ASHRAE Design Guide forCool Thermal Storage

Abstract

BACKGROUND

ASHRAE commissioned the revision of design guide in response to the need for a current, comprehensive cool thermal energy storage reference manual.

This document assists engineers and owners in evaluating cool thermal energy storage for specific applications, selecting the appropriate cool thermal energy storage technology for a given application, and designing successful cool thermal energy storage systems for nonindustrial buildings.

This guide is a valuable first-level reference that discusses fundamentals, compares technologies, and describes a rational procedure for designing systems.

This guide covers neither the storage of energy for heating applications nor passive storage of heat in the building structure.

Cooling demand contributes a sizable portion of the summer electricity demand in many parts of the world.

Unlike other building electric uses, cooling incurs a peak demand during only a few days or weeks each year.

Electric utilities recognize the ability of cool thermal energy storage to favorably shape electric loads as part of a portfolio of demand response options.

Some utilities offer incentive programs and special rate structures that encourage cool thermal energy storage usage.

The need for and value of storage for the electric grid and microgrids has grown dramatically with the increased use of intermittent renewable energy resources such as wind and solar power.

Cool thermal energy storage is a proven technology that has been increasingly used since the 1980s.

Designers, owners, and utilities continue to express strong interest in the use of cool thermal energy storage to reduce energy costs and the strain on the electric grid; avoid building additional generating and transmission equipment; provide increased redundancy, reliability, and resiliency; and, in select applications, reduce capital cost.

While this guide is intended to provide advice and technical information to owners and designers, it is not a step-by-step design procedure.

To keep the guide concise, some details of cool thermal energy storage design as well as general topics covered in other widely available publications are addressed by reference to the appropriate sources.

Readers should supplement the material presented with information from the other sources listed.

The guide is organized as follows:

• Chapter 1, Introduction, provides a basic background on cool thermal energy storage concepts and terminology.

• Chapter 2, Fundamental Design Considerations, presents information that is common to all cool thermal energy storage systems regardless of the specific storage technology used.

• Chapter 3, Special Applications, describes some special applications of cool thermal energy storage.

• Chapter 4, Comparison of Storage Technologies, provides an overview and comparison of six cool thermal energy storage technologies.

• Chapter 5, Chilled-Water Storage, provides detailed information on sensible energy storage with water as a medium.

• Chapter 6, Ice Storage, provides detailed information on latent storage using water as the medium.

• Chapter 7, Initiating the Project, describes activities that precede the beginning of the design process.

• Chapter 8, Design Procedure, gives a description of the cool thermal energy storage design process, with representative examples for specific steps of the process.

• Chapter 9, Construction, provides guidance on related to thermal energy storage system construction.

• Chapter 10, Verification and Testing, provides an overview of the commissioning process needed to ensure that a cool thermal energy storage system is operating acceptably.

• Chapter 11, Occupancy and Operation, describes the process of operating and maintaining a cool thermal energy storage system during occupancy.

• Chapter 12, Terminology, is a dictionary of specific terminology related to cool thermal energy storage.

• Chapter 13, Bibliography, is a reference chapter for other sources of information.

While most of the contents of this guide are applicable anywhere in the world, all costs given in this guide use 2017 U.S. dollars unless specifically noted otherwise.

Costs reflect United States averages and may be higher or lower in some geographical areas