Electric heat-retaining system “Elektropik”, which provides transition to an alternative type of heating, was put into operation at school No. 12 of Lutsk at the beginning of October. Works are carried out within the project of modernization of the city heat supply, it is realized on the basis of the agreement between Scientific park "Kiev Polytechnic" and the city authorities of Lutsk. Preparation for reconstruction, design and installation and construction works of system of heating was carried out by СJSC “Information and Marketing Service” of Kamenets-Podilsky in close cooperation with the NTUU "KPI" Scientific park.
How does "Elektropik" work?
Earlier this educational institution was heated with the help of a gas boiler room, however because of its unsatisfactory state and the wear of networks, the air temperature in rooms was 13-15 °C in winter. The system of heating on the Elektropik technology consists of the cable electric heaters which are built in construction walls. The design of a heating cable guarantees the absence of electric and magnetic fields in rooms. Besides, the equipment of management, protection and the accounting of the consumed electric power is included in the system of heating. The system works mainly at night, in the period of a failure of loading in the Unified Energy System.
"The previous operation showed, - the deputy director of the Scientific park Sergey Kalenikovich Demidenko told, - that heated walls provide comfortable temperature indoors within a day. The system is activated for 3-5 hours at night, walls heat up, and then are gradually discharged during the day, as the heat accumulator. Thanks to Elektropik system the temperature in classes has increased to necessary according to sanitary standards (18-20 °C). Besides, such heating consumes 25-30% less energy, than convective, that is water. Moreover, the heating of parts of the cellar are provided, that allowed to increase the total area which can be used for educational process". The low night price of the electric power will allow to reduce expenses of budgetary funds for heating, and completely automatic work of system and its high reliability - to reduce expenses for service. As a result the cost of alternative heating in rooms is significantly lower, than central heating.
Since 1996 about one and a half hundred systems of heating are introduced in Ukraine in various institutions on the Elektropik technology (mainly in the government-financed oes - schools, ambulance stations, kindergartens). But the system of heating in the Lutsk school No. 12 is a special case.
Installation know-how
The power networks brought to the school territory had insufficient power for introduction of the heat-retaining electroheating. Reconstructions of these networks would be too expensive. Designers introduced the new technical solution for this purpose declared by them as the invention a few months before designing of this system. The heat-retaining electroheating was divided into two sections in each premises of school, thus one section was connected to the main transformer, and the second – to the reserve transformer. The power of each of the half is sufficient for heating the school in the mode of continuous electricity consumption and that is admissible if there are needs to load the backup transmission lines during electrical accidents. And the general power of both subsystems is enough to heat the school by means of electricity consumption mainly in the period of a loading failure, and it provides high efficiency of such heating.
The industrial experiment made at Lutsk school No. 12 will promote the distribution of heat-retaining electroheating by virtue of the capacity of reserve power supply networks without reduction of reliability of reservation.
A little bit of figures
52 Elektropik systems were used in Hmelnitsk region during a heating season in 2007/2008. They heated 29 schools, the Village Council, the department and managements of the district state administration, a nursing home. The general power of heating systems was 4,4 megawatts. They were set in establishments that earlier were heated by coal, therefore their use saved 3 thousand tons of coal, which costed 1,3 million hryvnias, and 0,6 hryvnias on salary for firemen. 4,3 kilowatt-hours of the electric power by a total cost of 0,6 hryvnias were spent for heating the establishments. Look at figures once again: the cost of heating is equal to a salary of firemen. And the cost of coal is completely saved.
If these systems were set in establishments which were heated by gas earlier, their use would reduce its consumption by 1,7 cubic meters for a heating season.
Heating systems were put into operation at different times. By the end of a heating season in 2007/2008 they managed to work from three to seven heating seasons, on average - 6,5. At such number of their working hours, their operation can save 8,3 hryvnias of budgetary funds. Considering that the volume of investments in the construction of these heating systems is 3.3 million hryvnias (taking inflation into account), it is possible to claim that investments in the system of heat-retaining panel and radiant electroheating on the Elektropik technology for six and a half heating seasons paid off two and a half times. Expenses of budgetary funds for heating these establishments decreased by 38,9%.
Predictions and prospects
"Comparing various types of heating which are used in municipal services of Ukraine, experts note economic efficiency of "Elektropik", - the director of the Institute of Energy Saving and Power Management of NTUU "KPI" professor Artur Veniaminovich Prakhovnik reported. - It can be combined with the centralized water heating which is popular today and reduce the load on it. It increases the reliability of the heat supply and - that is currently central - gives the chance to influence consumers of thermal energy if they don’t pay for the consumed heat". Without getting into technical details, we will bring only one the most stimulating detail: in the case of late payment the temperature of plus 8-10 °C is established in the apartment, of course, it is possible to live in it, but it is difficult. Most likely, the consumer will run to pay for heat.
Economic calculations show: the combined heating of houses is already profitable today, even without this know-how. However, profitability will increase at times when considering that other means providing a guaranteed payment is a complete reconstruction of domestic heating systems with the installation of heat meters, which is actually complete overhaul of a building and will cost several thousand hryvnias for each apartment.
"Elektropik", of course, is not panacea. As well as any other technology, it can't replace everything with itself. But it isn't just possible to use it along with other energy saving technologies, but it is also necessary. The project for Lutsk introduced comprehensive use of various sources of distributed generation of energy for heat and power supply, including cogeneration plants, technology "Elektropik", heat pumps and gas generators that use local fuels (wood, peat, etc.). The introduction of "Elektropik" is only a first step. Thanks to efforts of the Scientific Park "Kiev Polytechnic”, the way of the latest technologies is reduced for the consumer.