Reliable and optimised district heating monitoring with io-key
Easy temperature monitoring for a biogas-based district heating system
Goal of the project
The municipality of Mochenwangen relies on environmentally friendly heat from a biogas plant to supply district heating to a school. Since 2007, the biogas plant has been reliably supplying heat via a 1.5-kilometre pipeline. This carbon-neutral heat is used throughout the year and contributes to the city’s sustainability and environmental goals.
To ensure a stable heat supply for the school, Hermann Müller, operator of the Kögelhof biogas plant, relies on the IIoT platform moneo and the io-key. The io-key supports a wide range of applications for collecting and forwarding data, especially where infrastructure is limited. It acts as a key solution for secure data transmission via mobile network. In this case, the io-key transmits the temperature data of the incoming heat to moneo via the mobile network. In moneo, the data is processed and visualised. This monitoring helps track heat loss along the pipeline, prevent temperature fluctuations in the classroom, ensure reliable district heating operation, and at the same time improve energy efficiency and operational reliability.
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Benefits of temperature monitoring with the io-key
Discover the many benefits of monitoring district heating pipeline temperatures with io-key.
- Wireless data transfer: Easy integration without infrastructure changes.
- Health protection: Continuous monitoring ensures the agreed heat supply while minimising the risk of Legionella.
- Visualisation and analysis: Rapid error analysis and transparency through dashboards.
- Transparency: Greater data transparency enables optimisation measures.
- Automatic alerts: Early response to temperature deviations.
- Elimination of inspection rounds: Automatic data transmission eliminates the need for routine checks.
- Energy efficiency: Optimised operation that conserves resources and increases profitability.
With minimal effort and without major costs, a sustainable heat supply can be reliably ensured. Rely on secure data transmission with the io-key for your application as well.
Value proposition
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Process qualityDistrict heating supply for the school in Mochenwangen
District heating from the biogas plant supplies several important buildings in Mochenwangen, including the school, the kindergarten, the sports hall and the fire station. At the school in Mochenwangen, a 1.5-kilometre pipeline transports thermal energy to the central school heating system. Monitoring the supply and return temperatures at various points – both at the feed-in point in the courtyard and inside the school building at the end of the district heating system – ensures optimal heat supply. The flow rate fluctuates at around seven cubic metres per hour. The service water used for the heat supply is heated to at least 60 °C to prevent the growth of Legionella bacteria. District heating provides a reliable and efficient way to maintain this temperature continuously. The hot water is generated centrally using waste heat from the biogas plant and transported to the school building via the pipeline system. The temperatures are high enough to eliminate Legionella while avoiding unnecessary energy consumption. The water in the school building remains safe and hygienic.
Data transmission despite limited infrastructure
By monitoring process values and processing them further in the moneo Cloud, all temperature values can be viewed at any time. At the beginning of the pipeline at the Kögelhof biogas plant, the temperature values are transmitted via an IO-Link master to an edge gateway. It enables data pre-processing and direct connection to the moneo Cloud.
At the school, the sensors detect the supply and return temperatures and transmit the values via an IO-Link temperature module both to a local control display and via the io-key to the moneo Cloud using mobile communication. If the incoming district heating or the difference between supply and return at the school falls too low, Hermann Müller is automatically alerted. The same monitoring principle is applied to the return water temperature.
The resulting transparency of measurement data improves the operational reliability of the system and, above all, helps safeguard the health and well-being of the people at the school.
System structure
- Hot water temperature probe sensor TT1250 with temperature plug TP2005
- Cold water temperature probe sensor TT1250 with temperature plug TP2005
- IO-Link master AL1350
- moneo edgeGateway AE2100
- Hot water upstream of plate heat exchanger temperature probe sensor TT1250
- Cold water upstream of plate heat exchanger temperature probe sensor TT1250
- Plate heat exchanger in school
- Hot water downstream of plate heat exchanger temperature probe sensor TT1250
- Cold water downstream of plate heat exchanger temperature probe sensor TT1250
- IO-Link temperature module AL2384
- Optional IO-Link display E30430 for local visualisation
- io-key wireless IoT gateway (EU) AIK001
Innovative solution for using io-key
To use the io-key to transmit temperature data, temperature probe sensors (TT1250) are first installed at the various measurement points in the shut-off valves with a 6 mm bore.
At the biogas plant, the temperature plugs (TP2005) are used as measuring signal converters for temperature sensors. The two plugs are connected to an IO-Link master (AL1350), which is linked to the moneo edgeGateway (AE2100) via the local network.
At the school, an AL2384 IO-Link module for analogue temperature sensors is used. Up to four temperature sensors can be connected to this device for evaluation. The temperature module is connected to the io-key (AIK001), which sends the data to the moneo Cloud via mobile communication.
In the moneo Cloud, the sensors are onboarded and calculated values, dashboards, analyses and threshold values are configured. Since temperature changes only occur slowly, a transmission cycle of 60 seconds is sufficient for both the edgeGateway and the io-key. In all cases, the last value is transmitted so that, in this use case, the data of the io-key and edgeGateway remain comparable.
Note: Unlike an edgeGateway, an io-key cannot aggregate data.