SWEP Systems help provide warmth and comfort to Beijing residents
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, residents in almost all parts of China had to conduct their daily activities indoors. To guarantee the living quality and comfort level of these residents, Beijing officials made the decision to extend its central heating service in the city for 16 additional days (until March 31st, 2020).
Anning Zhuang is one of the communities in Beijing where the central heating season was extended during the 2020 lockdowns. During summer 2019, SWEP upgraded the whole heating system in that community by installing multiple ETSs (Energy Transfer Stations) to handle increased heat loads. These ETSs were used to provide flexible additional heat during the lockdowns.
Inflexible and outdated heating method
The total heating area in this community was 420,000 m². Before the system upgrade, the secondary heating pipes inside the buildings were serially connected and, as a result, the heat load for each apartment could not be adjusted. This outdated heating method was very energy inefficient and causing such problems as imbalanced water distribution on the secondary network, uneven heating, and economic loss.
Enclean Technology Limited, SWEP’s partner in this project, was responsible for the building, operation, and transfer of domestic systems during this upgrade. Based on the last three years of data that they had gathered, Enclean opted for SWEP ETSs for the Anning Zhuang community.
The 420,000 m² was divided into seven heating zones with 14 sets of SWEP modular ETSs installed throughout. One ETS is used to handle a smaller heating zone, while 3 sets of ETSs are required to handle larger heating zones. In order to improve the working efficiency for operators, standardisation of the design of the system for all ETS sizes, brazed plate heat exchanger models, and water pump sizes was key.
Total 420,000m² was divided into seven heating zones with 14 sets of SWEP modular ETS’s installed throughout.
Micron level dirt separator.
Upgrade to an efficient system in a smaller space
This system upgrade helped save around 20 m² of space for the community that could be used for other purposes. Thanks to standardisation, only one brazed plate heat exchanger and one water pump is required to operate in standby mode, leading to significant savings on the initial investment for Enclean Technology. And since all modular ETSs can work together, it yields a more secure and optimised solution - rather than the older model of one brazed plate heat exchanger per pump. The outcome delivers cost-effective results for the customer as well as safety and comfort to the users, producing a true win-win situation.
High efficiency VFD circulation pump.
Increased comfort and 30% reduced electricity consumption
Based on analysis of the 2019-2020 heating season, the temperature of the terminal device was raised from 18°C to above 20°C, generating very positive feedback from the residents of the community. With regards to energy loss compared to last year, the electricity consumption has been reduced 30% and natural gas has been reduced by 25%.
While we continue our journey to challenge efficiency across the globe, SWEP is continuously finding opportunities to lead the conversion to sustainable energy usage in heat transfer by constantly creating more from less energy, material and space. Projects like this one for the Anning Zhuang community gives us continued confidence to keep believing in who we are and what we do.