Ice Thermal Energy Storage System for Economical and Sustainable AC in Buildings

Abstract

Air Conditioning (AC) system is indeed the most demanded power especially in the Middle East. The research is concentrated on introducing the Ice Thermal Energy Storage System (ITESS) as an efficient cooling system to sustain the load and optimize the AC consumption. Moreover, ITESS can be operated by Solar Photovoltaic Energy to reduce the curtailment at peak generation by making ice and storing it during daytime and consume this ice at nighttime when there is no source of solar energy. The methodology of the research paper starts with problem identification, then finding the objectives and questions along with literature reviews which will lead to the collection of data by government companies that can result in a comprehensive economic analysis. As a result, Electricity consumption data is analyzed for a building in the city of Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates for the year 2018, 2019, and 2020. The given data along with the literature reviews enabled to develop an economical study comparison between air-cooled chillers, water-cooled chillers (district cooling), and air-cooled chillers retrofitted with ice thermal storage to evaluate the systems. At last, expected solar energy curtailment in 2026 is then presented to observe the effects of incorporating it with ITESS and traditional AC. The outcome of integrating the literature reviews with some given data have shown that combination of AC and ITESS are the most cost effective sustainable solution for residential or commercial buildings.

Date of Award	Dec 2021
Original language	American English