BUILD SIMUL (2012) 5: 203 217

DOI 10.1007/s12273-012-0066-7

A simulation methodology for heat and cold distribution in

thermo-hydronic networks

Karel de Grote University College, Department of Applied Engineering, Salesianenlaan 30, B-2660 Antwerp, Belgium

Abstract

Keywords

This paper presents a simulation methodology to analyze hydronic heat distribution systems in a
fast and user friendly way. As suggested in its name, the Base Circuit Methodology (BCM) is based
on the observation that thermo-hydronic networks can be built up as a modular composition of
elementary Base Circuits (BCs). Once the hydronic and thermodynamic behavior of such basic
components is described in a set of dedicated equations, complex thermal distribution networks
can easily be modeled by connecting the basic sub models. In addition to control performance
simulations (accuracy, stability, speed) the BCM puts extra effort into energy efficiency analysis. In
fact, every BC is a local sub unit in which heat flows are gathered, divided or changed in terms of
temperature and/or flow. Therefore the BCM model setup yields the opportunity to analyze the
net heat transport and its adaptations while crossing the network. Doing so, system designers get
the efficiency variables more structured, leading to straightforward abilities to optimize heat and
cold distribution. Practical examples prove the benefits of the methodology. Moreover, a test
installation was built in which flows, pressures, and temperatures are confronted with the simulation
results. The simulations are processed by means of the iterative equation solver EES (Engineering
Equation Solver; F-chart) which has been experienced as a very compliant software package. As
a result the methodology is delivered as a validated and open source library.

hydronic system,

Introduction

E-mail: roel.vandenbulcke@kdg.be

heating system,
HVAC simulation,
Engineering Equation Solver (EES),
open header

Article History
Received: 30 October 2011
Revised: 26 January 2012
Accepted: 30 January 2012
Tsinghua University Press and
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
2012

overall and real plant efficiency. In the specific case of central

heating systems with condensing boilers one can verify that
the level of condensation stays far away from the promised
conditions while the opportunities to recover latent heat are
potentially present. Thermo-hydronic networks are typically
designed for full load conditions based on static calculations
and rules of thumb. In partial load, however, temperatures
and flows change drastically, resulting in less efficient working
conditions for the heat and cold production units. Moreover,
this unknown partial load behavior covers over 90% of time.
The lack of practical hydronic engineering tools strongly
contrasts with the high degree of freedom during the network
design and the actual innovative possibilities of recent
control strategies and software skills: e.g., today, pumps
have variable speed control and higher order programmable
logic facilities to deal with head loss compensation, constant
head, differential pressure control or other sophisticated
and adaptive control techniques. One by one they bear

Building Systems and

Components

Rational considerations and the anxiety for the Global

Warming Up are the main drivers to minimize the overall
energy consumption meanwhile optimizing the feeling of
thermal comfort in buildings. Concerning these aspects,
engineers are forced to find the better solutions for heat and
cold production and distribution considered from the point
of view of ecology, economy and energy resources. The
challenge consists of developing design principals suitable
for both small and complex thermo-hydronic circuits.
Heat pumps, condensing boilers, variable speed chillers,
etc. are generally known and wide spread technologies
to reduce thermal energy consumption and are often
governmentally stimulated. In practice, however, their
performance is rather saddening because of sub optimal
plant design. In fact, important heat and cold distribution
aspects are frequently overlooked and therefore destroy the

Research Article

Roel Vandenbulcke (), Luc Mertens, Eddy Janssen

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List of symbols
BWL
c
ck
D
p
pump
e
E
E
f
h/h100
IOUT
KI
KP
Kv
Kvs
L
m
MV
NTU
P
POUT
Q

bottom winding limit

specific heat (J/(kgK))
polynomial coefficients
diameter (m)
pressure difference (Pa)
pump head (Pa)
wall roughness (m)
exergy (J)
exergy power (W)
Darcy friction factor
dimensionless valve displacement (0..1)
integral term controller output
integral gain (1/(Ks))
proportional gain (1/K)
hydraulic conductivity ((m3/h)/ bar )
Kv value for fully opened valve ((m3/h)/ bar )
length (m)
mass flow (kg/s)
manipulated value
number of transfer units
power (W)
proportional term controller output
heat (J)

optimization opportunities which must be fine tuned in the

total design concept. Otherwise, and this is too often the case,
energy is lost. Due to the enormous hydronic alternatives,
system designers lose the overview in practical cases. Even
for new buildings a copy/paste driven approach instead of
a customized design can be observed.
Considering the above mentioned problems, an overall
scientific supervision on the hydronic design process can
result in increasing the overall energy efficiency and the costeffectiveness of the granted resources. As thermo-hydronic
installations can grow out to complex and multivariate
systems the best way to consider and to investigate on new
installation concepts is to simulate them before they are
set up in real live. Such simulations, however, are rather
complicated due to the non-linear behavior of heat and
mass transfer. Interactions between the thermal and hydraulic
part of the problem further increase this complexity.
Therefore a common and appropriate practice is to split
the model into two parts. One part concentrates on the
thermal effect and deals with the heat carrier temperatures
and heat flows while the other describes the hydraulic aspects
like fluid flows and pressures. Doing so, several investigators
have succeeded in dealing with both the hydraulic and

Re
RR
T
TWL
UA
v
V

integration

Reynolds number
relative roughness
temperature (K,)
top winding limit
overall conductance (W/K)
velocity (m/s)
volumetric flow (m3/h)
factor for local flow resistance
dynamic viscosity (Pas)
density (kg/m3)
controller integration time constant (s)

