Design of a New Ice Thermal Energy Storage System

• Main Author: Fontaine, Andrew
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Union | Digital Works 2017
• Subjects: alternative energy; solidworks thermal modeling; Energy Systems; Mechanical Engineering; ice core
• Online Access: https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/27; https://digitalworks.union.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=theses

Over the past 30 years, alternative energy sources and concepts have been researched and desired as current energy resources are diminishing. One such alternative energy concept is an Ice Thermal Energy Storage system (ITES). ITES systems both store and create ice that helps them serve as a cold sink that can be used to cool down buildings using only the ice in the system. This project explores a new and more complex type of ITES system that decreases the heat transfer into the system, lengthens the amount of time the ice in the system stays frozen, and lessens the amount of ice needed for cooling a building. During the first term of this two-term project, the initial research of ITES systems was completed, a new ITES concept was designed, and initial experiments were done on the new system. The new ITES system, includes a drain and base grate that allows the melted ice surrounding the ice core to drain from the system, leaving the core surrounded by air and increasing the thermal resistance of the system. The new ITES system was compared experimentally with the traditional ITES system that does not have a drain or a base grate. The results from the experiments showed that the new ITES system was able to keep the ice core temperature at or below the freezing point three times longer than the traditional system. During the second term of the project, further experimentation was done involving a bigger ITES system, a system with a grate base platform, and an insulated system. The results from the experiments showed that the insulated ITES system with a grate base platform and a drain was able to keep the ice at or below the freezing point two times longer than the traditional system. Solidworks thermal modeling was also done on the new ITES system to simulate the overall system performance. Future work must be done on determining the specific materials being used in the system, as well as improving the Solidworks thermal modeling to include daily and yearly temperature patterns.