Written By: Kalervo Aho
“User friendly and feature-rich tool!”
Stijn Wolterink, District Heating System Developer, Warmtenetwerk Westland
Stijn Wolterink is a district heating system developer working for Warmtenetwerk Westland, which distributes geothermal heat to agricultural companies in the Westland region of the Netherlands. He first heard about Fluidit from Rotterdam Engineering, a consultant who proposed using Fluidit in a large research project. Stijn’s first impressions of Fluidit were positive: “User friendly and feature-rich tool!”
Stijn has used Fluidit Heat for technical system analysis projects, specifically to calculate future scenarios of Warmtenetwerk Westland. “The scenario tool using base- and child scenarios is very helpful,” Stijn says. Using the software has impacted the efficiency and effectiveness of his working processes: “We are able to let a consultant do a hydraulic system analysis, whereafter we can get the Fluidit model as a deliverable. In that way, we are able to get a better understanding of the system and the results and we are also able to make simple changes ourselves.”
One specific challenge that the software helped Stijn and his team solve was modeling a multi-source heating network with multiple rings. Fluidit Heat helped them determine the maximum network capacity in a certain area of the network and find the supply pressures needed to deliver the desired power to consumers, which was an input to the design process of individual geothermal plants.
Compared to other thermo-hydraulic modeling software and services, Fluidit Heat’s main benefit is its seamless integration with geographical information and its ability to visualize results extensively. It also has unique capabilities, such as the ability to model dynamically and incorporate pumps and accumulators. The support and customer service from Fluidit have been excellent Stijn underlines.
Using Fluidit Heat has increased the accuracy and reliability of Stijn’s modeling work, as it makes it easy to run multiple scenarios with few additional costs and time. He would recommend Fluidit Heat and Fluidit to other utility and engineering companies looking for modeling software and services because of their user-friendliness, feature-richness, and flexible licensing options.
Learn more about Fluidit Heat here.