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Project Report
Assoc . Prof . Constantin Ionescu , local project manager
In Luleå , WEDistrict ’ s goal is to use fuel cells to conduct an innovative waste heat recovery proof-of-concept . Excess heat will be recovered from a containerised data centre in Luleå to feed indirectly into an existing local district heating network , while locally generated electricity will be used for the data centre . The aforementioned excess heat will be recovered by liquid cooling technology , which is then boosted to suitable temperatures by high temperature solid oxide fuel cell technology . These fuel cells are able to produce direct current electricity power as well as a grade of heat for potential recovery , using biogas or hydrogen as fuel . The technology can be used to leverage the natural gas grid or to benefit from biogas or power-to-gas technologies , consequently increasing the share of renewables for district cooling . On this demo site , Alfa Laval liquidliquid heat exchangers are used , alongside VEAB Heat Tech liquid-air heat exchangers .
Challenges Setting up such an ambitious project in multiple countries is bound to bring about challenges . So far , these have been technical , financial ( primarily due to
Special guest Assoc . Prof . Răzvan Nicolescu , governing board member of the European Institute of Technology
the pandemic ), and legislative in nature . “ Oftentimes , the technical issues can be solved with collaboration , while the administrative problems with different country-dependent regulations can sometimes cause cancellations – like a demo site planned in Poland .” This was due to legal and administrative factors . The biggest challenge of course is the one they are trying to tackle . “ The world is immersed in a debate on sustainable development and climate change . To make the project possible , we need to increase the contribution of renewable energies and the improvement of the production and distribution chains .” They further state that district heating and cooling systems are the best solution to provide thermal energy with high energy performance values , to increase RES contribution , and to improve energy management through smart ICT . It is also a way to integrate other professionals and consumers into the networks , in order to take advantage of waste energy . “ This solution provides a much cheaper heating / cooling energy to end users than the conventional fossil fuel systems .”
Combined heat and power plant
Target Building RES Laboratory
Rectorat
Bucharest demo-site
Map of the relevant buildings ( in pink ) on the campus of the University Politehnica of Bucharest .
40 Heat Exchanger World February 2023 www . heat-exchanger-world . com