Modeling the dynamic characteristics of a district heating network

► We build the dynamic models of the districting heating network. ► The lag time and relative attenuation degree are introduced to represent the dynamic characteristics of the district heating network. ► Peak-valley method is introduced to find the actual lag time. ► The correspondence analysis method is used to obtain the actual relative attenuation degree. ► The lag time is proved to be approximately equal to the flow time of the heat medium.