Controlling the flow in your district energy network no longer needs to be a guessing game. With the new bypass solution from Danish valve manufacturer Frese you will be able to monitor, operate and control your systems remotely, thereby ensuring significant savings on energy as well as on your bottom line.

'We are focusing on ways to add intelligence to components in district energy networks in order to increase their value to both service providers and customers,' says Martin Overbjerg, business development manager for District Energy at Frese.

Frese BYPASS consists of an old favourite: The Frese OPTIMA Compact PICV, which is a pressure independent control valve, and a new, intelligent and battery-operated controller, which enables remote operation of the valve.

Actual insight with precise data

A central benefit of Frese BYPASS is that it provides actual insight and eliminates some of the uncertainties of pressure and temperature calculations.

'We have collaborated closely with several Danish district heating providers in the development of Frese BYPASS and the benefits of actively using your bypass units are obvious. You can reduce heat loss in your network and ensure that your customers always have access to hot water. The new data also allows you to optimise pump operation, avoiding unnecessarily high pressure,' Martin explains.

Significant savings through minor changes

Extensive field testing of Frese’s new IoT product supports these claims.

Viborg DHC has conducted a large-scale prototype test by retrofitting around 30 devices into its existing bypass units and has already made a few changes in its network. So far, these minor changes have shown major potential in terms of energy efficiency and cost savings.

With the precise data provided by Frese BYPASS Viborg DHC’s distribution manager Tom Diget realised that the pressure in a specific part of his network was unnecessarily high and was able to lower it by 0.4 bar, resulting in annual savings of 27,400 kWh - equalling DKK 18,400 - in this area alone.

Viborg DHC has now turned its focus towards temperature control, and Tom has high expectations. He explains: 'By placing Frese BYPASS strategically in the grid, the return temperature can be raised slightly at the critical points, while the inflow temperature can be lowered throughout the network. That's where the money starts rolling in. Each time we lower the inflow temperature by 1 degree, we save DKK 250,000 in reduced heat loss.'

Plug-and-play technology

Frese BYPASS is designed with easy operation in mind. It can be retrofitted into existing installations and because it is wireless and battery operated there is no need for complex or expensive external connections, wi-fi or sim cards.

The solution uses the LPWAN network Sigfox, which has its own infrastructure already in place. The Sigfox business model is built on transparent subscriptions with fixed monthly rates per unit. This ensures maximum financial predictability for the customers.

Remote control via dashboard

Operating Frese BYPASS is easy via the web-based dashboard Frese FLOWCLOUD®. This responsive platform provides one central access point to all your Frese BYPASS units where you can obtain further insight into your network through historic graphs of pressure, temperature and valve position on your computer, smartphone or tablet. As Frese develops new features, these will be made available through Frese FLOWCLOUD®.

'Data needs to go where our customers need it to go, so if this is not the right platform for you, we also offer third-party API. Data sharing will only accelerate as district energy and other utility companies start reaching for further optimisation and synergies, and we want to give our customers the best possible tools for that process,' Martin explains.

For further information please contact:

Stephen Hart, managing director, Frese Ltd; stephen.hart@frese.co.uk +44 (0) 07944 197 899 or Martin Overbjerg, business development manager, District Energy, Frese A/S mov@frese.dk +45 58 56 00 39.