JOHN M. CHANEY, Jr., P.E. , Director, Mechanical Engineering, Hayes, Seay, Mattern Mattern, Inc., Roanoke, Va.

What’s So Hot About Chilled-Water Storage?

If power companies around the world are still offering customer incentives to reduce peak demand, when it comes to larger chilled-water cooling systems, why are so many mechanical engineers ignoring the money-saving advantages and other significant benefits of chilled-water storage (CWS)? Often, new facilities that seem particularly suitable for CWS are being designed to employ conventional, nonstorage cooling systems. Admittedly, there aren't that many papers available documenting the reputed savings, but many happy owners using thermal-energy storage (TES) know that, as compared to their previous cooling systems, they: Moreover, when adapted properly to the circumstances, CWS also offers competitive front-end and life-cycle costs. Put together, that's a pretty hot case for CWS and TES. Favorable off-peak, load-leveling power rates that lead to significant operating economies are the advantage most often cited for TES.