Criterion for Efficient Operation Assessment of Heat Network

The article is dedicated to the actual problem of assessing the energy efficiency of the process of transporting a heat carrier through heating network pipelines. A brief analysis of the existing scientific research on the problem under consideration is given. The task is to develop a criterion for evaluating the effective functioning of heating networks, which would take into account the key indicators of their energy efficiency. The parameters of the thermal regime of thermal networks and the factors influencing them are considered and the key ones for evaluating the energy efficiency of thermal networks are highlighted. Based on the selected parameters, a criterion is proposed for the practical assessment of the energy efficiency of heating networks, which allows, with a minimum of measured parameters and ease of calculation, to give an idea of the energy efficiency of the heating network and determine the proportion of thermal energy lost in pipelines. The criterion is suitable both for evaluating the energy efficiency of an individual section of the heat network and for the entire heat network.