THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM

Chavez, Rey Jhon L.

Ngo, Peter Adrian

Santillan, Ritzeel Marri F.

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Introduction

Thermal energy storage (TES) is generally defined as the temporary

storage of energy for later use when heating or cooling is needed. For heating

applications, heat storage systems are used with energy stored at high

temperatures [above 20°C (68°F)]. For cooling applications, energy is stored at

low temperatures [below 20°C (68°F)]. The concept of TES is not new and was

used a few centuries ago to cool churches using blocks of ice that were stored

in the cellar.

Types of Thermal Energy Storage System

Thermal energy storage can be achieved by two mechanisms:

1. Sensible energy storage by increasing (for heating applications) or

decreasing (for cooling applications) the temperature of the storage

medium (water for instance)

2. Latent energy storage by changing the phase of the storage medium

(phase change materials, PCM, eutectic salt solutions, or ice–water

mixtures)

For cooling applications, there are several types of TES systems that

have been installed in various commercial buildings and industrial applications.

Among these TES systems are:

1. Chilled water storage systems: These systems typically consist of

tanks where chilled water (temperature above freezing point) is stored

before it is used during off-peak periods. There is no change of phase

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 for the water in these systems and thus they can store a limited density

of energy. Water is selected because it has the highest specific heat of

all common materials (4.18 kJ/kg×°C). Typically, a tank volume varying

from 0.09 to 0.17 m3 is required to store 1 kWh of energy using chilled

water.

2. Eutectic salts: In these systems, a solution of salts is used to store

energy at low temperatures. The advantage of these systems is that

temperatures below 0°C can be achieved before the solution is frozen.

In addition, some salts have heat of fusion comparable to that of ice. It

should be noted that the solution of salts needs to be mixed in a

controlled ratio to ensure that the mixture melts completely and has the

same composition in both liquid and solid phases. For eutectic salts, the

volume requirement for the storage tank is estimated to be 0.05 m3/kWh.

3. Ice storage systems: In these systems, the water is transformed into

ice which is stored in tanks. Therefore, the water can be present in the

form of two phases (liquid and solid) inside the tank. Typically, the ice is

made during the off-peak periods (charging) and is melted during on-

peak periods (discharging). Ice storage systems have a higher energy

density compared to chilled water systems. Thus, the volume of the

storage tank required for ice systems is significantly less than that for

chilled water systems (almost one-fourth).

a. Ice harvesters. In these systems, thin ice layers are formed

around vertical plates (evaporator) that are sprayed with water

pumped from the tank. The ice layers are harvested to the storage

tank by circulating hot gases through the evaporator. The ice

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 mixed with water is stored in the tank to obtain what is often

referred to as ice slurry. The volume requirement for the storage

tank used in ice harvesters is about 0.025 m3/kWh.

Figure 1. Ice Harvester Storage System

b. Internal melt ice-on-soil storage systems. In these systems,

direct expansion coils are fitted inside the storage tank which is

filled with water. A brine solution (mixture of water and ethylene

glycol) is typically circulated through the coils with a temperature

in the range of –6°C to –3°C. In the charging mode, ice layers are

formed around the coils. In the discharging mode, the ice is

melted by circulating a warm brine solution in the coils to be

cooled in order to provide space cooling. The volume of the

storage tank required for internal melt ice-on-coil systems varies

from 0.019 to 0.023 m3/kWh.

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 Figure 2. Ice-on-coil with Internal Melt Storage System

c. External melt ice-on-coil storage systems. They are similar to

the internal melt ice-on-coil system in that the ice is made around

coils filled with brine solution. However, the water that results from

melting ice in the storage tank is used directly to provide space

cooling. Typically, a volume of 0.023 m3/kWh is used to size

storage tanks for external melt ice-on-coil systems.

d. Containerized ice storage systems. In these systems, small

containers of various shapes (typically spherical) filled with water

are used inside a tank to store energy. The water inside the

containers is frozen by directly cooling the solution inside the tank

(which acts as the evaporator). The typical volume requirement

for containerized ice storage systems is 0.048 m3/kWh.

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 Figure 3. Containerized Ice Storage System

Principles of Thermal Energy Storage Systems

Instead of one chiller, some cooling plants may have a base-load chiller

that provides cooling up to a threshold load (determined by the capacity of the

base chiller). Any additional cooling loads are either met directly by a second

chiller (TES chiller) or the storage system. This second chiller is used to charge

the TES system during unoccupied periods (or off-peak hours).

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 Figure 4. Typical configuration for a cooling plant with a TES system

The energy efficiency of a cooling system is characterized by its

coefficient of performance (COP) which is defined as the ratio of the heat

extracted divided by the energy input required. The maximum theoretical value

for COP can be estimated using the ideal Carnot cycle COP which can be

expressed in terms of the absolute temperature of the evaporator TC (the

lowest temperature in the cycle) and the condenser TH (the highest

temperature in the cycle) as follows:

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Charging and Discharging of Thermal Energy Storage System

The factors that affect the operation of cooling plants with TES systems

include the following:

 TES and cooling plant performance during charging/discharging

 Control strategies used to operate the TES system

 Utility rate structures (real-time-pricing and time-of-use rates

including ratchet clauses)

 Cooling load profile and non-cooling electrical load profile

Partial charging and discharging cycles affect the TES performance

which is generally difficult to model. Some of the effects that characterize ice

storage systems especially under partial charging/discharging operation

include:

