PRACTICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN SENSIBLE HEAT, DIURNAL

COOL THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE (TES):

LARGE APPLICATIONS, LOW TEMPS, ENERGY EFFICIENCY,
AND OPERATING PLUS CAPITAL SAVINGS

John S. Andrepont, President

The Cool Solutions Company

5007 Lincoln Avenue, Suite 201
Lisle, Illinois 60532 U.S.A.
Tel: +1-630-353-9690
CoolSolutionsCo@aol.com
www.CoolSolutionsCo.com

ABSTRACT

Several significant recent trends and developments in the widespread practical application of sensible heat, diurnal,
cool Thermal Energy Storage (TES) are presented and discussed.

In particular, an increasing number of large capacity applications are evident. The types of large applications
include campus cooling networks, private industry, and District Cooling utility developments, where TES
provides demand management for energy users, as well as Turbine Inlet Cooling (TIC) for hot weather power
enhancement of gas turbine-based electric power generation plants.

Systems are often being designed for lower than traditional supply temperatures, or dual-designed for initial
conventional supply temperatures as well as for lower future temperatures with higher storage capacities.

Energy efficiency of TES systems, both on-site at the energy user and at source energy power plants, is
explored.

Economics are examined to document how large TES installations, when applied at times of either new facility
construction or chiller plant capacity expansion or rehabilitation, often provide not only major operating cost
benefits but even dramatic capital cost savings versus conventional (non-TES) chiller plant capacity.

Actual TES Case Histories are used to demonstrate each element of the paper.

1. INTRODUCTION

Thermal Energy Storage (TES) has a long, successful history of use in large air-conditioning systems, including
private commercial/industrial, public/institutional, and utility applications. TES can economically and efficiently
shift peak air-conditioning and other cooling loads from on-peak to off-peak periods.

In recent years, TES applications have exhibited some noteworthy developments and trends. These advances and
trends include the following:
1. the use of very large capacity TES installations,
2. the use of lower than conventional supply temperatures,
3. documented cases of energy efficiency improvements versus conventional (non-TES) systems, and
4. very significant capital cost savings versus conventional (non-TES) systems.
TES technologies for cool storage include two distinct types:
latent heat storage systems, such as ice TES, in which thermal energy is stored as a change of phase of the
storage medium, usually between solid and liquid states, and
sensible heat storage systems, such as chilled water (CHW) TES and low temperature fluid (LTF) TES, in
which thermal energy is stored as a temperature change in the storage medium.

Each TES technology has inherent advantages and limitations, which impact its application.

2. LARGE APPLICATIONS

One of the most significant distinguishing characteristics of these two families of TES technology is the economy-
of-scale inherent to the primary cost components of that technology.

Latent heat (ice) TES utilizes modular components. This provides opportunities for easy incremental capacity
additions over time. However, it also results in a fairly limited amount of economy-of-scale. Just as chiller plants
exhibit relatively constant unit capital costs (in $ per ton) regardless of the installed chiller plant capacity, latent heat
(ice) TES exhibits relatively constant unit capital costs (in $ per ton-hour) regardless of the installed TES capacity.

By contrast, the capital cost of sensible heat TES systems is largely in the storage tank itself. And storage tank
construction has an inherently significant economy-of-scale. Larger and larger TES tanks exhibit lower and lower
unit capital cost (in $ per ton-hour and in $ per ton of peak discharge capacity).

As a result of the relative capital costs, smaller applications of TES, generally under 7 MWh (2,000 ton-hours) of
TES capacity, are dominated by the use of latent heat TES, though some do use sensible heat TES. Mid-range
applications, generally 7 to 35 MWh (2,000 to 10,000 ton-hours), often utilize either latent or sensible heat TES.
Large applications, over 35 MWh (10,000 ton-hours), and very large applications, over 350 MWh (100,000 ton-
hours), are dominated by the use of sensible heat TES, though some do use latent heat TES.

Some representative examples of large sensible heat TES installations are presented in Table 1 for illustration.

