Power District Heating at Brno, Czechoslovakia

The most effective way to large-scale saving in industrial fuel is the pooling of power and steam consumption. This method, if spread over a wide area, say an industrial town or district, inevitably paves the way to district heating. Ordinary district heating stations, distributing only low-pressure saturated steam or hot water from one central boiler house to consumers in the vicinity, are of but secondary importance when the aim is high overall thermal efficiency in the distribution and consumption of power and heat. Satisfactory economy can only be achieved by installing high-pressure stations and using the pressure drop down to the pipe line pressure for the generation and supply of electric power. Not every community or district is, however, entirely suitable for the establishment of a power-heating plant. The difficulties arise from the geographical position of the industrial areas compared with the location of the mainly residential districts, from the customary times of use of heat and power, and, last but not least, from long-standing habits or traditions in the production and utilization of heat. The power district heating plant built during 1928–30 at Brno, capital of Moravia, Czechoslovakia, is described as an example where considerable difficulties were overcome. Due to its absolute success, the plant subsequently served as a guide in the planning of far larger stations of this kind. The description in the paper embraces the general layout of the plant, followed by details of the boiler house, back-pressure and condensing turbines, piping inside the station, desuperheater, feed arrangement and make-up plant, heat accumulation, and finally the distribution of steam to the consumers. Further, the report gives some important features of the operation, difficulties arising and how they were mastered.