Bram van der Heijde

Bram van der Heijde

dr. ir. Energy engineer. I play the cello.

Posts by Collection

portfolio

publications

Energy Conservation in an Office Building Using an Enhanced Blind System Control

Published in Energies, 2017

About an improved model predictive controller the indoor temperature of office spaces with activated building systems; the controller also steers the behaviour of solar shading.

Recommended citation: E. Carrascal-Lekunberri, I. Garrido, B. van der Heijde, A. Garrido, J. Sala, and L. Helsen, “Energy Conservation in an Office Building Using an Enhanced Blind System Control,” Energies, vol. 10, no. 2, p. 196, Feb. 2017. http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/2/196

Unlocking flexibility by exploiting the thermal capacity of concrete core activation

Published in Energy Procedia, 2017

Defining the potential for load shifting in a building with concrete core activation, using a model predictive control approach.

Recommended citation: B. van der Heijde, M. Sourbron, F. J. Vega Arance, R. Salenbien, and L. Helsen, “Unlocking flexibility by exploiting the thermal capacity of concrete core activation,” Energy Procedia, vol. 135, pp. 92–104, Oct. 2017. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1290072916317355

Modelling steady-state thermal behaviour of double thermal network pipes

Published in International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 2017

About analytical expressions for steady state thermal losses from district heating pipes and the influence of mass flow rate.

Recommended citation: B. van der Heijde, A. Aertgeerts, and L. Helsen, “Modelling steady-state thermal behaviour of double thermal network pipes,” Int. J. Therm. Sci., vol. 117, pp. 316–327, Jul. 2017. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1290072916317355

Dynamic equation-based thermo-hydraulic pipe model for district heating and cooling systems

Published in Energy Conversion and Management, 2017

About a dynamic thermo-hydraulic plug-flow model for the behaviour of district heating pipes. The model is validated experimentally.

Recommended citation: B. van der Heijde, M. Fuchs, C. Ribas Tugores, G. Schweiger, K. Sartor, D. Basciotti, D. Müller, C. Nytsch-Geusen, M. Wetter, and L. Helsen, “Dynamic equation-based thermo-hydraulic pipe model for district heating and cooling systems,” Energy Convers. Manag., vol. 151, no. November, pp. 158–169, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2017.08.072

A theoretical benchmark for bypass controllers in a residential district heating network

Published in Energy, 2018

A comparison between an optimal model-based controller and two existing control strategies for limiting bypass flows in district heating networks.

Recommended citation: A. Vandermeulen, B. van der Heijde, D. Patteeuw, D. Vanhoudt, and L. Helsen, “A theoretical benchmark for bypass controllers in a residential district heating network,” Energy, p. , 2018. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.02.156

Controlling district heating and cooling networks to unlock flexibility: A review

Published in Energy, 2018

A review of existing control strategies in district heating and cooling networks and an outlook towards novel controllers, with a focus on sources of flexibility in district energy systems.

Recommended citation: A. Vandermeulen, B. van der Heijde, and L. Helsen, “Controlling district heating and cooling networks to unlock flexibility: A review,” Energy, p. , 2018. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.03.034

Integrated Optimal Design and Control of Fourth Generation District Heating Networks with Thermal Energy Storage

Published in Energies, 2019

A design optimisation algorithm for energy systems, including an optimal control layer, applied to a fourth generation thermal network case with seasonal thermal energy storage and renewable energy sources.

Recommended citation: B. van der Heijde, A. Vandermeulen, R. Salenbien and L. Helsen, "Integrated Optimal Design and Control of Fourth Generation District Heating Networks with Thermal Energy Storage", Energies , Volume 12 (14), 2019. http://doi.org/10.3390/en12142766

Representative days selection for district energy system optimisation: a solar district heating system with seasonal storage

Published in Applied Energy, 2019

Making an optimal selection of representative days for energy system optimisation including seasonal energy storage systems. Application of the method to a benchmark case to assess its performance compared to a full-scale optimisation.

Recommended citation: B. van der Heijde, A. Vandermeulen, R. Salenbien and L. Helsen, "Representative days selection for district energy system optimisation: a solar district heating system with seasonal storage", Applied Energy, Volume 248, p. 79-94 2019 http://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.04.030

talks

Experimental method for the state of charge determination of TABS

Published:

This presentation proposes an indicator for the state of charge (SoC) of thermally activated building systems (TABS), more specifically for the case of concrete core activation (CCA) of a floor. Furthermore, an experimental method for the SoC determination with an optimal (minimal) set of real-time measurements is elaborated. The methodology is based on the identification of a grey box model of the floor which allows calculating the SoC. In this paper, the methodology is applied to a 3D simulation of a massive concrete floor with CCA.

Modelling of Thermal Networks

Published:

Presentation on plug flow models for modelling thermal behaviour of thermal network pipes. The plug flow model is compared to finite volume models and an improved modelling method is proposed.