Subscripts
, ,
amb
BV
CV
R
ref
SP
su, ex
x, y
100

base circuit gateway index

ambient
balance valve
control valve
hydraulic resistance
reference
set point
supply, exhaust
node index
full load reference

thermal problems in their simulations, leading to interesting

insights in thermo-hydronic interactions and control
strategies. Gamberi et al. (2009) built up a Simulink
simulator for building hydronic heating systems using
the Newton-Raphson algorithm. Werdin (2004) proposed
diverse component models applicable for both hydronic and
thermal simulations. Xu et al. (2008) analyzed the effect of
thermostatic radiator valves by means of a combined thermal
and hydraulic model. Other dedicated component models
can be found in the ECBCS Annex 10 report (1982 - 1987)
which gathers the contributions of different authors.
In the aforesaid models it is common practice to
consider the network as a multi connected system of
hydronic components. The hydronic equation set is more
or less approached as an electric network analogy. For each
pipe node the sum of flows must equal zero (continuity
principle) to obey the conservation of mass while for each
closed loop the sum of pressure differences must be zero.
Once all flows are known, the thermal energy conservation
is applied for each pipe node to calculate the respective fluid
temperatures.
This general approach, however, is time consuming since
each single component must be provided with the necessary

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parameters and linked with its adjacent component models,

by equating the corresponding variables. For big central
heating systems with an enormous amount of components,
this becomes an almost discouraging job. Therefore, the
usage of dedicated simulations in big thermo-hydronic
networks is rather scarce. System designers do not take time
to invest in such extensive analysis method and therefore
hang onto the more static calculations. Even for research
purposes, investigators limit their analysis to small hydronic
networks or parts of it (e.g., only the hydronic loops of an air
handling unit).
Also in typical building simulation programs such as
TRNSYS, DOE2, EnergyPlus, the hydronic network is
mostly reduced to a strictly thermal problem, disregarding
the hydraulic consequences and assuming perfect hydronic
behavior. In fact, to calculate the fluid flows in complex
hydronic networks, an overall hydronic equation set must
be constructed by means of equation based models in which
input and output variables should not be distinguished
from each other beforehand. For example, a pipe inlet and
outlet cannot be specified since the flow direction is not
known. Most models used in the typical building simulation
programs are based on functions in which input and output
variables must be explicitly stated. This way, water flows
are usually considered as known input instead of hydronic
calculation results.
This paper presents an innovative methodology to
improve the usability of thermo-hydronic simulation in big
central heating and cooling systems. With this contribution,
we hope to bring hydronic simulation to a real application
level for system designers and engineers. As suggested in
its name the Base Circuit Methodology (BCM) is based
on the observation that thermo-hydronic networks can be
built up as a modular composition of elementary Base
Circuits (BCs). For every BC encountered in the network,
the appropriate BC model (subset of several embedded
component models) can be loaded from the BCM library
and subsequently connected with the adjacent BCs. For a
convenient linking of BCs, the model is constructed in such
a way that the number of variables to be exchanged with
neighbor BCs is minimized. Moreover, since every BC can
be considered as a thermal power node, the BCM yields
some additional tools to analyze all net heat flows and their
transformations while crossing the thermo-hydronic network.
While the method can be used in more general circumstances
its description will be strictly formulated from a point of
view of HVAC.
Figure 1 illustrates how the overall network model is built
up as a composition of BCs by means of the BCM library,
how the BCs can be connected and how they interact with
existing models of boilers, condensing boilers, chillers,
radiators, etc. as can be found in the literature mentioned.

Fig. 1 Schematic illustration of the BCM library

2 The base circuit methodology (BCM)

Figure 2 illustrates the typical hydraulic representation of the
BC in its most general form. Net heat flows (the difference
between supply and exhaust pipe) can enter or exit the BC
at the so called gateways , and . A net heat flow entering
the circuit is conventionally positive; an outgoing heat flow
carries a negative sign. At the perimeter of the BC, every
gateway has an x-connection and a y-connection which can
be linked to other BCs. Internally the x-node connects all
x-connections and the y-node connects all y-connections.
A sign convention for the mass flows is included and indicated
by the flow arrows. Mass flows entering the gateways at the
x-connection are positive. Mass flows entering the gateway
at the y-connection are negative. The pressure differences over
the gateways are conventionally positive when the absolute
pressure at the x-connection is higher than the absolute
pressure at the y-connection. All temperatures, pumps and

Fig. 2 The base circuit and nomenclature

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hydraulic resistors (R) are indicated by the respective gateway

index (,,) and a node index (x,y).
2.1 Model validity constraint
At this stage, attention should be paid to the fact that the
BCM model setup is only valid under the constraint that
for every mass flow entering or leaving the x-connection of
the respective gateway, the mass flow at the y-connection is
equal in size but opposite in sign. This special feature is the
key to create dense BC models and minimize data exchange
with neighboring BCs. In central heating and indirect cooling
systems, characterized by a branched and tree shaped heat
distribution this requirement is mostly fulfilled. Exceptions,
however, can be encountered in industrial ring shaped
networks. How to deal with the BCM in these exceptional
cases will be illustrated for an industrial cooling system in
Section 3.2.

pressure differences in the above hydronic equation set:

The head losses caused by pipe friction can be calculated
according to a diversity of formulas as can be found in
Potter and Wiggert (2002), e.g., Hazen-Williams, ChezyManning, Darcy-Weisbach. All of them might be used in
the BCM. However, in this paper the Darcy-Weisbach
equation is preferred as it is the most accurate one:
p = f

L v2

D 2

with = fluid density; L = pipe length; D = internal pipe

diameter; v = average flow velocity. The flow velocity is
calculated based on the volumetric flow and the internal
pipe diameter. Within EES (Engineering Equation Solver;
F-Chart, Klein 2008) the friction factor f can be retrieved
very conveniently from the Moody chart by means of the
built in Moodychart function. This function has the
Reynolds number Re and the relative roughness RR as
variables:

