In hot climates cooling drives peak electricity demand. Making ice or chilled water at night and using it by day cuts peak demand charges and lets chillers be smaller and run at better efficiency.
District cooling networks for airports, business districts, data centres and campuses use large stratified chilled-water tanks or ice storage.
Key facts
- Chilled water
- ≈ 4–14 °C, stratified tanks
- Ice
- ≈ 334 kJ/kg latent heat
- Benefit
- Peak shaving, smaller chillers
- Users
- Airports, malls, data centres
Cooling and cold storage7
- Chilled-water thermal storage
- Ice storage
- Phase-change cooling storage
- District cooling systems
- Cold thermal energy storage
- HVAC load shifting
- Refrigeration-system integration
Design points6
- Cooling load profile
- Tariff and demand charges
- Tank stratification (diffusers)
- Ice-on-coil vs encapsulated ice
- Chiller sizing with storage
- Network temperatures
Related calculators
Calculators are available to staff / admin only.
Related topics
- District HeatingAccumulator tanks, pits and boreholes let heat networks run CHP, heat pumps, solar and waste heat at the best hours.
- Phase Change MaterialsOrganic, salt-hydrate, eutectic and metallic PCMs — choosing the melting point, latent heat and encapsulation.
- Latent HeatPhase-change materials absorb and release heat as they melt and freeze — compact storage at a nearly constant temperature.
Project & partnership desk
Planning District Cooling?
Tell us your heat demand, site and timeline — BARREL engineers, suppliers and partners will help you scope it.