The state of Texas can get mighty hot in summer, with long periods averaging around 95°F / 35°C. Humidity sweeping in from the Gulf can increase discomfort. Perhaps this is why scientists at Texas A&M University decided to investigate cooling buildings with ice batteries more efficiently. Let’s find out more.
Ice Storage For Cooling Buildings With Ice Batteries
A battery is conceivably any device that stores energy at one time, to use it during a future period. Our forebears retrieved ice from frozen rivers in winter before there was electricity, and stored it in ice houses for use in summertime. The arrival of electricity did away with this green energy storage practice.
Today we cool our buildings primarily with air conditioning. This technology uses a special refrigerant, which absorbs and releases heat as it circulates through the system. Cooling buildings with ice batteries is an alternative renewable technology, which has had few takers to date.
Ice batteries freeze water at night, using off-peak, cheaper electrical energy and eliminating the use of refrigerants. If this electrical energy is renewable, then this completes the circular micro-economy. One cubic meter of water can store 334 megajoules of energy. This is equivalent to 93 kilowatt hours of electricity, which is impressive.
Ice Storage Could Release Pressure on Energy Grids
Scientists at Texas A&M University’s Department of Materials and Engineering, are investigating ways to improve ice battery efficiency. They are doing this because they fear the idea will remain semi-dormant, until the materials inside are more efficient, stable, and long-lasting.
The Texas researchers are focusing their attention on materials able to store and release thermal energy, at optimal temperatures for cooling and heating buildings. Salt hydrates, for example, are compounds of salt that contain water molecules in their crystal structures.
The energy burden of air conditioning will continue to increase, as our planet continues to warm. “We don’t want to solve grid problems by building more power plants,” the lead researcher explains. “That’s a very costly solution and they’d have to charge higher rates overall.” We need more ice batteries instead!
More Information
Ice Batteries Cut Electricity Bills in Summer
Thermal Batteries Keep Production Rolling
Preview Image: Texas A&M Diagram of an Ice Battery
