The principal goal of this study was to evaluate, using numerical simulation, the feasibility of an air conditioning system, supported by a seasonal ice storage system, installed in a commercial or institutional building. In this regard, the effects of changing several elements around the design of two possible scenarios were modeled in TRNSYS using Matlab® as a programming tool. In the first scenario, the air demanded inside the building passes directly through the ice storage system. In a second scenario, a closed loop pipe full of glycol transports the heat between the ice reservoir and an air cooling coil.
First of all, the literature review shows some studies and earlier relevant applications, as well as different solving methods for moving boundary problems in a biphasic medium (waterice). Next, the heat load profile for a typical institutional building in Montreal is determined as a reference point using EE4 and three different methods of solving the boundary motion problem are compared for both, ice training and ice melting. Subsequently, the design parameters are presented for each scenario. This is followed by a description of the programming codes in Matlab® and the components that have been implemented in TRNSYS. Finally, the results involving the heat exchanged and the waterice boundary movements, among others, are collected for one year and for three years. The simulations of both scenarios have also included the experimental variation of some parameters such as the construction area for the ice reservoir, the duration of the ice melting period and other related physical variables.
A final analysis of results was followed by an economic study, which considered the changes in initial investment and the potential energy savings for each scenario, compared with a traditional air conditioning unit. This showed that, although research is still needed on many improvements in the design of scenarios and whether its application is limited by several macroeconomic factors, a seasonal ice storage system is an appealing option in energy efficiency terms and it could potentially be, technically and ecologically, a good way to obtain energy savings.
| Date | 14 Aug 2012 |
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| Original language | French |
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| Awarding Institution | - École de technologie supérieure
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| Supervisor | Louis Lamarche (Supervisor) & Stanislaw Kajl (Co-supervisor) |
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Giraldo, R. A. (Author),
Lamarche (Supervisor) &
Kajl (Co-supervisor),
14 Aug 2012Student thesis: Master's thesis › Master in Engineering: Mechanical Engineering