Hakan İbrahim Tol

Dr. Hakan İbrahim Tol is a Scientific Researcher specializing in district heating and cooling (DHC), low-temperature thermal networks, thermo-hydraulic modelling, renewable and waste-heat integration, thermal storage, heat pumps, operational optimization, and techno-economic assessment. With more than 15 years of international academic and applied research experience, his work focuses on the planning, design, operation, digitalization, and decarbonization of sustainable thermal energy systems.

He holds a PhD from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where his research addressed the optimization of next-generation district heating systems. His work covered heat-network topology planning, pipe dimensioning, hydraulic and thermal modelling, substation configuration, low-temperature operation, renewable heat integration, system control, and lifecycle-oriented techno-economic analysis. During and after his doctoral research, he developed optimization-based approaches for district-heating network design and has continued to investigate discrete optimization methods for practical heat-network sizing and operation.

His subsequent research experience has broadened this expertise across the full thermal-energy system chain. At VITO/EnergyVille, he worked on return-temperature reduction and demand-responsive control strategies for district heating and cooling systems, contributing to patented research in this field. At Eindhoven University of Technology, he worked on variable-temperature district heating, dynamic modelling of thermal networks, substations, buildings, radiator systems, domestic hot-water demand, and thermal energy storage. During a visiting research period at TIPC, Chinese Academy of Sciences, he investigated the integrated operation of ground-source heat pumps, district heating, buildings, thermal storage, and time-of-use electricity tariffs, with ongoing personal research on operational optimization of this system.

At AEE INTEC in Austria, Dr. Tol works within the Cities & Networks department on European research and innovation projects involving district-heating transformation, strategic investment planning, renewable and industrial waste-heat integration, geothermal energy, heat pumps, power-to-heat, thermal storage, network interconnection, hydraulic assessment, and low-temperature transition strategies. His work combines technical modelling with decision support for utilities, municipalities, public authorities, and other energy stakeholders.

A key focus of his current research is the interaction between supply and return temperatures, heat demand, hydraulic conditions, end-user behavior, pumping requirements, heat losses, and low-grade heat-source integration. He is particularly interested in improving the physical representation of district-heating networks through responsive return-temperature modelling, dynamic simulation, optimization, and digital decision-support approaches.

His technical expertise includes Python, MATLAB/Simulink, STANET, energyPRO, TRNSYS, Modelica, QGIS, and GIS-based heat-network planning. He applies these tools across network design, thermo-hydraulic simulation, demand modelling, scenario analysis, energy-system optimization, operational assessment, and investment planning.

Dr. Tol has contributed to international research projects, peer-reviewed scientific publications, technical reports, student supervision, and collaborative research activities across Europe and beyond. His broader research interests include 5th-generation district heating and cooling, sector coupling, integrated urban energy systems, thermal flexibility, energy communities, digital twins, data-driven energy-system modelling, and climate-neutral urban infrastructure.

His professional objective is to advance efficient, flexible, low-carbon and renewable thermal energy networks by combining physically grounded modelling, optimization, engineering design, and techno-economic decision support with the practical requirements of utilities, municipalities, technology providers, and research partners.