Flow Control

Physical Model

The flow control component enforces a specific mass flow between two junctions. This is very helpful to control the mass flow in district heating networks.

Warning

It is recommended to use the flow control components only in looped networks. Using the flow controller in non-looped networks, in particular on stubs, can likely lead to non-convergence of the pipeflow.

Create Function

For creating a single flow control unit:

For creating multiple flow control units at once:

Component Table Data

net.flow_control

Parameter	Datatype	Value Range	Explanation
net	pandapipesNet		The pandapipes net object in whose flow_control table the new unit will be added
from_junction	integer	\(>\) 0	Index of junction at which the flow control unit starts
to_junction	integer	\(>\) 0	Index of junction at which the flow control unit ends
controlled_mdot_kg_per_s	float		The mass flow set point [kg/s]
diameter	float	> 0	diameter to derive the cross-sectional area
control_active	boolean		If false, the unit behaves like an open valve
name	string		Name of the flow control unit
in_service	boolean	True / False	If false, the unit behaves like a closed valve.
type	string		Type variable to classify different kinds of flow control units (not considered by pandapipes’ calculations)

Result Table Data

net.res_flow_control

Parameter	Datatype	Explanation
v_mean_m_per_s	float	The mean velocity of fluid in the flow control unit [m/s]
p_from_bar	float	Pressure at “from”-junction [bar]
p_to_bar	float	Pressure at “to”-junction [bar]
t_from_k	float	Temperature at “from”-junction [K]
t_to_k	float	Temperature at “to”-junction [K]
mdot_from_kg_per_s	float	Mass flow into flow control unit [kg/s]
mdot_to_kg_per_s	float	Mass flow out of flow control unit [kg/s]
vdot_norm_m3_per_s	float	Norm volume flow [m^3/s]
reynolds	float	Average Reynolds number