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Romans
first use District Energy
District Energy is not a new invention. The system
can be traced back to Roman times, when items such
as hypocausts, greenhouses, water pipes, and hot
water heating apparatus for baths were used.
This new technology was used more widely during
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries when there
was a particularly cold period. In Italy, Roman-style
baths and greenhouses were common. One researcher,
Morris A. Pierce, reports that one Geothermal system
has been operating since these times. He also notes
that written accounts of the system influenced district
energy developments for the next 500 years.
Today, people are encouraged to connect to district
energy for economical and environmental reasons.
However, environmental concerns are not new. In
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, these factors
helped to influence design of heating systems. This
is highlighted by looking at some of the examples
of district energy from this time.
1600's - London Proposal
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In 1623 there was a proposal to install district
energy in London. |
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A Russian palace built in 1783 had an extensive
hot water system based on French technology.
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Separate boiler plants and underground piping
were used by English factories in the 1790s
and by 1820 was fairly common. Waste heat from
factories was used to warm public baths by the
1830s and several proposals were put forward
to heat worker's houses with this same
heat supply. |
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The Crystal Palace in London had district
energy in 1851. |
1800's - District Energy in the US
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At least two steam district energy systems
were built in the United States in 1853. |
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Factories and institutions began to centralise
their steam boilers on a large scale in the
1870s and many new boiler plants were built.
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In 1876, hot water district energy was used
to heat several large buildings at an asylum
outside London. |
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Systems were proposed for Zürich and
Warsaw in 1872 and several patents were obtain
for district energy in the 1860s and early 1870s.
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The first commercially successful district
energy scheme was started in New York in 1877.
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1900's - District Energy in Europe
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The flagship New York project was sold throughout
the world over the next eighty years and is
now more common in Northern Europe in places
like Scandinavia and Germany. |
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In Northern Europe there are many examples
where city wide district energy schemes have
developed and joined to make bigger networks
covering large areas. |
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There are many other smaller schemes in existence
serving blocks of flats and groups
of buildings. |
District Energy in Sheffield
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1960’s - Park Hill
and Hyde Park flats are connected by a pipeline
to form the basis of a large scale District
Energy System (DES) using a central oil fired
boiler system. |
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1970’s - The original
Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) is connected
to the Park Hill and Hyde Park DES so that ‘waste
heat’ can replace the oil fired boilers. |
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1980’s - The DES is
extended to the Norfolk Park area and other
blocks of flats are connected. Sheffield Heat
& Power Ltd formed to own, develop, manage
and operate the DES. |
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1990’s - The DES is
extended into the city centre and then out to
Western Park. Both universities are connected
and a large number of private sector buildings
are connected. A steam turbine is added to the
ERF. |
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2000’s - The District
Energy business is transferred to Veolia as
part of one of the largest integrated waste
management contracts in the UK. More private
sector buildings are connected as a result of
Veolia’s desire to expand the DES. |
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2006 - A new state of the
art ERF is handed over to Veolia, reducing the
reliance on fossil fuel back up and providing
more energy for further expansion of the DES. |
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