The Impact of Commonly Overlooked Faults in Combined Heat Distribution Circuits: Analysis of Heat Meter Data

¹ EMIB, Faculty of Applied Engineering – Electromechanics, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
² M4S, Faculty of Applied Engineering – Electronics, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium

^* Corresponding author: senne.vanminnebruggen@uantwerpen.be

Abstract

This study analyses the in-situ performance of Combined Heat Distribution Circuit systems and Heat Interface Units to address commonly overlooked faults. Using data from energy meters, including gas meters and automated heat meter readings from seven case studies in Antwerp (Belgium), we investigate the CHDC's overall efficiency, comparing it to expected values reported in the literature. Key performance indicators such as the overflow and VWART are determined to identify suboptimal performing HIUs. An in-depth analysis involves manual investigation of data and site visits to identify deviations indicating potential faults within the system. Our findings highlight the significant impact of faults in the hydronic circuit on overall system performance, emphasizing the need to transition towards data-driven techniques and machine learning methods for fault detection in collective heat systems.