Competence Center for
Energy Transition (CC4E) Competence Center for Energy Transition (CC4E)

Expert tools that simulate the integration of renewable energy into existing energy grids play a crucial role in the energy transition. Researchers at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg) are developing the Jarvis simulation software for this purpose. It offers a free, high-performance simulation of heating networks in high resolution and as a collaborative web application. Jarvis was released under an open-source license. Potential users include energy suppliers, municipal utilities, as well as planners and scientists at universities and research institutions.

The software has been under development since 2017 as part of research projects on the heat transition, most recently in the real-world laboratory “Integrated Heat Transition IW3” at the Competence Center for Energy Transition (CC4E) at the HAW Hamburg. Jarvis can be used to examine different expansion and generation scenarios in heating networks in advance, thereby identifying the technically feasible and most economically advantageous transformation concepts for a climate-neutral heat supply.

High-resolution simulations

A completely new, distributed computing approach was developed for Jarvis, enabling powerful, high-temporal-resolution simulations on high-performance computing (HPC) clusters: the simulator’s architecture calculates the states of a model within a distributed system across any number of computing nodes and processors. As a result, insufficient simulation performance no longer needs to be compensated for by reducing the level of detail, but can be resolved by selecting sufficient hardware resources.

The high resolution in Jarvis can help clarify key questions that arise when integrating new renewable heat generators into existing networks with existing installations:

Can existing networks continue to supply heat customers adequately? Where do bottlenecks occur, and at what times of day? How can optimised generator control counteract this?

To answer these questions, a high-temporal-resolution simulation of highly detailed network models (often referred to as a ‘digital twin’) is essential. Thanks to its distributed approach and high performance, Jarvis enables such models to be built, thereby allowing accurate predictions of pressure and flow conditions or the behaviour of control systems in heating networks to be modelled.

The development work carried out so far has focused on the modelling and simulation of district heating networks. However, the software’s conceptual approach also enables the modelling and simulation of networks, as well as systems and components in the electricity and gas sectors, and of technical systems in general. Consequently, Jarvis can be used in future to investigate and evaluate cross-sector expansion and supply scenarios, which is crucial for a successful energy transition. This requires highly comprehensive simulation models, the calculation of which places high demands on computing performance. Such a level of detail is either not yet possible with the tried-and-tested simulation programmes currently available on the market, or it would require very long computation times.

Collaborative operation in the browser

The Jarvis user interface was designed according to the modern approach of a web application: users are no longer reliant on installing a local application, but can conveniently operate Jarvis in their browser. This means that personal computers no longer need to have significant computing resources, as the simulation calculations are performed on a powerful server or computing cluster. This approach enables both simultaneous, collaborative editing and the simulation of projects by multiple users.

Jarvis currently covers the following areas of application, amongst others:

• Simulation and analysis of the energy and thermohydraulic behaviour of heating networks, e.g. transformation and expansion scenarios using high-resolution models
• Calculation of operating conditions in real time (‘digital twin’)
• Analysis and prediction of operational bottlenecks
• Identification of measures to reduce temperatures in heating networks
• Modelling and simulation right through to the control level

Access for a wide user base and the formation of a development consortium

Through Jarvis’s open-source approach, which makes the source code and the programme’s development history publicly available, the HAW Hamburg is providing transparent access to the software’s development process and range of functions. Alongside other software projects from the German higher education sector, the developers are thus presenting an alternative to the sometimes opaque range of proprietary simulation tools for the energy sector. Furthermore, this approach facilitates the collaborative, cross-university and cross-sectoral further development of the software. Contributions ranging from simple changes to the documentation to the development of new functions are possible and welcome.

Jarvis will thus be made available to all users from research and industry (e.g. research groups, universities, energy suppliers, municipal utilities, planners) on a long-term and free-of-charge basis. Until now, the simulation tool was only available to staff at HAW Hamburg and was used and tested in various use cases on a computing cluster at the CC4E in Hamburg-Bergedorf.

A roadmap setting out prioritised areas for further development has been drawn up to guide the software’s future development. Over the coming months, this will be used to establish a consortium and draw up a funding plan for a development project in collaboration with research institutions and end-users. Anyone interested in using the software or even joining the development consortium is invited to get in touch: