Analysis of different operating strategies of thermal energy storage with radiant cooling system

Abstract

SummaryThermal energy storage systems in building cooling applications have been explored extensively as a peak load‐shifting technology. Thermal energy storage performance has been recognized and studied from an energy cost‐savings point of view because of peak‐valley price differences, but not many studies have been conducted from an energy savings viewpoint. This study experimentally investigates the performance of the energy storage‐retrofitted to a ceiling‐type radiant cooling system. To study the performance, a water‐based storage system was designed and developed for an academic office building equipped with a radiant cooling system. The water in the storage tank was cooled to a certain storage temperature in the nighttime, and the same water was used during the daytime for meeting the cooling load. Different combinations of charging and discharging schedules were analyzed. The key objective of the study was to achieve energy savings and energy‐cost savings simultaneously. This objective was accomplished by identifying the major factors contributing to the energy consumption of the storage‐retrofitted cooling system and devising novel operating strategies, leading to an enhanced energy savings potential. Two operating strategies comprising 24 operating scenarios were compared and the storage was used to dispatch the load for 3 hours of the day as a full storage unit. Results showed that in hot and dry climate conditions, using the storage with the radiant cooling system offered energy savings of 3% to 14%. The energy‐cost analysis was also performed using a time‐of‐day electricity tariff plan. The energy‐cost savings varied from 17.5% to 22.4% for these operating scenarios.