Understanding the role of thermal energy storage on district cooling performance

Andujar Lugo, Frank

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124204 Copy

Description

Title

Understanding the role of thermal energy storage on district cooling performance

Author(s)

Andujar Lugo, Frank

Issue Date

2024-03-14

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Alleyne, Andrew

Department of Study

Mechanical Sci & Engineering

Discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• control co-design
• thermal cooling networks
• thermal energy storage

Abstract

The inherent change in temperature during the day and extreme weather events make it costly and challenging to meet our cooling needs. District cooling technology make it possible to reduce our energy consumption while simultaneously improving the robustness of our cooling needs. District cooling network can achieve those benefits only if they are design and operated properly. One of the most direct ways of improving cooling flexibility is using thermal energy storage (TES). TES can provide both improvements in the efficiency of operation and cooling network robustness. To best utilize TES, a better understanding of the role operation and location of the asset within the network is needed. We build models for all the components of the network to better understand the role of TES location and design an optimization formulation to identify how to best locate it and operate it. The optimization formulation allows us to identify the best operation and location of TES during both open loop and a closed loop scenario. Additional intuition of what drives the storage allocation mechanism is then identified through the use of location analysis techniques.

Graduation Semester

2024-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2024 Frank Andujar Lugo

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