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

Alice Mugnini, Gianluca Coccia, Fabio Polonara and Alessia Arteconi
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Alice Mugnini: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e Scienze Matematiche, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche 1, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Gianluca Coccia: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e Scienze Matematiche, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche 1, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Fabio Polonara: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e Scienze Matematiche, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche 1, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Alessia Arteconi: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e Scienze Matematiche, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche 1, 60131 Ancona, Italy

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 15, 1-13

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: district cooling; liquid to compressed natural gas; thermal energy storage; energy efficiency; LNG (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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