modelinghydraulics and heat through network elements such as heat producer, substationsand pipes. The algorithm’s core feature is to strategically determine optimallocations along initial tree-like network expansions to incorporate loops. Variousheuristic approaches are tested to identify the most efficient expansion strategies,subsequently adding new lines to minimize total costs, encompassing both capitaland operational expenses. Real-world data from a District Heating Network inMilan validate the algorithm’s capabilities.