Demand side management of a commercial refrigeration system with cold thermal energy storage

Accounting for about 17% of the overall electricity consumption worldwide, the refrigeration sector requires improvements in energy reduction and management. Demand side management (DSM) could be adopted to improve the overall system energy efficiency. In this work, a CO2 commercial refrigeration system coupled with different cold thermal energy storages (CTES) is studied through a DSM approach. A fire prevention water tank of 950 m3 and low-melting-point phase change materials are considered. Based on a demand response strategy, the CTES are used to change the timing of end-use consumption from high electricity cost periods to low-cost periods. During off-peak times, cold thermal energy can be generated by electricity, stored in the CTES and then used during peak-hours to flatten the utility load profile. Results show that a similar application can lead to economic savings if the system takes advantage of the different electricity prices during peak and off-peak hours.