Expansion cooling prospects for large scale applications

Abstract

Air conditioning in general and cooling in particular are the biggest energy sinks among all electricity consumers. Mitigating energy needs of this sector by active or passive means is a necessity. This paper offers a comprehensive review of various cooling technologies for large scale applications and compares them in terms of economy, environmental footprint and most importantly, energy requirements. There is a main focus on the potential of using expansion cooling, which is defined in conjunction with cooling effects generated during the expansion process of a gas. The interest in such cooling technology stems from the double benefit of utilizing a large-scale compressed air energy storage (CAES) system that can also provide cooling via the expansion of air. This consequently manifests in reducing the electrical demand required for cooling applications. Such a concept is beneficial for hot climates, where most of the electrical demand is reserved for offsetting the cooling load.