Advanced Energy Efficiency, Lecture 2: Industry - Rocky Mountain ...

Highly reliable process cooling below
condensing temp. without chillers
(COP = Coefficient of Performance = cooling out / electricity in)
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First meet most of the load with airside or waterside economizers
(CT @0.010 kW/t + ChW pump @0.018 kW/t = COP 125, $100/t)
Dig a hole, ?insulate it, line it, use auto-snowmaking machines
(COP hundreds, 50 t/unit-h) to spray slush on subfreezing nights
Optionally, cover “Mt. Sherbet” with foil bubblepack, foam, or straw
Cool with the 0˚C meltwater off the bottom, spray return water back on top
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Be sure to make it big enough (this method assumes cheap land)
Each hectare (2.47 acres), if solid ice 10 m thick or slush ~15 m thick, yields
3 million ton-h of refrigeration at 12C˚ΔT
Most temperate zones have over twice the needed ~500 subfreezing h/y
(slushmaking works decently below –2˚C, very well below about –5˚C)
A big slushpond should cost less up front than a chiller system and have >10
× better system COP—≥100 vs.