Abstract
District heating and cooling systems are designed and optimized to respond to the latest challenges of reducing energy demands while fulfilling comfort standards. Thermal energy storage (TES) with phase change materials can be employed to reduce the energy demands of buildings. This study considers a residential district located in Spain, where a general framework has been established to identify optimal combinations of energy conversion, delivery technologies, and operating rules. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was implemented within a mathematical model, and the objective function considered the minimization of environmental loads. Two environmental impact assessment methods were applied within the LCA methodology: IPCC 2013 GWP 100y and ReCiPe. Four optimal configurations were considered: a reference system (gas boiler and split-type air conditioners) and then three TES-based systems: one sensible (STES, water) and two latent (LTES1—paraffin emulsion and LTES2—sodium acetate trihydrate). Hourly environmental loads associated with electricity imports from the national grid were available. The conventional energy system always presented the worst performance from an environmental viewpoint, being penalized by the high consumption of natural gas. Regarding carbon emissions, LTES1 showed the lowest emissions, followed by STES and LTES2. Reductions in energy demands compensated the impact of paraffin, and results of STES are strongly dependent on tank design. However, considering the ReCiPe method, STES presented the lowest loads, followed by LTES1 and LTES2. Overall impacts of LTES1 with paraffin are higher than STES with water, mainly due to the paraffin and the high volume required.
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Notes
As these PCMs are still under development, there are no data available concerning the expected lifetime, no standard method to test ageing over time, and durability remains unknown.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for the funding of this work within the framework of Projects ENE2017-87711-R, partially funded by the Spanish Government (Energy Program), the Government of Aragon (Spain) and the Social Fund of the European Union (FEDER Program), and the National Council for the Scientific and Technological Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnológico—CNPq) for productivity Grant No. 307394/2018-2.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and methodology. Material preparation, data collection and life cycle assessment were performed by SGL and MC, thermal energy storage design and phase change material selection were performed by MD, and construction of the mathematical model and its calculations were performed by AL. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SGL, and edited and proofread by MC. Finally, all authors contributed to the final version of the manuscript.
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Guillén-Lambea, S., Carvalho, M., Delgado, M. et al. Sustainable enhancement of district heating and cooling configurations by combining thermal energy storage and life cycle assessment. Clean Techn Environ Policy 23, 857–867 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-020-01941-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-020-01941-9