On Intelligent District Heating

Abstract: Intelligent district heating is the combination of traditional district heating engineering and modern information and communication technology. A district heating systemis a highly complex environment consisting of a large number of distributed entities, and this complexity and geographically dispersed layout suggest that they are suitable for distributed optimization and management. However, this would in practice imply a transition from the classical production-centric perspective normally found within district heating management to a more consumer-centric perspective. This thesis describes a multiagent-based system which combines production, consumption and distribution aspects into a single coherent operational management framework. The flexibility and robustness of the solution in industrial settings is thoroughly examined and its performance is shown to lead to significant operational, financial and environmental benefits compared to current management schemes.