Modelling thermal network pipes

Published:

Presentation on the mathematical derivation of heat losses from double thermal network pipes. The structure of a novel Modelica model and a validation of this model with measurement data is presented.

Optimizing thermal energy storage in fourth generation thermal networks

Published:

Future renewable energy systems will need to integrate thermal energy storage in order to bridge periods of low renewable energy availability and to optimize system operation. On the other hand, the integration of storage can reduce curtailment during periods with excessive renewable energy availability. Sensible TES shows great potential in the latest generation of thermal networks (4th generation thermal networks), which are expected to be very performant in coping with waste heat sources and distributed generation based on renewable sources. This research aims at optimizing the location and size of different possible sensible TES systems in a thermal network. Linearized component models are used, combined with an optimal control strategy. This control strategy assumes perfect knowledge of disturbances and comfort constraints are incorporated. The implementation of the novel pipe model described by van der Heijde et al. is crucial to obtain realistic optima. For thermal networks supplied with low temperature differences, which is the case in 4th generation networks, the relative importance of the heat losses increases and this necessitates the use of realistic heat loss models. An important question to be answered is whether the best option (in terms of cost, or energy use) is to install a large central storage system, or to have a number of smaller decentralized units at strategic locations in the network. A simulation case study in the city of Genk (Belgium), which consists of 18 000 buildings and spans an area of over 80 km2, is selected in order to have a realistic virtual test bed for the optimization algorithm.

Future district heating systems - A need for dynamic, multi-physics simulation tools?

Published:

In future Smart Energy Systems, many energy carriers will be interlinked to enable 100% renewable energy supply. For future thermal networks (district heating and cooling), this means temperatures and mass flow rates will be returning, and advanced control algorithms will be needed. In order to optimally design and control these networks, a new generation of simulation tools will be needed. This presentation shows such a new model and applies it to a case study, where the need for accurate models becomes clear.

Using representative time slices for optimization of thermal energy storage systems in low-temperature district heating systems

Published:

In order to optimize design and control of 4th generation thermal networks, a toolbox modesto (Multi-objective district energy systems toolbox for optimization) is under development. However, the representation of seasonal heat and cold storage systems on an annual basis requires large computational power. In an attempt to decrease computational cost, a technique with representative time slices (inspired by and combining aspects from optimization studies of electrical energy systems, unit commitment problems, thermal systems with short term energy storage and smaller scale industrial thermal systems with longer term energy storage) is developed and tested. The aim of this study is to investigate the applicability of such representative time periods to optimize seasonal TES systems in THERNETs. To this end a full year optimization is compared to one with representative time periods for a realistic case study that uses demand profiles from the city of Genk (Belgium) and energy system parameters from Marstal (Denmark). This comparative study shows that modelling with representative periods is sufficient to mimic the behaviour of a full year optimization. However, when curtailment of solar heat injection occurs, not all representations yield the same results. It was found that for the studied case, a selection of 12 representative weeks performs best, while all reduced optimizations result in a substantial reduction (speed-up of on average x4.8 to x7.7) of the calculation time.

teaching

Problem Solving and Design

Bachelor course - Project course, KU Leuven, 2014

Guiding groups of students of the second year in the Bachelor in Engineering Science (option mecahnical engineering) in one of their first engineering projects. The topic of this course was to design a micro air vehicle with flapping wings. The focus of the course is on working in a team, reporting a design process and going through a design process from ideation to prototyping.

Energy Conversion Machines and Systems

Bachelor course - Practical sessions, KU Leuven, 2015

Guiding practical sessions within a second year course in the Bachelor in Engineering Science, option Mechanical Engineering. The students get practical experience with systems they have studied before in theoretical lectures. One lab focuses on getting acquainted with affinity laws, applying this theory on an experimental set-up with centrifugal pumps. Another lab focuses on understanding psychrometrics using an airconditioning installation. As an assistant, I have also contributed to an update of the lab sessions in the Thermotechnical Institute. This used to be a guided tour around the museum collection, trying to link theory of turbomachinery and applied thermodynamics on historical engines and turbines. We transformed the lab session into a more interactive session with actual demos of historical steam, diesel and jet engines, as such reinforcing the connection between theory and practice.

Integrated Project

Measurement lab, KU Leuven, 2015

Guiding lab sessions where students from the Master in Engineering Science: Mechanical Engineering with option Thermotechnical Sciences are introduced to measurement of temperatures and velocities of air flows. Focus on measurement errors and autocorrelation of errors.

Principles of food machinery

Master course - Exercise sessions, KU Leuven, 2015

Teaching exercise sessions for a course on the basics of thermodynamics, applied to food processing. The course was part of an international master programme at the Faculty of Bio-Engineering.

Modelica CrashCourse

Day course on Modelica, KU Leuven, 2016

Day course introducing master students and fellow (PhD) researchers to the basics of Modelica and Dymola. From 2016 to 2018.