District Heating in Alaska
Brita Mjos
May 19-August 15, 2014
Alaska Center for Energy and Power
District Heating
Denali Education Center
 HEATING MULTIPLE BUILDINGS
ON THE SAME PIPE LOOP
FROM ONE HEAT SOURCE
 More efficient than each
building having its own boiler
 Adaptable to many heat sources
 Provides space heating, domestic hot water, cooling, and
industrial heat applications (greenhouse heat, milk and veg
dehydration)
 Can be part of a CHP system
District heating can use diverse heat sources:
Coal (UAF campus, Downtown Fairbanks,
Fort Wainwright)
Biomass
Wood (Tok, Mentasta, Fort Yukon,
Gulkana)
Municipal waste (ARCO man camp,
Scandinavia)
Human solid waste (Scandinavia)
Geothermal (Chena HS, Juneau GSHP,
Iceland)
Heat recovery from generators (Cordova,
Tok Green Machine, Fort Yukon)
Coal unloading at Downtown
Fairbanks power plant
Kaishan screw expander at Chena Hot Springs
Oil, natural gas, seawater HP, landfill methane capture…
Chena Hot Spring’s geothermal power plant ↓
http://www.chenapower.com/geothermal-power/
http://www.agsd.us/biomass/index.html
← Tok’s chipper and biomass generator for CHP↑
http://www.agsd.us/biomass/index.html
← Mentasta, installing a 5-building biomass
DH loop summer 2014
↓ Nome, a candidate for geothermal
district heat
← Gulkana, heating 9 buildings on
cordwood district heat
Considerations
Energy Efficiency = #1 Priority
Minimize Heating Loop Length
System Expansion
Permafrost
Water Quality
Expense
Available Labor and Community Interest
Field
Trips
←UAF utilidor
↑Insulated pipe at Chena
← Coal boiler in downtown Fairbanks


DoE, Idaho universities collaboration
Kodiak
◦ Recommended Upgrades: Lighting, belts,
insulate freezers, water conservation
◦ Kodiak Fishmeal Company accepts waste
from all processors and locals for highvalue fishmeal, bone meal, and fish oil
◦ Is there an application for a seawater heat
pump, like the Seward Sealife Center?
 Chillers? Dryers? Water heating?
◦ What will Kodiak sites choose to implement?

UAF as future IAC
Handbook
Annotated
bibliography
Thank you, ACEP!
George Roe
Gwen Holdmann
Marcia Cassino
Chris Pike
All staff and interns who answered my questions
U.S. Dept. of Energy
Mike Ruckhaus, UAF facilities
Buki Wright and Matt Burdick, Aurora
Joel Buth, Goldstream Sports
Thomas Lund, Chena HS intern
Rex Goolsby, Dave Frederick, Ray Spears, Dave P-M
John Gardner, IAC
CCHRC staff