Table 1: Some Very Large Applications of Sensible Heat, Diurnal, Cool TES

Diurnal TES Capacity

TES Owner/Operator - Location TES Type MWh (th) Ton-hrs

Florida State University - Tallahassee, Florida, USA 2 x CHW 194.1 55,200

Reedy Creek - Disney World, Florida, USA CHW 200.4 57,000
University of Alberta - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada CHW(LTF)* 211.0 60,000
District Cooling St. Paul - St. Paul, Minnesota, USA 2 x CHW 230.0 65,400
Daimler Chrysler - Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA 2 x CHW 239.1 68,000
State Farm Insurance - Bloomington, Illinois, USA 2 x CHW 315.0 89,600
DFW Intl Airport - Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas, USA LTF 316.4 90,000
Calpine Cogen - Pasadena, Texas, USA CHW 376.2 107,000
Metro Pier & Expo Authority - Chicago, Illinois, USA LTF 432.5 123,000
Toyota - Georgetown, Kentucky, USA 3 x CHW 443.0 126,000
OUCooling - Orlando, Florida, USA CHW(LTF)* 562.6 160,000
Electric utility - Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia CHW 678.6 193,000

* indicates systems designed for initial operation as conventional CHW TES, but also pre-
designed for possible future capacity expansion through conversion to LTF TES.
3. LOW TEMPERATURES

Increasingly, TES systems (and indeed large air-conditioning systems in general) are often being designed for lower
than traditional supply temperatures. Although this entails a slightly higher unit power consumption (kW electric
per kW thermal or per ton) and a slightly higher unit capital cost ($ per kW or per ton) for the chiller, there are
significant benefits in terms of reduced size and capital cost for chilled water pumps and piping, and potentially
reduced size and capital cost of air-handlers, fans and ducts. Additional benefits include reduced pumping power,
potentially reduced fan power, and improved control of humidity and comfort. Accordingly, the overall system
optimization has led system designers to employ increasingly lower supply temperatures.

In particular, the design and operation of District Cooling systems (for campuses, urban utilities, airports,
convention districts, etc.) have been following this trend to lower supply temperatures, as they capture particularly
significant savings associated with their distribution piping networks. These same District Cooling systems
increasingly utilize TES, chosen and configured to suit the low temperature system design. Some examples are
listed in Table 2.

Table 2: Some Low Supply Temperature Applications of Diurnal, Cool TES

TES Supply Diurnal TES Capacity

TES Owner/Operator - Location Type Temp MWh (th) Ton-hrs

Climaespaco - Lisbon, Portugal CHW +4 C 140.0 39,800

University of Southern California - Pasadena, California, USA CHW +4 C 158.2 45,000
SAWS (San Antonio Water System) - San Antonio, Texas, USA ice +2 C 68.2 19,400
DFW Intl Airport - Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas, USA LTF +2 C 316.4 90,000
Northwind Plant #1 - Chicago, Illinois, USA ice +1 C 232.1 66,000
Northwind Plant #2 - Chicago, Illinois, USA ice +1 C 439.5 125,000
Princeton University - Princeton, New Jersey, USA LTF 0 C 140.6 40,000
Metropolitan Pier & Expo Authority - Chicago, Illinois, USA LTF 1 C 432.5 123,000

In addition to those TES applications already operating at supply temperatures in the range of +4 to 1 C (39 to 30
F), there has been a very strong trend among recent large new TES applications for the TES tank to be specified and
pre-designed for two distinct operating conditions: first, a conventional supply temperature of +4 to +5.5 C (39 to
42 F) in initial stratified chilled water service, and second, a reduced supply temperature in the range of 2 to +2 C
(28 to 36 F) after conversion to stratified low temperature fluid (LTF) service. In this way, the CHW supply-to-
return Delta T and the TES ton-hour capacity can be significantly increased (often by 40 to 70% or more) without
increasing the TES volume at all, in order to meet future phased growth in system cooling loads.

4. HIGH EFFICIENCY

Of course, there are some energy inefficiencies that are inherent to TES. They include added pump work associated
with charging and discharging TES, plus heat gain into the TES tank.

But in spite of some inherent inefficiencies for TES, there are also major energy efficiency gains inherent to TES
systems. Important examples relate to the fact that with TES systems:
1. chiller plants operate more often during nighttime, when cooler ambient temperatures improve the efficiency of
heat rejection and chillers, and
2. chiller plants need never operate at severely low load conditions when chillers, and especially their auxiliaries
(cooling tower fans and condenser water pumps), exhibit much higher unit energy consumption.

As a result, there are many instances of reductions in net annual energy consumption for systems utilizing TES.
Some representative examples are listed in Table 3 [Andrepont, Feb 2001].
 Table 3: Improved On-Site Energy Efficiency with Sensible Heat, Diurnal, Cool TES

TES Energy Savings from TES

TES Owner/Operator Type Measured Simulated

Arizona State University CHW 13% -----

Brazosport College CHW 8 to 9% -----
California State University CHW ----- 13%
Los Angeles County CHW ----- 15 to 25%
State Farm Insurance CHW ----- 3%
Texas Instruments CHW 5 to 6% -----

In some cases, notably phase change TES (such as ice TES) in which the TES charging temperature must be lower
than the TES discharge temperature, there are some additional energy inefficiencies. Nevertheless, even these
inefficiencies can be more than offset through reductions in the energy consumption of chilled water pumps and air-
side fans, when the lower available supply temperature from TES is used to optimize the overall system design.

