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Modelling distance between water pipe and heat network scientifically substantiated

Publication in scientific journal Water lays theoretical foundation for practical application

On 1 October, a scientific publication was published that theoretically substantiates the coupling of a water temperature model and a soil temperature model. KWR researcher Mirjam Blokker is one of the authors. ‘We have shown that the models are useful for determining how far drinking water and hot water pipes should be from the heat network to ensure that drinking water does not heat up too much,’ she says.

The previously completed TKI project ENGINE developed the knowledge and practical tools that form the basis for the publication ‘Validation of an Enhanced Drinking Water Temperature Model during Distribution’. On the basis of the ENGINE project, practical steps were taken so that the water and energy sectors could make agreements on the distance that drinking water pipelines and heat networks in the subsurface should have. Vewin and Energie-Nederland signed an agreement on this last summer .

Pipeline networks closer together

Blokker: ‘Linking the two models is theoretically very complicated. Initially, we worked with values that overestimated the rate of warming of drinking water. So that made you think that you should put the drinking water pipes and heat networks further apart than is really the case. With this publication, through better modelling, we have found more room to be able to put the two pipeline networks a bit closer together. This is peer-reviewed research. So not only the project partners endorse the results, but also the entire international scientific community. This is important as underpinning the practical agreements being made. In follow-up research – also in a TKI context – we also want to model the influence of power lines on drinking water temperature.’

The publication ‘Validation of an Enhanced Drinking Water Temperature Model during Distribution’ appeared in the scientific journal Water.

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