 Effects of water flow within the tank during charging or discharging

cycles

 Gravitational effects that deform the ice formations around the coils

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  Effects of ice breakage at the end of discharging cycles

The increase in the chiller electric energy use for the partial charging or

discharging operation is attributed to two main factors:

1. Longer chiller operation time (the charging period is 8.7 hours for one

single full charging cycle but is 12.7 hours for the partial charging and

discharging sequence)

2. More ice made (measured by the total charging energy which is

130.0 ton-hrs for full charging versus. 247.5 for the sequence of

partial charging and discharging)

Thermal Energy Storage Control Strategies

A. Full Storage

This operating strategy is also called load shifting and consists of

generating the entire on-peak cooling load during off-peak periods when no

significant cooling load exists. Therefore, the TES system operates at full

capacity and the chillers do not operate at all during the on-peak hours. Thus,

in order to implement a full storage operating mode, the TES system has to be

sized properly so it can hold enough energy to meet the cooling load for the

entire design day on-peak hours. The full storage strategy is best suited for

applications where the length of the on-peak cooling period is short compared

to the off-peak period when the TES system can be charged. It can be an

effective operating strategy when the on-peak demand charges are high.

Moreover, the control under a full storage operating strategy is simple because

all that is needed is a timer clock to define charging and discharging periods.

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However, the full storage strategy requires large chiller and storage capacities

and thus high initial costs.

B. Partial Storage

It can be defined as an operating strategy when the TES system meets

only part of the on-peak cooling load. The remainder of the load is provided

directly by the chiller. Partial storage requires lower initial costs than full storage

inasmuch as both the chiller and the storage for partial storage are of smaller

size. However, partial storage operating strategies require more complex

controls than full storage systems.

 Chiller-Priority Control

- The simplest of TES control strategies used is the chiller-priority

control. For this strategy, the chiller runs continuously under

conventional chiller control (direct cooling) possibly subject to a

demand-limit and the storage provides the remaining cooling

capacity if required.

- The simplicity lies in the fact that the conventional chiller control

is not altered, yielding high average part loads and a smooth

demand curve, however, the meltdown of the ice is not well

controlled to allow for maximal demand reduction. In addition,

there is no accounting for the time-of-day dependent energy rate

structure.

 Constant-Proportion Control

- This control strategy considers that the storage meets a constant

fraction of the cooling load under all conditions. Thus, neither the

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 chiller nor the storage has priority in providing cooling. This simple

control strategy provides a greater demand reduction than chiller-

priority control because the chiller capacity fraction used for a

month will track the fraction of the annual cooling design load the

building experiences during that month. For example, in a month

in which 50 percent of the annual design load occurs, only 50

percent of the chiller capacity will be requested.

- Constant-proportion control is rather easy to implement in practice

by assigning a fixed fraction of the total temperature difference

between brine supply and return flow to be realized by the storage

and the remainder by the chiller. Finding the best load fraction for

each application is a matter of trial and error. Caution should be

exercised to be sure that the chiller can always meet the

remaining load fraction.

 Storage-Priority Control

- As the name reflects, storage-priority control requires melting as

much ice as possible during the on peak period. It is generally

defined as that control strategy which aims at fully discharging the

available storage capacity over the next available on-peak period.

Thus, both the simultaneous operation of the chiller plus the

storage and the terminal state-of-charge are specified; yet how

this is accomplished in detail is not known (Tamblyn, 1985).

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  Optimal Controls

- Several optimal control strategies have been proposed in order to

minimize energy use and operating cost of active TES systems

while maintaining occupant comfort. The main requirement for an

optimal control strategy is typically the forecasting of cooling load

and weather.

C. Utility Rates

There are typically two categories of utility rates that can provide some

incentives for considering the installation of TES systems in cooling plants. The

first-rate structure is common and is known as the time-of-use (TOU) rate

whereas the second is relatively new and is currently available from only a

limited number of utilities: the real-time-pricing (RTP) rate.

 TOU Rates

These rates are currently common for most electric utility companies.

They typically penalize energy use during predefined on-peak periods.

Indeed, the day is divided into two or more periods during which the

charges for power demand or energy use are set. Typically, the hours

when cooling is needed are part of the on-peak period because the

demand for electrical power is the highest. The charges for both energy

and demand are greater during the on-peak period in an attempt by the

utilities to level off the electrical power demand curve to avoid the need

to operate power generation plants for short periods of time.

 RTP Rates

RTP rates are now offered by several utilities, especially in the

commercial building sector. Generally, the utilities determine their

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RTP rates based on the actual marginal costs of generating,

transmitting, and distributing electricity. Although the details of RTP

rate implementations may vary widely, they have several common

features. Typically, the energy prices are set for a single day and are

provided to the customer the preceding day. In addition, the RTP

rates do not generally change in real-time, but are rather constant for

periods ranging from one-half hour to five hours (Norford, Englander,

and Wiseley, 1996).

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Measures for Reducing Operating Costs

As discussed in the introduction, TES systems can be utilized to reduce

the operating costs of cooling systems. Typically, three measures involving TES

systems are available. These measures are:

1. Install a TES system in the existing cooling plant.

2. Install a TES system and replace the existing chiller (with a smaller

capacity).

3. Improve the existing operating controls of the TES systems.

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