Storing energy for cooling demand management in tropical climates: A techno-economic comparison between different energy storage technologies

Published Date
Energy
15 February 2017, Vol.121:676–694, doi:10.1016/j.energy.2017.01.038

• Author 

• Gabriele Comodi ^a,,
• Francesco Carducci ^a
• Jia Yin Sze ^b
• Nagarajan Balamurugan ^b
• Alessandro Romagnoli ^b,,

• aDIISM – Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e Scienze Matematiche, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
• bNTU – School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore

Received 10 May 2016. Revised 2 January 2017. Accepted 7 January 2017. Available online 11 January 2017. 

Highlights

• •
  Techno-economic evaluation of energy storage solutions for cooling applications.
• •
  Comparison between five energy storage (EES, SHTES, PCM, CAES, LAES) is performed.
• •
  Qualitative and quantitative performance parameters were used for the analysis.
• •
  LAES/PCM can be valid alternatives to more established technologies EES, SHTES, CAES.
• •
  Tariffs, price arbitrage and investment cost play a key role in energy storage spread.

Abstract

This paper addresses the role of energy storage in cooling applications. Cold energy storage technologies addressed are: Li-Ion batteries (Li-Ion EES), sensible heat thermal energy storage (SHTES); phase change material (PCM TES), compressed air energy storage (CAES) and liquid air energy storage (LAES). Batteries and CAES are electrical storage systems which run the cooling systems; SHTES and PCM TES are thermal storage systems which directly store cold energy; LAES is assessed as a hybrid storage system which provides both electricity (for cooling) and cold energy. A hybrid quantitative-qualitative comparison is presented. Quantitative comparison was investigated for different sizes of daily cooling energy demand and three different tariff scenarios. A techno-economic analysis was performed to show the suitability of the different storage systems at different scales. Three parameters were used (Pay-back period, Savings-per-energy-unit and levelized-cost-of-energy) to analyze and compare the different scenarios. The qualitative analysis was based on five comparison criteria (Complexity, Technology Readiness Level, Sustainability, Flexibility and Safety). Results showed the importance of weighing the pros and cons of each technology to select a suitable cold energy storage system. Techno-economic analysis highlighted the fundamental role of tariff scenario: a greater difference between peak and off-peak electricity tariff leads to a shorter payback period of each technology.

Keywords

Cold thermal energy storage

Liquid air energy storage (LAES)

Phase change materials

Compressed air energy storage (CAES)

Li-ion batteries

Hot and tropical climates

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Nomenclature

CAPEX

Capital cost ($)

C_cycle

Cost per cycle ($/cycle)

CE_2charge

Cooling energy to be charged (kWh)

CE_demand

Cooling energy demand (kWh)

C_eu

Cost per energy unit ($/kWh)

c_lp

specific heat in liquid phase (kJ/kg K)

COP

Coefficient of Performance

C_p

specific heat of the storage medium (kJ/kg K)

C_pu

Cost per power unit ($/kW)

c_sp

specific heat in solid phase (kJ/kg K)

Cycles

Lifespan in cycles

Econ_savings

Economic savings ($)

El_daily

Daily electricity consumption (kWh)

EN_char

Energy spend to charge the storage (kWh)

EN_dis

Useful energy discharged (kWh)

L

latent heat of fusion (kJ/kg)

m

mass of the storage medium (kg)

NODY

number of operative days per year

OPT

off peak tariff ($)

PBP

Payback period

P_req

Power requirement (kW)

PT

Peak Tariff ($)

Q

total amount of energy accumulated during charging/discharging operation (kJ)

SE_capacity

Storage energy capacity (kWh)

T₁

initial temperature (°C)

T₂

final temperature (°C)

T_m

melting temperature (°C)

V

volume of the storage medium’s container (m³)

W_c

Electrical power required during the liquefaction process by a LAES (kW)

W_cold

Cooling power obtained during the discharge process by a LAES (kW)

W_e

Electrical power obtained during the discharge process by a LAES (kW)

ΔT

temperature variation of the storage medium (K)

density of the storage medium (kg/m³)

η_sto

Energy storage efficiency

η_total

LAES total efficiency

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• ∗ 
  Corresponding author.
• ∗∗ 
  Corresponding author.

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