Experimental investigation on the energy and economic performance of an ice-slurry-based dynamic ice storage system

The increased use of air-conditioning systems has led to electricity consumption increase in buildings and has caused a significant imbalance between the power supply and demand. The ice storage system has become an effective solution to shift electricity demand and improve the energy flexibility of consumers. Compared with traditional static ones (e.g., using ice on coil), dynamic ice storage systems (e.g., using ice slurry) are more energy efficient. This paper proposed an ice-slurry dynamic ice storage system, which was implemented in an office building in Shenzhen, China. On-site measurement results show that, compared with the regular cooling system, the dynamic ice storage system can achieve an operational cost saving of 52% and an equivalent cooling coefficient of performance of 9.37, which has remarkable energy and economic benefits. Moreover, this paper provides practical suggestions for the operation of the dynamic ice storage system to further improve its energy efficiency.