Liquid Air as an Energy Carrier for Liquefied Natural Gas Cold Energy Distribution in Cold Storage Systems

Sanghyun Che, Juwon Kim and Daejun Chang
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Sanghyun Che: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daehak-ro 291, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Korea
Juwon Kim: Energy Systems Research Division, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Gajeongbuk-ro 156, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34103, Korea
Daejun Chang: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daehak-ro 291, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Korea

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 2, 1-23

Abstract: Liquid air can be employed as a carrier of cold energy obtained from liquefied natural gas (LNG) and surplus electricity. This study evaluates the potential of liquid air as a distributed source with a supply chain for a cold storage system using liquid air. Energy storing and distributing processes are conceptually designed and evaluated considering both the thermodynamic and economic aspects. Further, the proposed supply chain is compared with a conventional NH 3 /CO 2 cascade refrigeration system. The thermodynamic analysis demonstrates that the exergy efficiency and the coefficient of performance of the proposed supply chain are 22% and 0.56, respectively. Economic analysis is based on a life cycle cost (LCC) evaluation. From the economic analysis, the liquid air production cost and the LCC of a liquid air cold storage system (LACS) are estimated to be 40.4 USD/ton and 34.2 MMUSD, respectively. The LCC is reduced by 19% in the LACS compared with the conventional refrigeration system. The proposed supply chain is economically feasible, although its thermodynamic performances are lower than those of the conventional system. The sensitivity analysis indicates that LNG mass flow rate in the air liquefaction system and the cold storage operating time are dominant parameters affecting the economic performance.

Keywords: liquid air; liquid air utilization; energy carrier; liquefied natural gas cold energy; distributed generation; cold storage system (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: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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