Experimental Investigation of Direct Expansion Dynamic Ice-on-coil Storage System Used in Residential Buildings

Abstract

The reduction in electricity consumption of an ice-storage system in the daytime leads to financial savings for building owners and extension savings for a power plant and national economy. Great advancements have been made in domestic ice-storage systems due to the bigger peak-to-valley differences of electricity used in residential buildings. However, there are still some shortcomings that affect its widespread applications. The paper reports on an experimental investigation on a domestic direct expansion dynamic ice-on-coil storage system that overcame the disadvantages of static and dynamic ice-storage system. It is concluded that periodic ice moving avoids the increased heat resistance that creates a decreased evaporating temperature. Due to a better heat exchanger ability caused by the larger surface of sheet ice, steady and low chilled water temperature was directly extracted from an ice storage tank. The longitudinal and axial fin-added coils improved the COP of the refrigerating unit and ice-packing factors.