Budapest integrates new elements in its public transport services

BKV has more than 100 years of history with great traditions and expertise, and has always had an important role in the transport of Budapest. The company operates five big branches (bus, tram, metro, commuter train and trolleybus) in an integrated system. Furthermore it provides cogwheel railway, funicular, chairlift and Danube boat services.

The mission of the company is to be a market leader, providing high quality public transport in the capital and the Budapest region, to meet the expectations of the European Union and to take part in the integration of public passenger transport in the region of Central Hungary.

BKV is committed to being environ – mentally-friendly and reducing air pollution to make it a liveable and social city.

The basis of our vision is for BKV to be an efficiently functioning company in terms of technical conditions, the level of service and human resources; a competitive service provider that meets the requirements of the 21st century.

BKV offers comfortable, punctual, reliable, safe and competitive services for the inhabitants of the capital and the agglomeration of Budapest that can be compared to any European capital’s public transport company.

Heat pump system in the operating area of the metro

Striving after environmentally aware energy consumption, BKV is continuously looking for possible ways to reduce the amount of energy the company uses. One component of this process is the heat pump system established in 2007 at the metro station at Lehel tér, which mainly provides the production of hot water required and used by the employees. In 2009 we examined the possibility and return probability of heat utilisation in several areas of the metro (with regards to the pipe networks embedded in the base plate of the metro, transformers, water of wells, and air of drifts, among others). With use of the outcomes of our examinations, we prepared feasibility studies with respect to the ‘Stadionok’ and ‘Nagyvárad tér’ metro stations. Following a managerial decision, the contract for constructing the heat utilisation solution at ‘Nagyvárad tér’ was signed in July 2010. Construction reached completion by 15 December 2010 and the system was put into operation. After a period of test operation, the fully comprehensive launch of the system took place on 10 May 2011.

The applied technology

What is a heat pump?

A heat pump is a device which utilises the energy of the environment and is able to heat, cool and generate hot water. The appliance does not convert the energy used for its operation directly into heat, but with the help of external energy it raises heat from a lower to a higher temperature level, mostly utilising the solar energy stored by the ground, air and water (without utilising external energy; heat can only stream from a warmer to a colder area). The refrigerator also works on a similar principle: it transports heat from the interior of the case, i.e. it cools the case and then emits this heat amount through the coil pipe in the external part (generally in its back part).

For instance, the geothermic heat pump supplies heat between the ‘ground’ (soil, ground water) and the internal areas of the house. The temperature of the deeper strata of soil is constant, in winter it is warmer and in summer it is cooler than air temperature. By changing the supply direction, in winter one can heat by abstracting heat from the soil and in summer one can cool the house by heating the soil (and one can generate hot water irrespectively of the seasons).

For the heat supply, electric energy has to be persistently fed into the system. The efficiency of the system can be characterised by the so-called Coefficient Of Performance (COP) which indicates which multiple of the drive capacity used for the operation is the active heat capacity transmitted by the heat pump.

Setting up the heat pump in the operating area of the metro station at Nagyvárad tér

The heat pump has a special design in terms of heat absorption (primary side), facilitating the best possible modelling of a primary side with a fluid media which will be installed in the metro tunnel afterwards. To this end, we developed the primary side of the heat pump like a floor heating system that abstracts heat from its environment or emits heat to its environment, according to the prevailing operation of the heat pump. We have installed this primary side in the floor of the air drain below the passenger platform at the station and we have created a new floor level above the piping with a thin layer of concrete.

As this air drain has direct air connection with the lower part of the tracks (which is at the level of the bogie on the trains) – and through this with the airspace of the entire station, and at their ends with the central air shaft – the heat evolving at the station, in the tunnel and emitted by the trains while lodging at the station flows through the exhausted air via this air drain. In this way we establish a link between the heat evolving at the station and in the tunnel (in the latter case, the heat comes forward to the station as well, owing to the piston effect) and the primary side of the heat pump. Of course, the dimensioning of the primary side required due caution so that the heat pump can tolerate the heat removal and heat load occurring under operation and ensure adequate heat transfer.

The drawback of placing the heat pump at the station is that the premises constructed more than 30 years ago were not prepared for utilising the produced heat energy (and cooling energy). The premises were basically tempered with the air blown in by the air engineering solution and in the event of an excessive demand for heating, electric radiators were applied. Some premises of higher priority were cooled with individual split air conditioners in the operating area of the station. All these indicated that the proper heat-transfer appliances and the connecting network had to be built out in the premises. These heat-transfer appliances became fan-coils dimensioned in accordance with the temperature gradient of the heat pump and capable of meeting the capacity requirements. With regard to the pilot project, the heat pump to be built in became an appliance merely capable of meeting the capacity requirements of a few premises.

Monitoring system

The established monitoring system con – tinuously records the appliance’s operating parameters, the departure and return temperatures of the heating and cooling media, the outputs derived from the primary side and delivered to the secondary side, the electric consumption and the other required environ – mental parameters. In the course of the test operation it was discovered – when demand for cooling emerged – that the monitoring system did not detect the cooling energy. Of course, the error has been corrected and since midsummer, the monitoring system provides us with fully comprehensive data.

With the help of the developed monitoring system, we get a detailed overview of the operating conditions, the demands and the COP of the appliances, both at an instantaneous and a seasonal level. The data obtained in this way will serve as a base in subsequent managerial decisions so BKV can take objective decisions about the metro tunnels’ energy utilisation by heat pump and can consider the results when planning heating-cooling systems in the old stations or in the design of new lines.