2.2 Hydronic model of the BC

f = MoodyChart(Re,RR); Re = v

The hydronic equation set of the base circuit consists of four

equations. The first three equations describe the pressure
difference pxy between the x and y node according to the
three different gateways. This in respect with the flow direction
as stated in Fig. 2. Since the hydraulic resistances are
passive elements creating head loss, the sign of the pressure
differences depends on the flow direction incorporated by
the SIGN function:
pxy = p + pump ,x - pump , y
- SIGN(V ) (pR, ,x + pR, , y )

(1)

pxy = p + pump ,x - pump , y

- SIGN(V ) (pR, ,x + pR, , y )

(2)

pxy = p + pump ,x - pump , y

- SIGN(V ) (pR, ,x + pR, , y )

(3)

with pump = pump head; pR = head loss. The fourth

equation in the hydronic model describes the continuity
principle. Since the heat carrier is assumed to be incompressible, no mass is accumulated and the sum of the ingoing
and outgoing mass flows is zero. As the flows at the x and y
nodes are equal in size and opposite in sign the same continuity
holds for both, resulting in one single equation:
m + m + m = 0

(4)

Depending on the kind of hydraulic resistances encountered different formulas are used to model the resulting

(5)

(6)

This internal MoodyChart function spans all flow regimes

very well and provides a smooth transition from the
laminar to the turbulent flow regime. The relative roughness
RR is the dimensionless ratio of the average wall roughness
e and the internal pipe diameter D. The dimensionless
Reynolds number is calculated given the fluid density
, the average flow velocity v, the internal pipe diameter
D and the dynamic viscosity . EES can deliver the
dynamic viscosity as function of the fluid temperature
and pressure in the respective pipe. However, to avoid
recurrent crosslinks in the models, a constant average
system pressure and average system temperature is used.
For HVAC simulations this is a reasonable approximation.
Pressure differences due to local resistances such as bends,
T-pieces, pipe reductions, etc. are calculated by means of
their values which can be retrieved from tables.
p =

D
e
; RR =

v2
2

(7)

Head losses in balance valves and control valves are

calculated by means of their Kv values which is a
commonly used engineers method to express the
hydraulic conductivity:
V
p =
Kv

( )

(8)

ref

with = actual fluid density during the simulations; ref =

fluid density during the manufacturers Kv measurements
(typically 1000 kg/m3).

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Once the system is hydraulically balanced, the Kv values

for balance valves are fixed model parameters. For control
valves, the Kv value is function of the valve stroke and
modeled according to the valve characteristic as prescribed
by the valve manufacturer. The following equations illustrate
a linear 2-way valve characteristic (e.g., used for loading the
domestic water heater) and an equal percentage 2-way valve
characteristic (e.g., used for power or temperature control)
according to ISSO publication 44 (1998):
Kv
Kv
h
Kv
= 1- 0
+ 0
Kvs
Kvs h100 Kvs

Kv
Kvs
= 1Kvs
Kv 0

(hh -1) (equal

100

(linear valve)

percentage valve)

(9)

(10)

with h/h100 = dimensionless valve displacement; Kv = actual

Kv value; Kvs = Kv value for the completely opened valve;
Kv0 = Kv value at that point of the basic shape of the valve
characteristic which intersects the y-axis. Typical values for
the Kvs/Kv0 ratio are situated between 25 and 50. Mostly,
these characteristic parameters are available in manufacturer
data according to VDI/VDE 2173 (2007, Fluid characteristic
quantities of control valves and their determination).
Similarly all kinds of valve characteristics as well as 3-way
valves are modeled in the BCM.
For control stability analysis with a small simulation step
size, it might be necessary to take the inertia of the valve
actuator into account. In central heating applications, the
action time from a closed to a completely opened valve can
range from 35 sec up till 180 sec. The closing time might
even be longer. In the BC models, this inertia is supposed
to be linear and applied according to the procedure proposed
by Latinen and Vartinen (IEA ECBCS Annex 10).
For thermostatic radiator valves, the model proposed by
H. Ast (IEA ECBCS Annex 10) is applied.
For equipment (e.g., filters, dirt separators, boilers,) for
which a pressure loss diagram is more commonly specified
instead of a Kv value, value or similar, the BC model
must be provided with an equivalent Kv value based on the
pressure loss diagram. However, during model validation
we experienced the need to pay attention to the accuracy
of pressure loss diagrams provided by manufacturers as
they are often based on extrapolations.
The pump heads pump in the hydronic equation set
are function of the volumetric flow as defined by the
pump curves. Using manufacturing data, the pump curves
could be implemented in a parameterized model using a
polynomial law:

n
ppump = k=0 ck () V k

(11)

with [rpm] = pump speed. Yet, the BCM focuses on

modern variable speed pumps with internal control logics
such as constant head control and pipe loss compensated
head control, as illustrated in Fig. 3. Assuming ideal internal
control loops, these pump curves are linear which makes
them very easy to model. Of course improved pump models
taking into account the efficiency and the electric energy
consumption can also be applied and will be added to the
BCM library hereafter.
Note that gravity head caused by the density difference
between supply and return water in the rise pipes, is not
taken into account to keep things straightforward. Moreover,
in modern hydronic networks with forced pump circulation
this is a reasonable approximation.

