Heat buffers are making district heating Eindhoven more efficient

Innovation is one of the three pillars of our business at IVS. We are always looking for new solutions and possibilities both within and beyond our network. That is how we came into contact with Ennatuurlijk, a sustainable energy supplier. Ennatuurlijk supplies heat through two heating networks in Eindhoven. The first Ennatuurlijk heat network in Eindhoven runs from the biomass energy plant at Strijp-T to the districts through a star-shaped distribution layout: Strijp-S, Strijp-T and Vredeoord. In addition to that, the heat network runs to several buildings and businesses in the city centre, such as GGzE, the Philips Stadium, the Emmasingel and the Piazza, as well as to the Evoluon and the 't Ven district. There is also a biomass energy plant in Meerhoven, which is owned by the municipality of Eindhoven. The heat produced is supplied to customers of the Municipality of Eindhoven and those of Ennatuurlijk in the districts of Grasrijk and Zandrijk.

The Ennatuurlijk district heating system in Eindhoven is powered by a BioMassCentral (BMC – A Bio Mass Energy Plant) and heat exchangers that use steam to transfer the heat from the gas-fired steam boilers to the district heating network. The BMC is fired on wood chips and can provide electricity and heat. Currently, the share of sustainably generated heat in this district heating system is too low, because the BMC often runs discontinuously and at a low, partial load. Installing heat buffers allows the power plant to produce more efficiently, and the share of overall heat production produced by the BMC increases. IVS is part of a team that is integrating these heat buffers into the existing system.

The project is divided into four lots:

• Automation
• Process/Mechanical Engineering (by IVS Dosing Technology)
• Electrical installations
• Moving buffer vessels 

IVS will take care of the design, supply and installation of all the pipelines, the heat exchanger, supporting steel construction, pumps, frequency inverters, insulation, fittings (taps, vents, safety valves, valves, check valves, filters, stop valves, drains, field measurements) and compressed air facilities.