Effect of Design Parameters on the Performance of Thermal Energy Storage Systems

This paper describes simulation-based results of a large-scale investigation of a commercial cooling plant including a thermal energy storage system. A cooling plant with an ice-on-coil system with external melt and a reciprocating compressor operating in a large office building was analyzed under four different control strategies. Optimal control as the strategy that minimizes the total operating cost (demand and energy charges) served as a benchmark to assess the performance of the three conventional controls. However, all control strategies depend on properly selected design parameters. The storage and chiller capacities as the primary design parameters were varied over a wide range and the dependence of the system’s cost saving performance on these parameters was evaluated.