The cold air of winter is used for producing relatively large amounts of ice in long-term underground storage. The stored cooling capacity of the ice is recovered during the following summer. Initial research indicates that in regions where the winter is sufficiently cold and of sufficient duration, this type of system could provide summer air conditioning, refrigeration, or process cooling.
The water-saturated earth storage mass of 4000 ft3 (113 m3) was frozen with 1013 hours of system operation between the dates of November 17, 1983, and March 6, 1984. During midsummer 1984, the cooling recovery operation ran for a total of 32 days. During this period, 743 ton-hours of cooling or 8,921,856 Btu (2613 kWh) were recovered with an estimated 5 to 8% of the stored cooling capacity remaining. However, all of the ice had been melted. Approximately 52% of the stored energy had been recovered, indicating a probable 45 to 50% loss to the surrounding earth.
Citation: Symposium, ASHRAE Transactions, 1985, vol. 91, pt. 1B, Chicago
Product Details
- Published:
- 1985
- Number of Pages:
- 7
- File Size:
- 1 file , 840 KB
- Product Code(s):
- D-CH-85-20-4
