Solar and Pellet Combisystem for Apartment Buildings: Heat Losses
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Applied Energy xxx (2012) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Applied Energy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy Solar and pellet combisystem for apartment buildings: Heat losses and efficiency improvements of the pellet boiler ⇑ Aivars Zˇandeckis , Lelde Timma, Dagnija Blumberga, Claudio Rochas, Marika Roša¯ Institute of Environment and Energy Systems, Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia highlights " The improvements for the performance of the pellet boiler. " Ratio of the supplied combustion air in polynomial order affects CO emission and efficiency. " The location of the intake point for combustion air influences the thermal losses. article info abstract Article history: This paper is based on the analysis of the solar combisystem installed in a 4-storey apartment building in Received 9 December 2011 Sigulda, Latvia. The combisystem consists of: 42 m2 of flat plate solar collectors, a 2.35 m3 accumulation Received in revised form 16 March 2012 tank and a 100 kW pellet boiler as the auxiliary heater. This paper focuses on the optimisation of the ther- Accepted 25 March 2012 mal performance of the pellet boiler. Available online xxxx During laboratory tests on the 25 kW pellet boiler, the influence of the supply ratio of the combustion air, the chemical and heat losses in the flue gases on the performance of the boiler was established. The Keywords: results demonstrate the optimum thermal performance, CO emissions, chemical and heat losses, which Combustion air supply are related to the amount of free oxygen (O ) in the flue gases. Pellet boiler 2 Solar and pellet combisystem The results of the laboratory tests were then applied to optimise the operation of the 100 kW pellet boi- Thermal and chemical heat losses ler. The flue gas measurements for the 100 kW boiler were performed in order to identify the O2 concen- tration, CO emissions and flue gas temperature. The results showed that what is required to optimise performance is to reduce the amount of air supplied to the boiler’s combustion chamber. Changes were made to the boiler’s control algorithms to achieve the desired result. Additionally, boiler performance was improved by changing the location of the air intake point. Decreasing temperatures in the heat accumulation tank were achieved by making modifications to the boiler’s control algorithms. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction preconditions required for the development of pellet combustion technologies [2]. Households in Nordic countries account for a large share of the A substitution of natural gas by biomass fuels is economically consumption of heat energy. In Latvia 70% of the total heat energy justified in work done by Chau et al. [3]. Based on the paper pre- produced in the country was used for household purposes in 2010 sented by Bram et al. [4] use of woody biomass in the long term [1]. The increase in price for fossil fuels has forced households to can become the major energy resources. Studies by Thür et al. [5] consider alternative heating systems. and Persson [6] have shown that primary energy savings can be If non fossil energy sources for heat production in Latvia are achieved by introducing solar thermal technologies for heat sup- compared, then wood logs and wood chips for stoves and boilers ply. When combining solar thermal technologies and pellet boilers, today have the greatest share of the renewable energy market. At a reduction of pellet consumption can thereby be achieved. the same time, wood pellet fired boilers have also become popular Possibilities for the integration of pellet stoves and solar heating [1]. As Latvia had the 5th largest pellet production capacity in systems for single detached homes are discussed by Persson et al. the European Union in 2008, Latvia would seem to satisfy all the [7]. Weiss [8] and the SOLARGE project report [9] present examples of solar combisystems integrated into multi-family buildings. ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +371 22334510; fax: +371 67089908. Work done by Lundh et al. [10] examines the influence of heat E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Zˇandeckis). stores dimensions on fractional energy saving in a medium-sized 0306-2619/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.03.049 Please cite this article in press as: Zˇandeckis A et al. Solar and pellet combisystem for apartment buildings: Heat losses and efficiency improvements of the pellet boiler. Appl Energy (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.03.049 2 A. Zˇandeckis et al. / Applied Energy xxx (2012) xxx–xxx Nomenclature B mass of the test fuel (kg hÀ1) g efficiency (%) C carbon content of test fuel (as fired basis) (% of mass) Q heat output, kW CO carbon monoxide content in the dry flue gases (% of Qa thermal heat losses in the flue gases, referred to the unit volume) of mass of the test fuel (kJ kgÀ1) CO2 carbon dioxide content in the dry flue gases (% of QB heat input (kW) volume) Qb chemical heat losses in the flue gases, referred to the À1 À1 À1 Cp specific heat of water (kJ kg K ) unit of mass of the test fuel (kJ kg ) Cr carbon content of the residue, referred to the quantity of qa proportion of losses through specific heat in the flue test fuel fired (% of mass) gases Qa, referred to the calorific value in the test fuel Cpmd specific heat of dry flue gases in standard conditions, (as fired basis) (%) depending on temperature and composition of the gases qb proportion of losses through latent heat in the flue gases À1 À3 (kJ K m ) Qb, referred to the calorific value in the test fuel (as fired CpmH2O specific heat of water vapour in flue gases in standard basis) (%) À1 À3 conditions, depending on temperature (kJ K m ) ta flue gas temperature (°C) H hydrogen content of the test fuel (as fired basis) (% of pa draught in the chimney (Pa) mass) tb.in boiler input temperature (°C) À1 Hu lower calorific value of the fuel (as fired basis) (kJ kg ) tb.out boiler output temperature (°C) À1 Mw water flow rate (kg h ) tr room temperature (°C) O2 oxygen content of the dry flue gases (% of volume) W water content of the test fuel (as fired basis) (% of mass) solar combisystems for residential buildings. Use of solar combi- savings of 20%. A study on the influence of pellet type on boiler system for Net Zero Energy House is discussed by Leckner and efficiency was conducted by González et al. [30]. Zmeureanu [11]. The sizing of the solar combisystems, both for Eskilsson et al. [31] analyse the relationship between emission space heating (SH) and domestic hot water (DHW) preparation, rates and the critical parameters for NOx minimisation in pellet at different loads has been studied by Lund [12]. Work done by burners. Hang et al. [13] ascertains that solar combisystems, used for hot In this study, laboratory tests on a 25 kW pellet boiler were per- water heating in residential buildings, can compete with conven- formed. The influence of the supply ratio of the combustion air and tional heat supply systems. Experimental research by Rochas [14] the chemical and heat losses in the flue gases on the performance on the optimisation of the two parameters – heat storage and pel- of the boiler was identified. The results of these laboratory tests let boiler constructive parameters – was also done. were then applied to optimise the operation of the 100 kW pellet In addition to the primary energy savings gained by means of boiler installed for the solar combisystem. Flue gas measurements the solar combisystem, emissions from boilers can be significantly for the 100 kW boiler were performed in order to evaluate the reduced. During summer months, limits can be placed on both the amount of free O2. Modifications were introduced in order to boiler’s working time and the number of start/stop routines. Both increase the efficiency of the 100 kW pellet boiler as well as to emissions and the thermal performance of the auxiliary heater reduce emissions and fuel consumption. should be taken into account to optimise the performance of the solar combisystem. The CO emissions released by solar and pellet 2. Methodology combisystems was studied by Fiedler [15], and Fiedler and Persson [16]. Persson et al. [17] concluded that a solar pellet combisystem 2.1. Theoretical background can reduce pellet consumption by 25% and CO emissions by 44%. There are already regulations in place in Sweden and Germany, Heat losses in the flue gases and the efficiency of the boilers for example, that limits emissions in flue gases from pellet boilers were calculated according to the ISO EN 13240:2001 [32] and EN [18–22]. Stricter limits are identified by eco-labels. One such label 303-5:1998 [33] standards. is ‘‘Svanmark’’ [23]. The limits for emission levels are expected to An indirect efficiency calculation method (ISO EN 13240:2001 decline still further in the coming years. [32]) was used to calculate chemical and thermal heat losses. Studies by Fiedler et al. [24] showed how to size and control Thermal heat losses in the flue gases Q , which refers to the unit commercially-available solar and pellet heating systems. The oper- a of mass of the test fuel, were calculated according to the following ation of the solar combisystem in Greece has been investigated by equation: Chasapis et al. [25]. They concluded that the main reason for the lower performance of the whole solar combisystem was the poorly Q ¼ðt À t Þ a ar designed biomass burner. In the papers presented by Verma et al.