District Cooling
What is District Cooling?
As the name implies, district cooling is all about cooling produced elsewhere. Instead of each building having its own cooling plant, the cold air is supplied by a central unit which can be operated using lots of
different resources and effective methods. Both the residents and the environment benefit from this. Quite simply, district cooling is simple, safe, comfortable cooling distributed in a closed circuit with minimal
environmental impact.
How it works?
District cooling is based on cold water being distributed in a network of pipes .The technology itself is simple. Water is cooled in a location and then fed through a network of pipes to homes, offices, hospitals,
industry and other environments in need of cooling. The cold water pumped around the district cooling network is used to cool the air circulating in the properties’ ventilation systems. The same water is then
fed back to the production plant to be cooled again. The temperature of the water fed to properties is around 6 degrees, while the return water is in excess of 16 degrees.
History
The first commercially successful district heating system was built by Bridsill Holly who is considered by International District Energy Association “IDEA” as the father of District Energy. The first District Heating
was launched in Lockport, New York in 1877. In 1930 the first District Cooling scheme began Operations at Denver’s Colorado. In 1960’s the first two European systems in Paris La Defense and Hamburg. District
Cooling has used Centrifugal water cooled chillers as the main driving force. The first was developed by Dr. Willis Carrier in 1922. The Middle East has seen the first installations in of large central chilled
water plants since 1960’s.
Benefits of District Cooling
District cooling systems takes advantages of economies of scale, system reliability, reduced noise level, reduced maintenance, reduced CO2 emission and better space utilization.
Compared with building-specific energy systems, district cooling systems:
- Are up to 40 percent more efficient, as larger systems are considerably more energy-efficient than small, individual units.
- Require lower capital costs, as they eliminate the need for chillers, cooling towers, pumps and other individual systems.
- Have lower operating costs, as energy experts manage them around the clock, keeping costs low with fuel and energy diversity.
- Save building space that can be used for more valuable purposes (such as rental income).
- Eliminate noise and vibration caused by cooling or heating equipment.
- Are environmentally friendly, as they use an average of 40 percent less electricity than traditional cooling systems. District cooling systems also capture most of the heat energy generated in electricity production
and use it to produce steam and hot and chilled water (cogeneration).
- Provide a higher degree of reliability, as they are built with enough capacity to ensure energy is always available at the central plant. Distribution systems are generally designed with multiple loops or other
backup to provide additional distribution reliability.
- Have fewer surprises-financial requirements are predictable, and you only pay for the energy you use.
- Enable a greater degree of flexibility, as building needs can go up or down without the need to change the central plant's capacity.