Thermal Heat flow metering utilising Clamp-On Ultrasonic water measurement provides cost-effective, minimal disruption, installation and maintenance solution for Campus District Heating Systems.
Thermal Heat flow metering utilising Clamp-On Ultrasonic water measurement provides cost-effective, minimal disruption, installation and maintenance solution for Campus District Heating Systems.
Kings College - London heats its campus sites via a number of boiler houses, generating thermal energy for distribution to individual buildings via LTHW (Low Temperature Hot Water) networks.
A pilot system of new meters was installed 12 months ago to identify the thermal energy use of individual buildings, facilitate their management as Energy Cost Centres and provide information for Building Energy Labelling in line with European Directives.
The new meter installations on the Guys campus, which represent circa 10% of the university is currently being manually read. However, the plan is for the meters to be read automatically via the university's BEMs system, to provide continuously updated information for Monitoring and Targeting including benchmark comparisons with energy consumption norms for the university sector.
Having considered various measurement alternatives Clamp-On Ultrasonic meters were selected due to the installation and maintenance/service benefits associated with the non-invasive technology including low cost and minimum disruption installation with no system drain down required plus dry maintenance and service. Micronics were selected as the supplier due to a combination of their long-term experience with Ultrasonic Clamp-On technology, competitive pricing and product performance i.e. best value!
The initial Pilot scheme includes seven Micronics Ultraflow - UF2000HM - Time of Flight - fixed heat meters. The UF2000HM's are used to meter the individual thermal energy consumption of each building within a cluster being fed from a LTHW Energy Centre or central Boiler House, which provides accountability or a check sum for the energy being generated.
Its too early to establish a direct cost-benefit to Kings College. However, improved measurement is the first step towards improved management, Micronics service has been good, the products have performed well and Keith McIntyre the university's Energy Manager is pleased with the progress to-date.
There is significant potential for replication on-site and the project has demonstrated how Clamp-On - Ultrasonic technology could be successfully implemented as a cost-effective solution to improve heat energy measurement and management on similar university sites.
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