Fig. 3 (a) constant head pump curve, (b) pipe loss compensated
pump curve

2.3 Thermal model of the BC

When the water temperatures across the pipe-nodes are

analyzed, one can notice that two specific situations will
occur, respectively a mixing and dividing situation (Fig. 4).
One must realize that for dividing situations two equations
must be defined while for a mixing node one equation
suffices. In networks with several pumps the flow situation
(dividing, mixing) is not predefined. For example, the open
header is a typical network component in which the flow
situation often changes, as illustrated in Fig. 5. Since the
primary and secondary flow continuously change the open

Fig. 4 Temperatures across a pipe-node for (a) dividing situation

and (b) mixing situation

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Vandenbulcke et al. / Building Simulation / Vol. 5, No. 3

Fig. 5 Changing mixing point in the open header, IR-picture

header will keep the mass balance at its equilibrium point,

resulting in a swapping flow direction. When the secondary
flow is bigger than the primary flow, the open header flow is
directed upwards what leads to a mixing point at the top. In
the opposite case the mixing point will be at the bottom. The
latter situation is typical for partial load regimes and leads
to an increased boiler supply temperature and therefore a
decreased efficiency in condensing boilers. This energy
destructing condition is illustrated in Fig. 5 by means of an
IR-image. Another example of changing flow directions
will be found in ring configured networks as encountered
in industrial cooling applications (see e.g., Fig. 17). In such
networks several flow paths exist to reach a thermal unit.
As the hydraulic resistances of these paths change, changing
flow directions must be expected.
Consequently, as the flow situation across the pipe-nodes
can change, the BCM deals with this by using two conditional
equation sets. A first set is used when in the x-node a mass
flow is divided and as a result two mass flows are mixing in
the y-node. The used set of equations is called the DM set
(x Dividing; y Mixing):
T , x = T , x

(dividing x-node)

T , x = T , x

(dividing x-node)

T , y m + T , y m + T , y m = 0

To explain this analysis all possible flow situations are

illustrated in Fig. 6. Regarding the flows at the gateways six
different situations occur. With respect to the mass flow
convention the sign combinations are listed in Table 1.
From there the product P of these signs can be considered.
A plus sign makes x dividing while a minus sign corresponds
to x mixing. Conform to the model validity constraint
the y-node reacts complementary: this means x dividing
corresponds to y mixing and vice versa. In conclusion it
should be clear that the product of the flow signs P is a
straightforward variable used to select the proper equation
set automatically. Since the flow sign convention is intrinsically covered by the methodology no confusion will
occur when linking neighbor BCs.

(12)
(mixing y-node)
Fig. 6 Six possible flow situations inside the base circuit

In the opposite case, when the x-node is in mixing mode

and the y-node is in dividing mode, the MD equation set
is used (x Mixing; y Dividing):
T , x m + T , x m + T , x m = 0
T , y = T , y

(dividing y-node)

T , y = T , y

(dividing y-node)

(mixing x-node)
(13)

To call the right set of equations the base circuit model first
analyzes whether the circuit is in a DM- or in an MD-mode.

Table 1 Analysis of the flow situations in order to find the proper

equation set
Mass flow signs

Product
sign P

Equation
set

DM

MD

Flow
situation

1
2
3

MD

MD

DM

DM

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Thermal pipe losses can be included in the thermal BC

model. Doing so, the fluid temperatures at the end of the
pipes differ from the temperatures at the beginning. The heat
losses Ploss over a pipe can be macroscopically expressed by
Ploss = m c (Tsu - Tex )

(14)

with Tsu = supply temperature at the beginning of the pipe,

Tex = water temperature at the end of the pipe, m = mass
flow, c = thermal fluid capacity. Moreover, the heat transfer
between the pipe and its environment can be written as
Ploss = m c (Tsu - Tamb ) (1 - exp(-NTU)); NTU =

UA
m c

(15)
with Tamb = ambient temperature; NTU = number of transfer
units. The heat transfer coefficient and area UA is calculated
given as input the pipe dimensions and insulation materials.
By combining Eqs. (14) and (15), an expression for the fluid
temperature at the end of the pipe is found, as it is applied
in the non-adiabatic BC model:
Tex = Tsu - ((Tsu - Tamb ) (1 - exp(-NTU)))

(16)

The ambient temperature Tamb can be provided with a

constant value (e.g., 20). However, a more accurate approach
is to exchange Tamb between the BC model and the building
model.
2.4

Pre-modeled circuits and the BCM library

Although the BC might look a little strange at this stage, it

forms a basis upon which all kinds of thermal distribution
systems can be modeled. As an example, in this section a
typical hydronic mixing circuit (Fig. 7, on the left) is
modeled as a BC (Fig. 7, on the right).
From the general BC representation in Fig. 2, only the
necessary components remain in Fig. 7. The redundant
pumps are erased and respectively removed from the hydronic
equation set. All hydraulic head losses in pipes, balance valves
and control valves are ascribed to the respective hydraulic

resistors. The bypass pipe of the mixing circuit is represented

in the BC by shortcutting the -gateway hydraulically and
thermally. Correspondingly, both the temperature and
pressure difference over the -gateway equals zero in the
equation set; p = 0 and T;x = T;y.
The same approach is applied to pre-model other
frequently used hydronic circuits, such as those listed by
Petitjean (1994), ISSO publication 44 (1998) and ISSO
publication 47 (2005). Such BC models are gathered in the
BCM library (Fig. 1). Note that some BCs in the BCM
library are a composition of several single BCs as they are
often used in combination. Doing so the model setup time
is further decreased. For example, the library include BCs
with four pipe nodes although the BC is actually defined
having only two nodes.
2.5