Operating experiences

The analysis of the data obtained during operation confirmed our anticipatory expectations. In the operation period elapsed so far, we managed to save electric energy on an average scale of 4 MWh every month. Evidently, the daily rate of savings depends significantly upon the temperature of environment. The COP figure indicating the operation of the appliance shows a value around 3.5 in the winter and summer periods and a value around 3 in the between-seasons. These figures meet the expectations and experience of the industry.

Further development potentials

‘Fine-tuning’ the monitoring system has to be rendered fully comprehensive, as for the time being, the energy parameter of the sanitary hot water delivered to the system has not been measured separately.

Continuous processing of the measurement results enables us to get an accurate overview of the energy balance, which is an important element of the return calculations based on our own experiences. Depending on the lengths of return periods determined in view of the exact prices and energy savings, BKV can implement further developments, in order to satisfy a part of its energy needs by using environmentally friendly (partially or fully renewable) forms of energy.

New elements

BKV traditionally provides urban public transportation services in the road and rail sectors. By the expansion of a number of its service sectors, our company aims to integrate new elements into public transportation that were not previously present.

BKV develops its piers from European Union funds

Due to the sharp increase in the number of vehicles and construction of public utilities, traffic jams often occur. However, the natural waterway dividing the capital, the Danube, is unused from a public transport point-of-view. Waterborne transport has a minimal role in providing transport links within the city since the current operating passenger boat service is primarily a tourist attraction. The location of piers does not fit to the land-based transport network; in point of the cityscape they are unassuming and abandoned, so undeserving to the image of the capital city.

The development of waterborne transport could relieve the congested metropolitan road network reducing journey times while being environmentally-friendly, and could also ensure an accessible transport alternative. This goal drives BKV to develop a new public trans – portation mode on the capital’s transport network map by developing the piers in the first phase and by procurement of higher comfort level boats in a later phase.

Such services can offer a competitive alternative to the existing transport modes only if it fulfils certain requirements. For example, faster interconnection than public trans – portation between the most frequented points of the capital in peak time; regular, calculable timetable; 15 minute headways; piers providing suitable transfer connection and fares tailored to the integrated tariff system of Budapest.

In September 2010, BKV gained 90% cofunding from the European Union in the frame of Central Hungary Operational Programme amounting to HUF 444 million. It gives opportunity for developing the piers but it cannot be used for boat procurement. After the preparation of planning works and receiving permission, construction began in September 2011 and completion of the project is expected by the end of May 2012.

What does the launching of the Danube business waterborne transport in Budapest mean? The aim of the project is to start an environmentally-friendly and accessible boat service for public passenger transport. The waterborne transport will connect the frequented places of Budapest, the new major facilities built on the bank of the Danube (i.e. Prestige Towers residential park in the district 13 and Millennium Tower Offices in the district 9). Pier development is the first stage of launching the Danube transport, which could start to direct citizens consciously to waterborne transport. This would especially benefit those passengers who could reach their destination fast without traffic jams on the ‘motorway’ running on the middle of the Danube who work or live near to the Danube. When travelling on a crowded bus or tram we might have to change several times while on the boat service we can sit comfortably, watch the landscape and use the buffet. If the next step of this investment can be improved by state-of-the-art and speedy boats we can say that modern and environmentfriendly public transport will release transportation within the capital.

The Danube as a transport corridor will join to the capital’s transport network by modernising the existing five piers and constructing three new ones. Pier infrastructure development consists of two parts: building facilities on the riverside and in the water.

In designing the image of the riverside facilities’ the most important factor was the development of uniform piers, using long lasting materials which resist the natural impacts and fit with the aqua surroundings, placing equipment for outdoor use, ensuring the view to the Danube and keeping the bank strip.

On the entire area of the pier weather-proof granite tiles are planned and the green area will be created; passenger lounges, benches, bicycle storage and refuse bins will be placed which increase the level of comfort. It was important to choose the right material for the street furniture considering the fact that the piers can typically be flooded twice a year, therefore we can not use wood, only good-wearing materials. The area will be lighted and the passenger counting and passenger information system will be realised at each pier, while video surveillance camera is going to preserve the security of the piers.

In the frame of accessibility, parking will be provided for people with reduced mobility within accessible approach of the boat stations from all directions. We will place warning markings on the pavement before pedestrian crossings in the interest of helping the visually impaired, and a warning lane is also going to be prepared in front of the entrance bridge and up to the line of the passenger lounges. The warning and blindleading margins made of surface treated granite (tactile) are prepared using a granite stone different from the pavement in order to provide good orientation for the visually impaired.

Taking into account the specific characteristics of the embankment at the pier of ‘Boráros tér’ a stair-lift will be built at the stairs leading to the entrance bridge creating access for wheelchair passengers.

The development of waterborne transport is related to the concept of bicycle traffic along the Danube because bicycle-storages will be created at the piers and passengers will be allowed to carry bicycles on the boat.

In the framework of the project’s ecofriendly infrastructure development will be carried out on a frequented area of the capital, on the riverside of the Danube where beside the busy road sections of the embankment the boat stations appear as green islands.

About the Author

Péter Takács is a mechanical engineer. He has been working for BKV Zrt. since 1989. He started his career as a technician in Building Engineering Works of the metro. In 1995, he became the Chief of the Works. From 1997 he led the Escalator and Engineering Service. In 2003, he became the Head of the Engineering Materials Supply Department. In 2007, he led the Public Procurement Office and later the Logistics Department. He was the assigned Technical Deputy CEO between March and September 2008 and he has been holding this position again since August 2009.