“This project is being used as a load management tool so maximum flexibility was the primary goal. We developed four different operational schemes to allow for the flexibility needed to maximize operational capacity
of the system and get the absolute best return on investment.”
George, PE
aei Project engineer
Thermal Energy Storage Facility
Load growth on the University of Texas Austin campus impelled the Utilities and Energy Department to provide increased cooling capacity; budgetary limitations meant doing so effectively at the lowest possible cost. Unlike the four existing chiller plants on campus, the new cooling station will not have the ability to chill water, simply to store it in a 30,000 ton-hours (approximately four million gallons) above-ground tank. With the new Thermal Energy Storage (TES) facility, UT can augment peak cooling capacity of the campus chilled water system by producing and charging the TES tank with chilled water off-peak at night and discharging the chilled water during high-load on-peak periods.
AEI performed careful hydraulic analysis of UT’s closed loop chilled water system in order to select valves that would permit the inherent pressures in the system to charge the open TES tank at a wide range of flows (between 2,000 and 20,000 gpm). The thermal storage tank will become part of a network of interconnected chiller plants that will provide flexibility and best optimize the existing chillers and distribution system on campus. The university estimates the cost of implementing the TES strategy to be roughly a third of the price to install additional chillers to meet demand.
Services: Utility Infrastructure, Commissioning
Size/Details: 30,000 ton-hours (approximately four million gallons)
Location: Austin, TX
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