In addition to potential reductions in on-site energy use (as illustrated in Table 3), TES always represents significant
additional reductions in source energy used at electric utility power generation plants. Independent studies have
been conducted on five different utilities in three diverse states (California, Texas, and Wisconsin). All the studies
have demonstrated major reductions in power plant fuel energy consumption, and power plant emissions of
atmospheric pollutants (SO2, NOX, and particulates) and greenhouse gas emissions (CO2), as a result of shifting on-
site energy use from on-peak daytime periods (when power utilities operate high heat rate, low efficiency, high
emission, peaking power plants on the margin) to off-peak nighttime periods (when power utilities operate low heat
rate, high efficiency, low emission, base load power plants on the margin). Source energy and emission savings for
the California and Texas utilities ranged from 5 to 24%, while those in Wisconsin utilities ranged from 11 to 30%
[Andrepont, Feb 2001].

5. CAPITAL SAVINGS

In large installations, as a direct result of its inherently dramatic economy-of-scale, sensible heat TES represents
cooling capacity that exhibits a capital cost that is not only much lower than that of latent heat TES, but even much
lower than that of equivalent conventional (non-TES) chiller plant capacity. As a result, large sensible heat TES
applications, executed at times of either new construction or capacity expansion or chiller plant rehabilitation, are
routinely installed at a substantial capital cost saving versus non-TES capacity.

Table 4 provides some representative examples for a variety of types of applications for which the capital savings
from sensible heat (CHW or LTF) TES has been documented. In each example, the net capital cost saving from the
use of TES is in the millions of U.S. dollars.

Among the entries in Table 4, the 1st, 3rd and 6th examples utilized TES at a time of facility expansion, with the net
capital savings resulting from the use of TES in lieu of a major chiller plant capacity addition. The 2nd, 4th and 7th
examples utilized TES at a time of new facility construction, with the net capital savings resulting from the use of
TES along with a downsized chiller plant. And the 5th example utilized TES at a time of chiller plant
rehabilitation/replacement, with the net capital savings resulting from the use of TES along with a downsized chiller
plant replacement.
 Table 4: Some Capital Cost Savings Examples from Large Sensible Heat, Diurnal, Cool TES

Capital
TES Diurnal TES Capacity Savings
Application - Location TES Type MWh (th) Ton-hrs (millions)

university campus cooling - Washington, USA CHW 62.4 17,750 $1 to 2

urban district cooling - Lisbon, Portugal CHW 140.0 39,800 $2.5
university campus cooling - Alberta, Canada CHW(LTF)* 211.0 60,000 $4
corporate tech center cooling - Michigan, USA 2 x CHW 239.1 68,000 $3.6
international airport district cooling - Texas, USA LTF 316.4 90,000 $6
industrial / convention district cooling - Florida, USA CHW(LTF)* 562.6 160,000 over $5
turbine cooling - Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia CHW 678.6 193,000 $10

* indicates systems designed for initial operation as conventional CHW TES, but also pre-designed for
possible future capacity expansion through conversion to LTF TES.

6. CASE HISTORIES

Numerous examples of TES applications exist to document the four trends described above. The following case
studies are briefly described here to illustrate and quantify some of characteristics of recent TES installations. They
involve high-tech industrial applications, District Cooling utilities, university / medical campuses, and power plant
turbine inlet cooling systems.

Daimler Chrysler - Auburn Hills, Michigan

A 239.1 MWh thermal (68,000 ton-hour) stratified chilled water TES system was installed as part of the initial
construction of a 200,000 square meter (2 million square feet) corporate technology complex. Chilled water TES
allowed a downsizing of the installed chiller plant capacity from 62.2 to 40.1 MW thermal (17,700 to 11,400 tons)
and, due to its inherent economy-of-scale, produced a net capital cost savings of $3.6 million for the owner
[Andrepont, Jun 1993]. In addition, the facility achieved approximately $1 million in annual energy cost savings
[Andrepont, Jun 1994]. The TES installation also performs a secondary role as fire protection water storage.

Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority (MPEA) - Chicago, Illinois

A 432.5 MWh thermal (123,000 ton-hour) stratified low temperature fluid (LTF) TES system was installed as an
integral part of a new District Energy system that serves the City of Chicagos McCormick Place Exposition Center,
as well as a new Hyatt Regency hotel, a new office building, and a new internet hotel facility. The TES system
delivers 1 C (30 F) supply fluid to heat exchangers and allows certain customer facilities to employ low
temperature air distribution systems, with capital and operating cost savings from the reduced size of in-building
pumps, piping, air-handlers, fans, and ducts. The large system Delta T from 1 to +12 C (30 to 54 F) combined
with the use of a relatively tall 27.4 meter (90 foot) storage tank, results in a very compact footprint for TES of only
0.05 square meters (0.5 square feet) per ton of installed discharge capacity. TES was designed to be capable of full
discharge within a period of less than 5 hours, at a peak discharge rate of 87.9 MW thermal (25,000 tons) and at a
constant, low supply temperature of 1 C (30 F) [EPRI, Dec 1999]. The fully installed capital cost of TES,
including the LTF storage medium, was under $40 per ton-hour and under $200 per ton of peak discharge capacity,
a very small fraction of the capital cost of conventional chilled water plant capacity [Andrepont, 3rd Qtr 1995]. The
LTF also performs a secondary use as water treatment, virtually eliminating any on-going treatment for both
corrosion inhibition and control of microbiological growth [Andrepont, Feb 2000].

OUCooling - Orlando, Florida

A 562.6 MWh thermal (160,000 ton-hour) stratified chilled water TES system has been installed as part of a new
District Cooling utility development serving the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) and a Lockheed Martin
(LM) aerospace manufacturing facility in the International Drive area of Orlando, Florida. The TES system is
operated in conjunction with two pre-existing chilled water plants, one at OCCC and one two miles away at LM,
where the TES tank was installed. The TES system, and the 3 km (2 miles) of interconnecting CHW piping, pumps
and controls, was installed in lieu of adding a new 35.2 MW thermal (10,000 ton) CHW plant at OCCC to
accommodate the recent doubling in size of that facility. The TES approach reduced capital investment by over $5
million versus adding a conventional chiller plant. In addition, TES is projected to reduce operating costs by more
than $500,000 per year [Andrepont and Rice, Dec 2002]. TES reduces on-peak power demand by approximately 15
MW electric and is designed for full discharge within a period of 8 hours, at a peak discharge rate of 70.3 MW
thermal (20,000 tons). The TES system has also been designed for a future drop in retrofit of low temperature
fluid (LTF) for potential operation at a larger Delta T, thus increasing TES storage and discharge capacities to 879.0
MWh thermal (250,000 ton-hours) and 109.9 MW thermal (31,250 tons), increases of more than 56%.

Washington State University - Pullman, Washington

A 17,750 ton-hour stratified chilled water TES system was installed as a retrofit to an existing campus cooling
system. Added to address campus cooling load growth, the TES tank was located as satellite capacity at the
opposite end of campus from the central chilled water plant, thus effectively peak shaving not only chilled water
generating capacity, but also the distribution system capacity. Relative to a conventional (non-TES) chiller plant
capacity addition, TES achieved a capital cost savings of between $1 million and $2 million and an operating cost
saving of $260,000 per year [Benjamin, Jun 1994]. Consideration has recently been given to a possible future
conversion of the system to low temperature fluid (LTF) service, to achieve a dramatic increase in TES capacity (by
more than 75%, up to 31,600 ton-hours) and a similar percentage increase in distribution network capacity.

University of Alberta - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

A 211.0 MWh thermal (60,000 ton-hour) stratified chilled water TES system has been installed as a retrofit to an
existing campus cooling system. Added to address campus cooling load growth, the TES tank was located as
satellite capacity at the opposite corner of campus from the central chilled water plant, thus effectively peak shaving
not only chilled water generating capacity, but also the distribution system capacity. Relative to a conventional
(non-TES) chiller water system capacity addition, TES achieved a 30% immediate capital cost savings and is
projected to achieve a 12% reduction in campus cooling system annual operating costs [Andrepont and Kohlenberg,
Mar 2005]. Furthermore, TES was pre-designed to allow for a possible future conversion of the system to low
temperature fluid (LTF) service, to achieve a dramatic increase in TES capacity, by 70%, up to 358.6 MWh thermal
(102,000 ton-hours) with a similar percentage increase in distribution network capacity.

