case studies

Opera House Primary Cooling via 3300kWh IceBat Cold Battery System

Application                                                                          

A nominal capacity 3,300kWh IceBat Cold Battery Thermal Energy Storage has been installed at the Cologne Opera House.

This installation, within the important peak demand application sector, provides an innovative and efficient Cold Battery System to deliver primary cooling capacity for the Opera House.

Air conditioning has become essential for theatres; however the air-conditioning requirements of entertainment venues are naturally intermittent.

These buildings experience significant thermal power peaks during performances where lighting loads come to play emitting significant heat along with a substantial audience of over 1,300 people also all emitting heat.

PURE EFFICIENCY | PURE SUSTAINABILITY | PURE SAVINGS

For these reasons and IceBat Cold Battery is a sensible option which provides on demand cooling for a number of hours.

Once the air-conditioning demand is satisfied and a four-hour operational period of set up/performance is complete then the IceBat is recharged but importantly by a packaged chiller which is a fraction of the peak demand cooling duty.

This type of operation minimises the required chiller capacity and it’s associated electrical supply which delivers significant savings for the user.

IceBat Cold Battery Thermal energy storage systems, are economical and sustainable, enable a reduction of up to 60% in the power installed and drawn from the networks, maximise the self-consumption of carbon-free energy and optimise the building’s energy bill.

Equipment Schedule

This Pure Thermal PLUS Two Stage Heat Pump System was configured with 5 x Stage 1 R290 Propane Air Source units and 3 x Stage 2 Water/Water units delivering a peak capacity of 1500kW.

Resilience and load management are provided at the highest level via the modular design and muti circuit/multi compressor specification of both Stage 1 and Stage 2 units.

Stage 1 Range/Model: Pure Thermal Enerblue/Purple 50.2

Stage 2 Range/Model: Pure Thermal Oilon/P220

Cooling delivery temperature: -7°C (Peak demand resilience capacity)

Heating delivery temperature: 85°C (95°C capable for thermal storage)

Refrigerant: Stage 1 R290 Propane and Stage 2 R1234ze

Low GWP: 3

Unit number: Stage 1 x 5 units and Stage 2 x 3 units

Nominal capacity: 1,500kW

Summary

This application is a great example of a demanding project where the conventional method of delivering cooling was significantly improved by the inclusion of IceBat Cold Battery system.

This application demonstrates the commitment of Fafco to provide reliable, high-quality cold thermal energy storage solutions tailored to the clients most critical needs.

In practical terms the IceBat unit applied has the capability to operate on a standalone basis in order to provide 100% peak cooling capacity throughout the year including peak summer periods.

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