Feasibility Study of District Cooling System Integrated with Multiple Energy Resources in Subtropical Area

In the subtropical urban area with a high density of buildings, district cooling system is regarded as an efficient alternative to supply cooling to a group of buildings with high efficiency and low cost. Appropriate design of the district cooling system helps to achieve good performance. The purpose of this paper is to study the performance of the district cooling system in a new development area in the subtropical religion by considering multiple energy resources. Thermal storage system is studied to level the energy consumption and reduce monthly bill. Results are compared with that of hydro pumped storage and recommendations are given about the design and control the thermal storage system under the local tariff. The performance of district cooling system integrated with the combined cooling, heating and power system is also investigated to make full use of the primary energy. Two such systems are studied which are designed based on electricity demand and thermal demand respectively. Results show that the cogeneration system is beneficial for both the investors and users. Suggestions are given to help promote the performance of district cooling system in the new development area by coupling with multiple energy resources.