  Strict user demands and large variability in external disturbances, along
with limited richness in the data collected on the daily operating conditions
of district heating networks makes the design and testing of novel
energy-reducing control algorithms for district heating networks challenging.
This paper presents the development of a dynamically similar lab-scale district
heating network that can be used as a test bench for such control algorithms.
This test bench is developed using the Buckingham pi theorem to the match the
lab-scale components to the full-scale. By retaining the relative
thermodynamics and fluid dynamics of a full-scale network in the lab-scale
system, the experimental setup allows for repeatability of the experiments
being performed and flexibility in the testing conditions. Moreover, the
down-scaling of the experiment is leveraged to accelerate testing, allowing for
the recreation of operating periods of weeks and months in hours and days. A
PID controller is implemented on the lab-scale test bench to validate its
response against literature data. Results show 63% efficiency during heating
operations compared to 70% efficiency for a similar full-scale system, with
comparable pressure losses across the system.
