Design and implementation of an eutectic salt cooling energy storage system for load management

An air conditioner system with 1800 RT-HR eutectic salt energy storage tank was built for the demonstration of the cooling energy storage (CES) system. Six operation modes are designed to meet different cooling load requirements. By computer simulation, it was found that 38.7% of the electric peak demand has been reduced and 37% of the energy consumption has been shifted from peak hours to off-peak hours by the CES-system. A mathematical model of a eutectic salt CES-system has been developed for the computer simulation of the energy storage system. It is found that the optimal capacity of the storage tank is determined by the off-peak time period, and the largest annual electric charge saving could be obtained by applying the smallest normal chiller size under the optimal operating conditions. The payback period of the test system is estimated to be 3.83 years, considering the additional investment cost and the electricity charge saving of the CES-system.<
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