Innovative Phase Change Approach for Significant Energy Savings

A hybrid Environmental Control Unit (HECU) technology was demonstrated. The HECU integrated heat exchangers filled with Phase Change Material (PCM) into a facility's air conditioning system. The PCM acts as a thermal battery storing cold energy to supplement the facility's ECU operations r...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shaaban,Aly H, Church,Christopher, Blount,Donielle J, Escobar,Sergio, Forbes,Alexander, Kettell,Desiree, McDonald,Robert, Newman,Jensen A, Yacout,Abdelfatah, Zhou,Gong
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Air Condition, Heating, Lighting & Ventilating
air conditioning
energy consumption
energy efficiency
load monitoring
PCM(Phase Change Material)
PLS(Peak Load Shaving)
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Summary:A hybrid Environmental Control Unit (HECU) technology was demonstrated. The HECU integrated heat exchangers filled with Phase Change Material (PCM) into a facility's air conditioning system. The PCM acts as a thermal battery storing cold energy to supplement the facility's ECU operations reducing operational energy consumption, peak demand, and cost. After extensive pre-demonstration testing at ARA facilities, two methods of integrating PCM into a facility's air conditioning system emerged: 1) PCM-filled coils suspended under ceiling air registers, a simple retrofit, this method targeted continuous PCM use by ensuring the coils were always in the path of air flow. 2) Peak Load Shaving (PLS) using a large PCM-filled coil. This PLS method used PCM module with large thermal storage capacity to absorb heat and maintain room temperature during the peak demand period of the day. The air conditioner then regenerated the PCM during early morning hours, when the air conditioners ran more efficiently and the price of electricity is lower. The ceiling PCM-filled coils demonstration showed a 19% reduction in air conditioning energy use compared to the baseline. While, the PLS demonstration, using storage capacity for 1/3 of the peak period, showed 1.47% energy savings and based on Tyndall AFB electricity pricing reduced the air conditioning energy cost by 6.2% .