Author(s)

A. Senor, D. Panepinto, G. Genon

Abstract

The search for technological systems capable of reducing CO₂ emissions’ efforts to minimize climate change, show the district heating (DH), combined with cogeneration plants, in the front line. The district’s heating, consisting of the distribution of hot water by means of underground networks for the buildings’ heating and water for sanitary purposes, is an ever-expanding technology that allows the optimization of energy resources, with positive consequences in terms of both economic savings and environmental impacts.

The aim of this work is to analyze the existing DH system built in Turin (Piedmont, North Italy). We evaluate in particular, the energetic recovery system analyzing the existing cogeneration system designed to supply DH: from one side, a recovery of electric energy (fed into the national grid) and on the other side, a recovery of thermal energy (heat input into the local DH system). From an environmental standpoint, we use mass and energy balance as a tool to implement pollutant dispersion models in order to obtain results concerning the air quality.

Keywords

cogeneration plant, energy recovery, electric energy, thermal energy, environmental compatibility, externality, dispersion models, district heating system