Prediction of temperature propagation in a pipe-network employing turbulence modelling

Abstract

Transient temperature propagation in turbulent flow has been investigated for a pipe-network of a district heating system. For such modelling, simplified approaches (assuming slug flow) were previously used, and their prediction appears to be less reliable for pronounced temperature changes. Therefore, the applications of two-equation turbulence models are considered. The performance of the models was assessed against the experimental data from the Madumvej (Denmark) district heating system. It was found that turbulence models improved the transient temperature prediction compared to simplified approaches, and the general trend of the predicted temperature profiles correlates well with measured data.