On Thermal Networks and Distributed Control

When fossil fuels are phased out from our cities, two remaining types of networks will dominate the energy distribution; electrical and thermal networks. For optimal efficiency the two network types need to be tightly intertwined. This seminar will focus on load modeling and control, illustrated from the perspective of thermal networks. How do we model and predict the energy needs of buildings in order to shave the peaks in energy consumption? How do we control the pressure in thermal networks for a fair distribution to customers at times of maximum load? Hourly data collected from residential buildings in southern Sweden for more than a year give a very good basis for modeling and validation. We will also review some relevant recent results on optimal distributed control of network flows.