Economic and Environmental Analysis of Incorporating Geothermal District Heating System Combined with Radiant Floor Heating for Building Heat Supply in Sarein, Iran Using Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Atefeh Abbaspour, Hossein Yousefi (), Alireza Aslani and Younes Noorollahi
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Atefeh Abbaspour: Department of Renewable Energies and Environment, Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran 14179-35840, Iran
Hossein Yousefi: Department of Renewable Energies and Environment, Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran 14179-35840, Iran
Alireza Aslani: Department of Renewable Energies and Environment, Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran 14179-35840, Iran
Younes Noorollahi: Department of Renewable Energies and Environment, Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran 14179-35840, Iran

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 23, 1-24

Abstract: Despite the considerable breakthrough in district heating systems (DHS) globally, there is not yet any policy on developing this technology in Iran. This country has a high range of energy demand, while renewable energies play a minor role in its energy supply chain. Furthermore, the world is going through a transition towards renewable resources, which currently consist of only 10% of the total energy mix. As the first contribution in this area, this paper aims to design a 100% renewable DHS integrated with radiant floor heating for a group of residential buildings in Sarein, Iran. Moreover, the literature proposes a novel approach for combining geothermal energy and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to achieve a 100% renewable energy system. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is used for thermal analysis by 3D designing the buildings in SketchUp and OpenStudio and simulating the heat load in EnergyPlus. Three scenarios are presented to better compare the DHS with the decentralized heating system regarding fuel consumption, as well as environmental and economic aspects. The town’s existing heating system that consumes natural gas for both space heating and hot water demand is referred to as the IHS-G scenario. The DHS-G scenario represents an 87% renewable DHS system, working with natural gas and geothermal energy, while the DHS-MSW scenario is a 100% renewable system, consuming both geothermal energy and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Finally, findings suggest that DHS-MSW and DHS-G scenarios reduce the annual energy consumption of buildings by about 595 and 33 toes, respectively. Hence, the greenhouse gas effect will alleviate by mitigating the emission of 1403 and 1339 tons of CO 2 -eq./year, respectively. Moreover, exporting the extra natural gas through both LNG and pipeline provides about 26 million and 28 million USD/year revenue in DHS-G and DHS-MSW scenarios.

Keywords: district heating system; radiant floor heating; EnergyPlus; natural gas; municipal solid waste; CO 2 mitigation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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