Field energy performance of cold storage in East China: A case study

Abstract

The energy consumption cold storage is rapidly increasing due to fast development of cold chain. However, the energy consumption composition, energy efficiency, and cooling load composition of cold storage are not clear, which become a barrier for increasing energy efficiency in cold storage. In the previous research, an accurate and convenient field cooling capacity test method is lacking. In this study, an extended compressor energy conservation –compressor volumetric efficiency method was proposed to calculate the cooling capacity of each cold room in centralized cold storage. A cold storage system in Jiangsu Province was selected for field testing. The operational characteristics and composition of electricity consumption were investigated firstly. The field test results show that the refrigeration system accounts for 80% of the total energy consumption of cold storage. Statistical analysis revealed that the valley electricity price interval and compressors accounted for 64.0% and 67.3% of the total energy consumption of the refrigeration system, in time and space, respectively. Furthermore, during the transition season (4/1–5/31), with a cold storage temperature of −18 ℃, the average daily energy efficiency ratio of the refrigeration system in the cold storage is 1.33 kWh·kWh−1. An analysis of the composition of the refrigeration load was also conducted, and the results indicated that for the overall cooling load of the cold storage, the envelope cooling load, door leakage & personnel operating cooling load, income cargo cooling load, and electrical equipment cooling load accounted for 26%, 27%, 32%, and 15%, respectively.