NEWS


Coolth storage comes to the fore as national energy transformation gathers pace


T


here is growing interest in the potential of ‘coolth storage’, as industrial refrigeration users and building owners roll-out decarbonisation plans and seek to increase energy resilience.


Bitzer UK is collaborating with O-Hx Ltd on the


development of that company’s pioneering coolth storage technology, EnergiVault, which uses high- effi ciency Bitzer open-drive screw compressors to generate cooling that is stored in a ‘coolth battery’ based on phase change material (PCM). EnergiVault, developed with the support of UK


government funding, uses stored cooling energy to support peak demand when chillers are maxed-out, and to load-shift energy consumption to benefi t from lower tariff s. Importantly, it can also be used to ensure continuity of cooling in the event of chiller breakdown, and as a buff er to smooth-out loads to reduce ineffi cient chiller cycling.


A 650kWh demonstration project installed at pharmaceutical specialist Quotient Sciences’ facility in Alnwick last year has demonstrated EnergiVault’s eff ectiveness in delivering peak load support, energy resilience and reliability. The project delivered signifi cant savings in energy


costs by charging the coolth battery with lower-cost overnight electricity and ‘trickle-charging’ to replace chiller cycling, as well as ensuring continuity of operations under high temperatures and humidity, when previously the existing system would have been overwhelmed. Bob Long, executive chairman and founder of O-Hx, said: “EnergiVault stepped in seamlessly during the high summer temperatures, delivering huge amounts of thermal energy when needed to support the site’s struggling cooling equipment. EnergiVault combines the high energy-density found in block ice storage with the rapid and fl exible


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discharge capability found with chilled water storage.” He added: “Work on system optimisation continues, and on the basis of the excellent results so far our performance expectations have been exceeded. We are now following up several active enquiries for EnergiVault and pressing ahead with plans for full-scale commercialisation.” Unlike lithium batteries, which can discharge only


around 70% of their power, all the energy stored in an EnergiVault can be used without harming the device or its future storage capacity. The charging process using ammonia


refrigeration, for example, is highly effi cient due to the inherent effi ciency of the refrigerant and Bitzer screw compressors. Any conversion losses are comfortably exceeded by the savings achieved through using off -peak electricity.


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