Stepwise application of the BCM

The BCM model setup is stepwise explained for a simplified

central heating system, as illustrated in Fig. 8. The heat
exchangers HX1 and HX2 can be considered as networks
of radiators which also may be implemented in the BCM.
In this case they are simplified to maintain the overview.
The room temperatures Tr,1 and Tr,2 are controlled by means
of active mixing circuits which control the supply water temperature of the radiators. An open header disconnects the
primary boiler flow and the secondary flow in the collectors
to ensure a minimum boiler flow (typical requirement for a
boiler with small water content).
Step 1: Recognizing the BCs
Since a thermo-hydronic network can be built up as a
modular composition of BCs, they need to be recognized in
the system scheme first. In this rather small network, this
recognition is very straightforward as illustrated in Fig. 8.
Even for more complex networks, this identification step
remains rather easy since the different hydraulic BC configurations are graphically suggested in the BCM library.
The knowledge that a BC always includes two pipe nodes
and can be considered as a power node (see Introduction)
might be helpful as well. At the end an index number must
be assigned to every BC on the scheme.
Step 2: Loading the sub models from the BCM library

Fig. 7 Typical mixing circuit and its BC representation

For every BC indicated on the system scheme, the right

thermo-hydronic BC model must be loaded from the BCM
library and appended to the overall equation set. Accordingly
the model code of the respective BCs can be copied into the
main equation window within the EES software. Subsequently
all BC variables and parameters must be given the same index
as their respective BC number.

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Fig. 8 Scheme of the central heating system (left) and its BC representation (right)

However EES provides a more convenient way to call

the necessary BC sub models. In fact all BC models can be
called from the BCM library by means of EES MODULES.
When EES encounters a CALL statement to a MODULE,
it automatically grafts the equations of the respective BC
model into the equations of the main program, without
displaying them. This way a very compact and synoptic
model structure is obtained. Figure 9 illustrates the CALL
statement for BC3 (active mixing circuit) in the current
example (Fig. 8).
The argument list of the CALL statement consists of
a first set of exchange variables to be connected with the
adjacent BCs (flows, pressure differences and temperatures
at the BC gateways) and a second set of parameters regarding
the pipes, balance valves, control valves, etc. Since BC3
includes an actuator (3-way valve), the manipulated value
MV from the controller model is passed to the BC model. If
a non-adiabatic thermal BC model is used, the ambient
temperature Tamb is exchanged with the building model
to calculate the real thermal pipe losses. For the current
example, consisting of four BCs and three heat exchangers
in total seven similar CALL statements are inserted in the
equation window. This compact way of dealing with the
model setup supports the problem transparency.
Note that heat exchangers like radiators, fan coil units,
boilers, chillers, etc. are not really BCs as defined above.
However, they are present in the library to sustain the
overall setup. Dedicated models of these heat exchangers
are retrieved from literature but are not in the scope of the
current paper.

Step 3: Interconnecting the adjacent BCs

Once all necessary BC models are loaded from the BCM
library into the EES software, all embedded BCs are
hydraulically and thermally coupled by equating the flows,
pressure differences and temperatures at the linked gateways,
as illustrated in Fig. 10. This way the number of unknowns
equals the number of equations, and so the composed overall
thermo-hydronic model can be solved. With respect to the
sign conventions (Fig. 2), for xx/yy connections the pressure
differences over the gateways will have equal signs and the
mass flows will have opposite signs. For xy/yx connections
the flows have equal signs but the pressure differences have
opposite signs. Note that the physical location where two
gateways of adjacent BCs are connected with each other,
can be chosen arbitrarily. However, when a non-adiabatic
thermal BC model is used, it is advisable to make sure that
a BC does not overlap multiple building zones. Doing so,
only one ambient temperature (room temperature) needs
to be exchanged with the zone model leading to a more
convenient model setup. Therefore, the cut location of the
gateways is often situated underneath the zone bounds (i.e.,
walls, ceiling,...).
Step 4: Connecting the BC models with the heat load models
For dynamic network simulations, dynamic heat load models
must be provided and connected with the BC models. In
the present example, the dynamic heat demands of zones 1
and 2 are modeled according to the commonly used RCequivalent network approach as proposed by Laret (1981)

Fig. 9 CALL statement and argument list to load the BC model into the main program

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The integral component of the control action IOUT is

found by adding the product of the current error and the
integral gain KI to the preceding integral term. In Eq. (18),
the preceding integral term is supplied to the current
calculation with the INTEGRALVALUE command within
EES (note that this command does not refer to an integral
calculation command). To avoid so called winding up of
the controller, the integral term must be limited. For this
reason a Top Winding Limit (TWL) and a Bottom Winding
Limit (BWL) are used:

Fig. 10 Connection of adjacent BCs

and extensively studied and further optimized by several

investigators, e.g., Fraisse et al. (2002), Masy (2008). In some
cases it might be beneficial to combine the BCM library
and the extensive building model capabilities of TRNSYS.
Therefore, a connection between TRNSYS and EES can be
made by means of the TRNSYS type66 and the EES-supported
DDE (dynamic data exchange). Neither the accuracy nor
the applicability of dynamic load models are part of the
present research. However, while comparing alternative
thermo-hydronic configurations it should be noted that the
real load model accuracy is often of minor importance as
long as the load is representative.
Step 5: Adding control techniques
To obtain the desired room temperatures, control techniques
and control strategies are obviously required. In Fig. 8 three
control loops can be observed, one boiler controller and
two room temperature controllers. In the current example
the boiler temperature controller is considered to work
perfectly and can be set to a constant or variable temperature
like in external temperature compensation algorithms. For
the two room controllers, closed loop control is applied.
The displacements of the 3-way valves are PI-controlled.
The actions taken by such controllers are based on two
aspects: the actual value of the error between temperature
set points and the real measured values for it, as well as the
time integrated error values.
The proportional component POUT of the control action
depends on the current error and the proportional gain
factor KP. For the control loop in zone 1 one gets:
100
POUT = K p error; K p =
;
ProportionalBand
error = Tr,1,SP - Tr,1

(17)

with Tr,1,SP = set point temperature of the respective zone;

Tr,1 = current room temperature. The set point room
temperature can be varied to take night setback into
account. In modern DDC controllers (direct digital control)
the proportional band is often specified instead of the
proportional gain.

