Potential of District Cooling Systems: A Case Study on Recovering Cold Energy from Liquefied Natural Gas Vaporization

Energies

Alice Mugnini¹  Alessia Arteconi¹  Gianluca Coccia¹  Fabio Polonara¹ 

[1] Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e Scienze Matematiche, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche 1, 60131 Ancona, Italy;

关键词: district cooling;    liquid to compressed natural gas;    thermal energy storage;    energy efficiency;    LNG;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en12153027

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

District cooling systems (DCSs) are networks able to distribute thermal energy, usually as chilled water, from a central source to industrial, commercial, and residential consumers, to be used for space cooling/dehumidification. As cooling demand will increase significantly in the next decades, DCSs can be seen as efficient solutions to improve sustainability. Although DCSs are considered so relevant for new city developments, there are still many technical, economic, and social issues to be overcome to let such systems to spread out. Thus, this paper aims to highlight the advantages and issues linked to the adoption of DCSs for building cooling when cold is recovered from a specific application. A case study based on liquified natural gas (LNG) cold energy recovery from the transport sector is presented. Starting from the estimation of the free cooling availability, a DCS design method is proposed and the potential energy saving is investigated. Results show that a DCS using the cold waste derived from LNG can provide a relevant amount of electricity saving (about 60%) for space cooling compared to traditional solutions, in which standard air conditioning systems are installed in every building.

【 授权许可】

Unknown