Electric Utility - Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Combustion turbines (gas turbines) have an inherent drawback in that their performance (in both power output and
fuel efficiency) is severely degraded at high inlet air temperatures, which are precisely those times when electric
power is generally in the highest demand and valued at the highest monetary level. Accordingly, Turbine Inlet
Cooling (TIC), often integrated with TES, is increasingly used for enhancing the hot weather power output and fuel
efficiency of combustion turbine power plants [Andrepont, Jun 2000; TICA, Mar 2004]. In one recent example, a
678.6 MWh thermal (193,000 ton-hour) stratified chilled water TES system was installed, as part of a new inlet air
chilling system, retrofitted to an existing electric utility gas turbine power plant in the Middle East region. The TES
system provides up to 10.5 MW thermal (3,000 tons) of cooling to each of 10 large gas turbines, simultaneously, to
increase the hot weather net power output of the power plant by 30%. The 105.5 MW thermal (30,000 ton) cooling
load is met directly from TES for 6 on-peak hours per day, using a CHW plant of only 38.7 MW thermal (11,000
ton) capacity operating 18 off-peak hours per day to recharge TES [Liebendorfer and Andrepont, Jun 2005]. The
use of TES in the project was estimated to have reduced capital cost by more than $10 million.

7. OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

We have explored some notable trends in the application of sensible heat, diurnal, cool TES occurring during recent
years. We have seen numerous examples of:
1. TES being applied in large and very large capacities,
2. TES being applied with lower than conventional supply temperatures,
3. TES installations that, in addition to providing peak power demand reductions, are also providing on-site energy
use reductions and reductions in fuel use and emissions at the source power plants, and finally
4. TES installations that provide the owners with large net savings in capital cost, when executed at times of new
construction, or facility expansions, or rehabilitations of chiller plants.

Examples and case studies underscore that these trends in TES are quite widespread geographically, climatically,
and in terms of end-use type. The examples described above include TES systems, not only throughout the U.S. but
in Canada, Europe, and Asia. And they include examples from hot-humid climates, hot-dry climates, year-round hot
climates, and seasonally-short hot climates.

Large sensible heat TES (as chilled water or low temperature fluid TES) is a successful and growing commercial
reality. One can expect to see a continuation of the trends noted above, namely the increased use of large TES
installations, operating efficiently, with low supply temperatures, and often providing substantial capital savings in
addition to operating savings for their owners.

REFERENCES

Andrepont, John S., June 1993, Thermal Storage and District Cooling: Addressing the current environmental issues
while also cutting capital costs, Proceedings of the 84th Annual IDEA Conference.

Andrepont, John S., June 1994, Capital, Operating, and Energy Savings from the Use of Chilled Water Storage
with District Cooling, ASHRAE 1994 Annual Meeting, Seminar 03.

Andrepont, John S., 3rd Quarter 1995, Chilled-Water Storage: A Suite of Benefits for District Cooling, IDEA
District Energy magazine, Volume 81, No. 1.

Andrepont, John S., February 2000, Long-term Performance of a Low Temperature Fluid in Thermal Storage and
Distribution Applications, Proceedings of the 13th Annual IDEA College and University Conference, pp. IX-1
through IX-17.

Andrepont, John S., June 2000, Combustion Turbine Inlet Air Cooling (CTIAC): Benefits, Technology Options,
and Applications for District Energy, Proceedings of the 91st Annual IDEA Conference, pp. 183-196.

Andrepont, John S., February 2001, Thermal Energy Storage: Analysis and Optimization of Campus Cooling
Systems, Proceedings of CAPPA Technology 2001.

Andrepont, John S. and Kohlenberg, Michael W., March 2005, A Campus District Cooling System Expansion:
Capturing Millions of Dollars in Net Present Value Using Thermal Energy Storage, Proceedings of 18th Annual
IDEA Campus Energy Conference.

Andrepont, John S. and Rice, Keith C., December 2002, A Case Study of Innovation and Success: A 15 MW
Demand-Side Peaking Power System, Proceedings of Power-Gen International 2002.

Benjamin, Craig S., June 1994, Chilled Water Storage at Washington State University A Case Study,
Proceedings of the 85th Annual IDEA Conference, pp. 330-341.

EPRI, December 1999, Chilled Water Thermal Energy Storage: Emerging Chilled Water Density Depressants for
Capacity Enhancement, Technical Brief TB-114676, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, California.

Liebendorfer, Kurt M. and Andrepont, John S., June 2005, Cooling the Hot Desert Wind: Turbine Inlet Cooling
with Thermal Energy Storage (TES) Increases Net Power Plant Output 30%, Proceedings of the ASHRAE Annual
Meeting 2005, ASHRAE Transactions, Volume 111, Part 2.

Turbine Inlet Cooling Association (TICA), March 2004, Partial Database of Turbine Inlet Cooling (TIC)
Installations, public and members only sections of TICA website: www.turbineinletcooling.org.