Abstract
Lake water district cooling systems have been shown to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in several cases, including projects in heating-dominated climates. Due to the highly cooling-intensive functions in the Hochschulquartier area in Zurich, Switzerland, a district-scale free cooling network based on lake water has been proposed, but its feasibility has yet to be demonstrated.
This paper presents the methodology for thermal network simulation developed for the City Energy Analyst (CEA), an open-source software for energy demand simulation and system operation modeling and optimization. This methodology was then applied to simulate the free cooling system’s operation for four scenarios of urban development for the area featuring different functional mixes. The results were then compared to decentralized vapor compression chillers in order to analyze the network’s feasibility from an economic and environmental perspective.
The simulation results showed that the district cooling network would reduce the electricity demand for cooling in the area by about 60% compared to the use of standard vapor compression chillers. This improvement in performance was however achieved at the expense of much higher annualized costs due to the large investment associated with building the network. Thus, the proposed free cooling network might require further economic incentives for its construction.
This paper presents the methodology for thermal network simulation developed for the City Energy Analyst (CEA), an open-source software for energy demand simulation and system operation modeling and optimization. This methodology was then applied to simulate the free cooling system’s operation for four scenarios of urban development for the area featuring different functional mixes. The results were then compared to decentralized vapor compression chillers in order to analyze the network’s feasibility from an economic and environmental perspective.
The simulation results showed that the district cooling network would reduce the electricity demand for cooling in the area by about 60% compared to the use of standard vapor compression chillers. This improvement in performance was however achieved at the expense of much higher annualized costs due to the large investment associated with building the network. Thus, the proposed free cooling network might require further economic incentives for its construction.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 33rd International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems (ECOS 2020), Osaka, Japan, 29 June – 3 July 2020 |
| Publisher | ECOS |
| Pages | 1781-1791 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | 33rd International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems - Osaka, Japan Duration: 29 Jun 2020 → 3 Jul 2020 http://ecos2020.org/ |
Conference
| Conference | 33rd International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | ECOS 2020 |
| Country/Territory | Japan |
| City | Osaka |
| Period | 29/06/20 → 3/07/20 |
| Internet address |
Keywords
- district cooling
- free cooling
- thermal networks
- renewable energy systems
- sustainability
