In Denmark, approximately 18-20% of the heat generated by district heating plants is wasted due to heat losses in the distribution network. This figure applies more or less to all European district heating network systems.

A new research project supported by the Danish Innovation Fund aims to develop a smart sensor system that can monitor district heating networks with high precision and provide valuable new insights into the entire system, thereby saving district heating plants significant costs in monitoring, maintenance, and heat loss. 

"Dozens of technologies have been developed to help detect leaks in district heating systems; however, there is still no inexpensive, simple, and autonomous technology capable of transmitting operational data such as temperature and pressure to the cloud without an external power supply. This is the reality. We aim to develop a system that combines so-called neuromorphic data processing, inspired by the brain, with energy harvesting technology to create an ultra-low-energy system embedded directly into district heating pipes," said Farshad Moradi, Associate Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University.

Drone-based thermal imaging technology has been used in various locations to accurately detect energy losses. However, this is not a cost-effective solution due to the thousands of kilometers of pipelines in large urban areas, as well as the need for manual drone operation and material inspection.

The new project, named PipeSense, focuses on very small sensors placed inside the insulation surrounding district heating pipes. These sensors can automatically harvest energy from their surrounding environment. Therefore, the sensors do not require batteries, as they can continuously measure various parameters.

Data processing occurs directly within the sensor, where artificial intelligence learns to identify important and real-time data in the data stream, communicating only the most critical information:

"By using brain-inspired data processing, we can significantly reduce the amount of data the sensors must process and transmit. We expect these sensors to have very low power consumption," said Farshad Moradi.

The sensors transmit relevant information to a central communication hub located in LoRaWan (Long Range Wide Area Network), or to automated drones flying around to intercept data in real time.

PipeSense technology will be used to provide combined heat and power plants with knowledge about conditions inside and around district heating pipes, such as pressure, flow, corrosion, humidity, and temperature, enabling plants to optimize the operation of the heating system. The pipe grid achieves maximum efficiency and reduces heat loss.

"Leaks and heat loss are the main challenges in today's district heating networks. The development of smart battery-free sensor technology will support Logstor's vision of an intelligent supply network, where we can use real-time sensor input from the network to optimize operations and significantly reduce energy losses. Based on our experience in Denmark, we hope to expand this technology to our export markets," said Logstor A / S Innovation Director Kristian Overgaard.

PipeSense is funded by the Danish Innovation Fund with 1,360 million DKK, with a total budget approaching 1,860 million DKK. The project includes four Danish partners: Logstor A / S, Creative Sight ApS, Aalborg University, and Aarhus University. The project will continue until 2024 and is led by Farshad Moradi from Aarhus University.