An ice thermal storage computer model

In hot humid countries such as Thailand, air conditioning plant is installed in most commercial and industrial buildings, A conventional air conditioning system, which is normally operated when cooling is required, is the most favored option. Ice thermal storage on a large scale, used to provide a cool reservoir for use in peak periods, is however an attractive financial option for large buildings to supply coolness. There are two means of operating ice thermal storage systems, namely full storage and partial storage. In this paper, a computer model has been developed in order to compare energy use in conventional air cooling systems and ice thermal storage systems. Under Thailand electricity tariff rates, the results from the simulations show that the full ice thermal storage can save up to 55% of the electricity cost required for cooling per month when compared with the conventional system. It is also found that using full storage option can reduce the total energy consumption by 5% for the selected building. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.