“Ice batteries” offer a sustainable air conditioning option

Each night, some 74,000 gallons (280,000 liters) of water are frozen at Norton Audubon Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. The hospital was previously entirely air -conditioned by a conventional system that is found in most American buildings, but today, 27 ice tanks feed a network of cold water pipes that keep operating rooms at safe temperatures and patient comfort.

This type of thermal energy storage, also known as ice batteries, is added to buildings in the United States for its ability to provide fresh air without issuing emissions that contribute to global warming. These systems reduce electricity consumption and reduce pressure on the network. With the increase in temperatures and growing electricity demand in the United StatesIce thermal energy storage offers a sustainable option to cool buildings.

Trane Technologies, a company that manufactures heating and cooling equipment, says it has noted growing demand for this technology in recent years. Its ice batteries are mainly used in schools as well as in commercial and government buildings. Nostromo Energy, another company that manufactures ice batteries, is looking for customers among energy -consuming data centers and having high cooling needs. Smaller systems are also made for houses by companies such as Ice Energy.

Ice tanks melt to create air conditioning

The technology storage technology on ice varies according to the manufacturers, but each one follows a similar concept: at night, when the electricity of the network is the cheapest, the water is frozen in the form of ice which melts the next day to cool the building. The ice cools the water circulating in the building pipes, absorbing the heat of the rooms and creating a refreshing effect. The air cooled by the system is then pushed through the ventilation mouths.

Norton Audubon hospital uses a Trane ice battery system. Trane said that its ice batteries are often used in parallel with traditional air conditioning and that ice -based cooling is used to reduce energy costs during peak demand periods. Traditional AC components are generally left in place or reduced when ice batteries are added.

The stored ice does not require energy to melt, which reduces the pressure on the network and minimizes the consumption of electricity of the building, thus reducing the monthly invoices.

“Energy storage for subsequent uses is the direction to which we are heading with the future of the network,” said Ted Tiffany, main technical manager of the Decarbonization Coalition Building. He said Access to air conditioning is a major public health need which is exacerbated by a global warmingAnd ice batteries are a lasting way to combat health risks associated with extreme heat.

Energy costs at Norton Audubon were $ 278,000 in the first year when the ice battery system was operational after its installation in 2018. The hospital estimates that the system and other energy saving measures have saved almost $ 4 million since 2016.

“Technology has been great for us,” said Anthony Mathis, Norton Healthcare who supervises sustainable development. He said he was receiving information from other buildings of buildings about this technology and that he thought that more installations would adopt him as awareness would develop.

Use ice to meet growing energy demand

Sustainable energy experts say that the storage of thermal energy on ice is one of the options that commercial buildings can use to reduce electricity demand or store excess energy. Some commercial buildings use lithium batteries, which can store the excess of solar or wind energy available by intermittentness.

Dustin Mulvaney, professor of environmental studies at the State University of San Jose, said that ice batteries are a judicious option for health care facilities and residences for the elderly, because lithium batteries may present a risk of fire.

Manufacturers also see opportunities in data centerswhich are more and more numerous to support artificial intelligence and have high energy and cooling needs. A December report of the Ministry of Energy revealed that data centers consumed more than 4 % of the country’s electricity in 2023 and that this figure could reach 12 % by 2028.

“The data centers are very energy delicious and around 30 to 40 % of their energy consumption is intended for cooling … This is where ours could really help,” said Yoram Ashery, CEO of Nostromo Energy.

Nostromo Energy said she was discussing agreements to install her systems with several large Data centers operatorsBut refused to provide more details. Its ice battery technology is also used at the Beverly Hills Hotel in California.

California is currently the largest market for this technology, because the network uses a lot of solar energy during the day but goes to polluting energy sources such as natural gas after sunset. Ice batteries can be used for air conditioning at the end of the afternoon and evening instead of drawing from the network.

“Many public services are really interested in this type of load transfer technology,” said Joe Raasch, Operation Director at Ice Energy, another thermal ice energy storage company. He said summer is generally the most expensive period for the operation of public services due to air conditioning demand.

“This is a really great technology that the network really needs, because a large part of the future electric load depends on the cooling,” said Raasch.

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