I OUT = min(TWL; max(BWL;INTEGRALVALUE(t stepsize; I OUT ) + K I error stepsize))

(18)

with: IOUT = integral term of the respective zone controller;

stepsize = time interval between the current and the previous
iterative calculations. The integral gain KI is calculated as the
ratio of the proportional gain and the controller integration
time constant integration:
KI =

KP
integration

(19)

The addition of the proportional and integral terms

finally result in the overall control action or manipulated
value MV which is limited between 0 and 100.

MV = min(100; max(0; POUT + I OUT ))

(20)

Note that PI-controlled actuators can be useful for control

performance analysis in terms of accuracy, speed and stability.
However, for energy efficiency analysis with a larger time
frame and a larger simulation step size (e.g., hourly based),
P-control is mostly more than satisfying.
For control performance analysis with a small step size
(e.g., 1 sec) the BCM library provides additional control
models including first order temperature sensor models
according to McGee (1988).
Step 6: Analysis
Once the thermo-hydronic network model is built up as a
modular composition of BCs, all thermal and hydraulic
variables can be retrieved from the simulation. In combination with the EES plotting tools, this yields profound
analysis possibilities. As an example, some typical analysis
plots will be shown.
In Fig. 11 the room temperatures Tr,1 and Tr,2 and their
set point temperature Tr,SP (day: 20; night set back: 15)
are shown for a simulation scope of 100 hours with a
0.01 hour step size. The external temperature Te is represented
by the dotted line.

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Vandenbulcke et al. / Building Simulation / Vol. 5, No. 3

Fig. 11 Simulation results of room temperatures and valve lifts

The room temperatures Tr,1 and Tr,2 are respectively

controlled by acting on the 3-way valves in BC3 and BC4.
The valve lifts of these 3-way valves in BC3 (hlift,3) and BC4
(hlift,4) are plotted on the right ordinate. It is clear that during
the morning warming up, both 3-way valves are completely
opened to overcome the thermal capacitance of the rooms.
Once the day set point temperature is reached the valve
lifts decrease again as only the static heat losses are to be
compensated.
Another interesting result is the manifestation of the
on-off behavior for small valve lifts in BC4. The reason for
this phenomenon can be found in the control rangeability
of the 3-way valve. In fact, in case of low thermal load the
valve will be almost closed. For these very small valve lifts
the flow becomes unpredictable, leading to an oscillating
valve behavior.
Beside transient analyses other correlations can be
analyzed as well. For example Fig. 12 illustrates the heating
characteristics of the mixing circuits BC3 and BC4. For
every simulation step the actual heat emitted in the zones
is dot-plotted as a function of the corresponding valve lifts.
From a control technical point of view, these heating
characteristics should return smooth and preferentially
linear curves to assure a good overall performance. In the
current example, it is clear that the equal percentage valve
in BC3 (control PHEAT,1) bears a much more linear behavior
compared to the linear valve in BC4 (control PHEAT,2). But
also the influence of valve authority, the Kvs/Kv0 ratio and
hydraulic interactivity can be analyzed in these heating curve
representations.
In addition, several system variables can be plotted as
function of the thermal load, allowing the system designer

Fig. 12 Heat characteristics for an equal percentage (PHEAT,1) and

linear (PHEAT,2) valve characteristic

to broaden his view from a strictly full load calculation to

partial load analysis. In fact in real cases, big discrepancies
between full and partial load conditions result in energy
efficiency loss. For example, Fig. 13 illustrates the partial load
effect of a mixing point at the bottom of the open header in
case of a constant boiler temperature (75). As the system
is designed at 75/65/20, the return water temperature
T,y,1 coming from the collector is logically equal to 65 in
full load (right site on the curve). However, in partial load
the return water temperature in the collector T,y,1 decreases,
giving opportunity to recover latent heat from the condensing
boilers exhaust gasses. Unfortunately, in partial load, hot
boiler water (75) is short cut in the open header as the
secondary flow gets smaller than the primary flow. As a
result, the water temperature T,y,1 increases drastically and
thus destroys the condensing opportunities. Fortunately,
boiler controllers with external temperature compensation
have become common practice and reduce this problem
drastically as will be illustrated in Section 3.1.

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Vandenbulcke et al. / Building Simulation / Vol. 5, No. 3

Fig. 13 Water temperature increase towards the boiler due to a

mixing point at the bottom of the open header

Simulation examples

In this section, two real test cases in which the practical

usability of the BCM was studied, are presented. The first
example illustrates how the methodology yields insight in
the dynamic behavior of a central heating system in both
full and partial load conditions. The second example shows
how the BCM can be used as a design tool in a more static
and industrial application.
3.1

Dynamic behavior of a central heating system

In this first test case, the BCM is applied to model the

thermo-hydronic behavior of the central heating system in a
school building (SIBSO2, Antwerp, Fig. 14). Two condensing
boilers (2 160 kW) provide the necessary heat to the
building. In total 44 different zones (classrooms, office rooms,
refectory,) are heated by means of 79 radiators spread
over the zones. According to the orientation of the rooms,
respectively situated at the east or west facade of the building,
a different water supply temperature is provided by means
of two active mixing circuits controlled by a pre-set weather
depending heating curve (pre-control). On each radiator
a thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) further refines the room
temperature control (after control). The gymnasium is
heated with two fan coil units which are manually controlled
by the fan speed. An open header is used to ensure a
minimum boiler flow and to avoid hydraulic interactivity
between the 3-way valves. Regarding the hydronics, one
can observe a typically branched and tree shaped design.
This way the BCM model validity requirement (as defined
under Section 2.1) is met.

