Freelance DCS to control district heating plant in Berlin Neukölln

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The well-proven control and measurement technology from ABB controls the district heating plant Neukölln in Berlin. Through the new, integrated heat accumulator of the power-to-heat unit, the district heating and electricity production can be temporally decoupled from the heat supply.

Berlin's biggest heat storage is located in the Neukölln district. Originally there was a huge tank with millions of liters fuel oil in the middle of the premises of the district heating plant (FHW - Fernheizwerk) Neukölln supplying district heating to numerous buildings in the district. Since the beginning of 2015, after a conversion for 2.8 millon euros, the 22 m high tank can now be used as a heat accumulator. Instead of fuel oil it is now a storage for ten million liters of hot water.

Robert Tomasko, head of district heat generation FHW Neukölln

"The heat accumulator is able to supply approximately 3,250 households with district heating for 24 hours on a frosty winter day."

Seven combined heat and power plants for environmentally friendly energy

The heating plant produces environmentally friendly district heating in an area with about 160,000 inhabitants, commercial enterprises and public institutions in Berlin Neukölln and Kreuzberg. The supply is provided by a nearly 100 km long pipeline network and 1,150 transfer stations. Up to 3,500 m3 heating water at a temperature of 75 to 110 ° C can be pumped through the lines per hour. Seven combined heat and power plants (CHP) with a total of about 10 MW of electricity and about 11.5 MW thermal power produce heat and electricity by using the highly efficient cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) technology. The heat generated power is used for the self-supply and also fed to the public grid.

Robert Tomasko, head of district heat generation of FHW Neukölln

"For the generation of district heating and hot water are five and two steam boilers operated with different fuels"

Integration into existing system

The district heating plant in Neukölln is controlled using the ABB Freelance DCS. The open and closed loop control of the existing generation park of the heating plant and the new plant should be interconnected. "It was also important to increase the flexibility of the systems to respond optimally to the fluctuations in the heating network," ABB Project Manager Bodo Hubrig explains the demanding task.

With the expansion of solar and wind power plants, the demand of flexibly controllable conventional power plants rises steadily. How much electricity is produced by renewable energy installations, is always dependent on the weather. If they produce too little current, the frequency decreases in the electricity grid. In this case, conventional power plants such as the FHW Neukölln must produce more electricity within the shortest time. If solar and wind power plants generate too much power, the production in conventional power plants must be shut down quickly or regulated. This is done through the provision of balancing energy, which should be available within only a few seconds or minutes, depending on the type of energy.

Tobias Bachmann, project manager of the district heat generation FHW Neukölln

"As we are satisfied with the Freelance DCS, it was obvious for us to also integrate the new heat storage, the power-to-heat system and the co-generation plants into the existing control system"

Higher flexibility of the facilities

„Diese geforderte Flexibilität erreichen wir neben der entsprechenden Anlagentechnik auch über die Steuerungs- und Regelungsmöglichkeiten im ABB-Leitsystem, die ein schnelles An- und Abfahren der BHKW-Anlagen ermöglichen“, sagt Bachmann. „Mit der Power-to-Heat-Anlage, die wie ein riesiger Tauchsieder Strom in Fernwärme umwandelt, die dann im Wärmespeicher zwischengelagert werden kann, können wir nun außerdem innerhalb von fünf Minuten bis zu zehn Megawatt vorzugsweise regenerativ erzeugten, überschüssigen Strom aus dem Netz abnehmen. Damit können wir unabhängig von unserer Wärmenachfrage unsere Anlagen optimal betreiben.“ Durch die zeitliche Entkopplung von Fernwärmeproduktion und -bedarf kann außerdem auch dann Strom produziert werden, wenn der für den hocheffizienten KWK-Prozess erforderliche Wärmebedarf der Kunden nicht anliegt. Umgekehrt ist die Wärmeversorgung dadurch auch ohne Stromproduktion gesichert.

„Neben der technischen Einbindung der neuen Anlagen in das bestehende Leitsystem haben wir zahlreiche Komponenten für den hydraulischen Teil des Wärmespeichers geliefert“, sagt Frank Karliczek, Accountmanager der ABB Prozessautomation. „Das ist ein schönes Beispiel für die gute bereichsübergreifende Zusammenarbeit bei uns.“ Neben Frequenzumrichtern für die Pumpen kommen im FHW Neukölln vor allem Durchflussmessgeräte von ABB zum Einsatz.