Energy management and CO2 mitigation using phase change materials (PCM) for thermal energy storage (TES) in cold storage and transport

Abstract

Low temperature sensitive products transport and storage is an issue worldwide due to changes of the lifestyle population increase. Thermal energy storage (TES) is nowadays one of the most feasible solutions in facing the challenge of achieving energy savings. Many researchers have investigated energy efficiency of different cold units by applying TES systems using phase change materials (PCM). This paper provides an overview of the existing Spanish and European potential energy savings and CO2 mitigation by incorporating TES systems to cold storage and transportationsystems.Data onenergy savingswerecompiled fromdifferent case studies. Results depend on the scenarios studied and the extent of TES systems implementation; in the case of Europe for instance, yearly CO2 emissionsmay be cut downbetween 5% and 22% in reference to 2008 CO2 emissions from cold production considering that the proposed implementation of PCM TES in the case studies found in the literature is done.

The work partially funded by the Spanish government (ENE2011-22722). The authors would like to thank the Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to their research group (2009 SGR 534). Eduard Oro´ would like to thank the University of Lleida for his research fellowship. Laia Miro´ would like to thank the Spanish Government for her research fellowship (BES-2012-051861). The work leading to this invention has received funding from the European Union’s