Fig. 14 Scheme central heating system, SIBSO2, Antwerp

To build up the overall thermo-hydronic model of this

heating system, 166 BCs are loaded from the BCM library.
Subsequently, the adjacent BCs are connected. The 44 zones
are modeled by means of RC equivalent networks.
In accordance with the open header problem explained
in Fig. 13, the ingoing boiler water temperature for this
school building is analyzed in case of a constant boiler
temperature and a weather depending boiler temperature,
as illustrated in Fig. 15.
3.2 Optimal network design for an industrial cooling
system

In this practical case (Procap Hoboken NV, Antwerp) the

mold dies of 24 injection molding machines needed to be
cooled to a precise temperature to obtain correct process
conditions. To achieve the desired die temperature, the
cold water flows in the die heat exchangers are controlled

214

Fig. 15 Ingoing boiler water temperature in case of constant boiler

temperature and external temperature compensation

by manual flow valves based on the operators experience

(automatic control is not allowed). However, as there is
no real feedback control in such practice, the thermal
performance of the heat exchangers becomes sensitive to
disturbances due to fluctuating network pressures. Therefore,
the objective was to design a thermo-hydronic network in
which pressure fluctuations are minimized to an acceptable
level. A ring shaped network (Fig. 16) was recommended as
the pressure fluctuations due to variable loads are smaller
in such configuration.
The BCM was used to design this network and to define
its pipe dimensions. However, it should be noted that the
BCM model validity requirement (as explained in Section 2)
is actually not met in this ring shaped network. In fact, while
building up the network as a composition of BCs, one will
observe that flows entering a BC gateway at the x-connection
are not necessarily equal in size at the y-connection, which
is typical for ring shaped networks. To overcome this rather
exceptional model constraint, a customized hydronic BC
model was developed. Although this customized model
implies a greater number of variables to link the adjacent
BCs, the basic BCM idea is still usable this way.
To model the network, in total 25 BCs are used of which
only one BC contains a pump. All other BCs are equal and as

Fig. 16 Ring shaped network with 24 injection molding machines

Vandenbulcke et al. / Building Simulation / Vol. 5, No. 3

such very straightforward to implement. Once familiar with

the BCM, the set-up of this model takes less than 15 minutes
by using the BCM library. The implementation of all hydronic
parameters (pump curve, pipe sizes and lengths) and the
actual analysis of the different load conditions are, of course,
more time consuming but inevitable for all simulation
methodologies, BCM included.
Once modeled, all flows, temperatures and differential
pressures inside the network could be calculated for a random
set of active molding machines. To keep an interactive
overview while experimenting with different pipe sizes, the
variables were graphically presented in a three dimensional
drawing as illustrated in Fig. 17. In fact, all calculated
EES-variables can be automatically exported into a csv-file
and can subsequently be imported into the 3D drawing
software.
The flows and differential pressures are shown for a full
load situation, i.e., all machines in action. By means of the
flow arrows it is made clear that in this loop configured
network the flow has two possible flow paths to reach the
respective machines. The pressure graph shows the pressure
differences at the cold/hot plug-in positions of the different
machines. To avoid interactivity in the real installation these
pressure differences should more or less be independent of
the load. Using our BCM approach, pipe sizes for which an
acceptable level of pressure fluctuations is reached, could
be found by experiment.

Fig. 17 3D graphical representation of the flow and the differential

pressure in the network

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Vandenbulcke et al. / Building Simulation / Vol. 5, No. 3

Model validation

As explained before, the BCM is a handsome trick to

arrange the hydronic and thermal equation sets in a more
structured and dense manner. Therefore, the expected
accuracy is in accordance with the embedded models retrieved
from the literature. In order to check the resulting accuracy
of the BC models, the behaviour of different heat distribution
BCs is analyzed in the BCM test installation (Fig. 18) and

Fig. 18 Left: BCM test installation; right: control and data acquisition
cabinet

compared with the simulation results. Flow and pressure

measurements allow hydronic model tuning. Water temperatures are measured to refine the thermal models.
In the validation procedure, the BC is approached as an
isolated entity. Accordingly, temperature measurements of
incoming water flows, as well as the pressure differences
over the external gateways are considered as environmental
variables and therefore used as input in the simulations.
Doing so there is no need to provide a steady environment
during the measurements. Especially for variables which are
difficult to control at a constant value during the measurements, e.g., the boiler water temperature, this validation
approach is very convenient and allows to concentrate the
analysis on the unitary BC.
The validation scheme and simulation results of a BC, in
this case a PI controlled active mixing circuit, are illustrated
in Fig. 19. The simulated water temperature T,x,1 (supply
water temperature towards the end units) appears to represent
the experimental measurements rather well.

