The use of CHP and absorption cooling in cold storage

In recent years, it has become standard practice to consider combined heat and power (CHP) systems early in the design stage of commercial buildings. With new initiatives from the UK government on reduced energy use, energy efficient systems such as CHP have been considered for a wider application particularly within industrial building design. The viability of CHP in a typical cold storage application is described in this paper. The electrical energy and heating requirements are defined and used to assess the annual energy consumption of a traditional cold storage design using a thermal model. The analysis is then used to consider the economics of different CHP configurations, which includes an integrated CHP and absorption system used to provide chilled glycol for the cold storage facilities. The additional capital cost of each configuration is shown and this is used to calculate the payback period. The results show that an attractive payback period of approximately four years for a combined CHP and absorption system may be achieved.