scope:

ABSTRACT

In industrial heating and cooling, incorporating thermal storage can often reduce energy and water consumption and generate an operating cost savings. This is particularly true in cases of non-steady loads, time of use energy pricing, and variable weather conditions. Storage capital costs can often be paid for by the reduced cost of chilled water generation capacity in such systems. However, in large industrial facilities with high constant loads, typical plant design philosophy requires high generation capacity, even when paired with a large storage system. Such a plant is prohibitively expensive, so a plant design incorporating storage may not be employed, even though operational costs and environmental benefits are improved. This paper presents an alternate chilled water plant design and evaluation methodology which generates designs with thermal storage that are both affordable and result in considerably less energy and water consumption. These designs are best suited for drier climates where evaporative cooling can be leveraged.