Fig. 19 BC model validation scheme and simulation vs. experiment comparison

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Vandenbulcke et al. / Building Simulation / Vol. 5, No. 3

written as follows:

Energy efficiency analysis in the BCM

Since BCs are typical power nodes where net heat flows
(difference between supply and exhaust pipe) are collecting,
dividing or changed in terms of temperature and/or flow,
the BCM model setup yields the opportunity to analyze all
net heat flows and their adaptations while crossing the
thermo-hydronic network. In particular two types of heat
flow observation tools are worked out, offering the engineer
additional information while optimizing the energy efficiency
of the system.
5.1

Thermodynamic efficiency of the net heat flows

Analogous with the formulation for heat exchangers, the

thermodynamic efficiency at a BC gateway is defined as the
ratio of the actual temperature difference and the thermodynamic maximal achievable temperature difference.
Considering an ingoing net heat flow at the -gateway, the
thermodynamic efficiency is calculated as follows:
T ,x - T , y
=
T ,x - Tsink

(21)

The sink temperature Tsink is the lowest temperature the net

heat flow will encounter at the emission site. Although the
net heat flows crossing the network are finally emitted at
different room temperatures, it is more practical to assume
a general sink temperature (e.g., 20).
In common practice the efficiency focus is located at
production and emission site. However with this analysis
efficiency losses can be located in the intermediate distribution
network too.
5.2

Exergy loss calculation in the BC

Beside energy analysis the BCM can also deal with exergy
calculations. Since for all embedded BCs the exergy powers
can be automatically calculated, all exergy losses in the
thermo-hydronic network can be visualized in a very synoptic
way. Especially for low temperature heating and cooling
applications, exergy analysis has been formerly used for
optimization purposes as documented in the IEA ECBCS
Annex49 report and Babiak et al. (2007). This paper does not
intend to discuss exergy loss analysis; however, it illustrates
how BC exergy losses can be calculated.
The exergy loss inside the BC is calculated by observation
of the ingoing and outgoing exergy powers at the BC gateways.
As the temperature of the heat Q in the heat carrier fluid
decreases when heat is emitted to the environment with
temperature Tref , the exergy E must be calculated according
to the body approach. This way the exergy factor can be

E
Tref
T
= 1 ln
Q
T - Tref
Tref

) ( )

(22)

Accordingly, the exergy power of the water flow entering

the x-connection of the -gateway can be written as follows:
E ,x = m c (T ,x - Tref ) 1 -

T
Tref
ln , x
Tref
, x - Tref

( (T

) ( ))
(23)

On a same basis, the outgoing exergy power at the

y-connection of the respective gateway can be calculated.
However, to get the net exergy power at the BC gateway,
the outgoing exergy power at the y-connection must be subtracted from the ingoing exergy power at the x-connection:
E = P 1 -

T
Tref
ln ,x
T
T
,x
, y
, y

( (T

) ( ))

(24)

With the same sign convention as the mass flows, the total
exergy power loss is calculated straightforward as the sum
of the respective gateway exergy powers:
E loss = E + E + E

(25)

As an example, Fig. 20 illustrates the exergy losses in

the intermediate distribution network between production
and emission site. Because of water flows with different temperatures are mixed together inside the two BCs, Exergy
power is lost.
By using the above mentioned analysis tools, it becomes
clear how the hydronic network can affect the total plant
efficiency. This way, energy loss on the heat production site
can be assigned to locatable parts of the heat distribution
network. In particular mixing points must be avoided as
much as possible. A mixing point in a return pipe decreases
the heat production efficiency (e.g., open header problem,
Fig. 13) while mixing points in the supply pipes (e.g., BC3
and BC4 in Fig. 8) decrease the thermodynamic efficiency
of the end units, which finally also leads to an increased
energy consumption. By means of example we (Vandenbulcke
and Merten 2011) recently illustrated a fuel consumption

Fig. 20 Sankey diagram of the net exergy flows and exergy losses

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Vandenbulcke et al. / Building Simulation / Vol. 5, No. 3

decrease of 7.1% only by optimizing the hydronic network

configuration and control. Yet, a more extensive study
on hydronic system optimization incorporating the above
mentioned analysis tools, is still to be done in the future
work.
The computing time to run the simulations depends
on the step size, time horizon and the size of the hydronic
system. A detailed thermo-hydronic simulation of the
heating system as illustrated in Fig. 14, takes approximately
44 minutes for a one year time horizon using a 15 minutes
step size. However, for hydronic design optimization, a more
restricted simulation horizon of one week for each season
already reveals the most important optimization opportunities.
This way, computational costs remain acceptable.
6

Conclusions

The aim of our study was to get scientific insight in the set
of thermo-hydronic equations that arises during the design
of huge heating and cooling networks. Step by step it was
realized that such equations can be considered as sub groups
that cover local Basic Circuits (BCs). They accept net flows
of mass, energy and exergy and distribute them to neighbor
BCs. Six basic flow types are identified and form the basis
for an automated equations setup. From a thermodynamic
point of view the sub units behave as independent entities.
In the design phase the BCs can be taken from a library and
combined almost without limitation. The performance and
controllability of a specific installation can then more easily
be analyzed and optimized. The EES-software turned out to
be a very good candidate to solve the systems.
At this stage the Base Circuit Methodology (BCM) is a
useful tool for experienced EES users. However, a graphical
user interface (GUI) might enlarge the usability and bring
simulation into the daily practice of system designers. Since
EES provides dynamic data exchange (DDE), the GUI
could be developed in an independent application to build
up a Simulink or LabView alike approach. The necessary
BCs would be dragged from the library into the workspace
and linked simply by moving the mouse cursor from
gateway to gateway. For example, by double clicking on a
BC icon, a popup window would appear in which all BC
parameters can be entered. Further investigations in this
direction are foreseen.
It is the authors ambition to develop and sustain the
BCM library as an open source library of pre-modeled BCs
which will be made available on the internet. To provide
reliable models, further validation efforts are planned. At
the end, the BCM will be a practical tool used by scientists
and designers.

Acknowledgements

The BCM test installation was built in the frame of the

VALID project (Variable Flow Validation, project number:
IWT-TETRA070106 ), financially supported by the Agency
for Innovation by Science and Technology of the Flemish
Government.
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