TECHNOLOGY
Fusion Phase Technologies
Eutectic PCM Cool
Storage System
A Eutectic PCM Cool Storage System is a thermal energy storage system that utilizes phase change materials (PCMs) to store and release thermal energy to cool a building.
Fusion Phase Technologies’ Eutectic PCM Cool Storage Systems now provide energy conservation, decarbonization and load management to data centers and all facilities.
Achieve chiller-less cooling for most of the year by freezing Fusion eutectic PCMs at night with cooling tower-supplied water. Displace chiller operation during the day while the Fusion PCMs melt and cool the facility.
The result: decarbonization, energy conservation and operating cost savings that cannot be matched by an electric battery, ice storage, or any other type of storage system.
Fusion Phase’s high-performance PCMs bring Chiller-less cooling and energy conservation to energy storage.
Now, Fusion Phase Technologies has developed three alternative Eutectic PCMs:
Fusion Phase 16°C
Fusion Phase 13°C
Fusion Phase 9°C
ASHRAE Standard 90.1 (2013) calls for no chiller use during ambient conditions at or below 45°F wet bulb/50°F for larger facilities in large swaths of the country. This may be accomplished with a waterside economizer/ heat exchanger with cooling towers to cool the facility.
A Fusion PCM Cool Storage System greatly extends the effective hours of use of waterside economizers. The Fusion PCM System is charged with cooling towers during periods of low wet-bulb temperatures and then discharged during high daytime conditions when the temperatures would otherwise be too high for economizer use. This keeps the chillers off and decarbonization multiplying by eliminating up to 80% of electricity consumption for the chiller-operated central plant.
How Does it work?
Chiller-less Cooling with Fusion Phase Eutectic PCM Cool Storage System
The Fusion Phase Eutectic PCM Cool Storage System leverages large diurnal temperature differences, along with evaporative Cooling Tower and water-side economizer technology, to provide the vast majority of a data center or facilities’ cooling loads without mechanical refrigeration.
At night, the cooling towers operate, without the chillers, to provide chilled water to the storage tank, where it freezes the Fusion PCMs and charges the storage tank.
Then, during the day, when temperatures are 20 to 35 degrees F higher, the water is circulated through the storage tank, and the Fusion PCMs melt and cool the building water used to cool the facility through the normal use of the water-side economizer/heat exchanger.
The result: Cooling the data center or facility without the chillers, and saving up to 80% in electricity consumption and on-peak demand.
Fusion Phase Eutectic PCM Cool Storage Systems
Features and Advantages
Beyond Load Management to Energy Conservation.
Fusion Phase Eutectic PCMs have a high latent heat of fusion, allowing them to store a large amount of energy in a relatively small volume.
Fusion Phase’s predecessor, a company called Transphase Systems, employed a eutectic PCM with a phase change range of 47-50°F for effective load management in chiller-based air conditioning systems.
Now, Fusion Phase has added Fusion 52, 58, and 64°F. These higher-temperature PCMs allow for charging temperatures of up to 64°F which can usually be supplied by a cooling tower at night.
Eliminates Up to 80% of Chiller Operation
Fusion Phase uses a cooling tower to freeze a PCM most of the time. For the large majority of the year, Fusion PCMs require no compressor operation at all.
In contrast, ice storage systems require sub-32 degree charging temperatures.
No other battery– be it electric or thermal- can offer the decarbonization and energy conservation benefit of Fusion PCMs.
Space and Energy Efficiency
Compared to a Fusion Phase tank, a chilled water storage tank, relying solely on the specific heat rise of water with no phase change, takes at least four times the space.
Unlike Fusion Phase systems, chilled water storage requires a large delta T across the load which may not be available with increased chilled water supply temperatures.
Additionally, a Fusion Phase system doesn’t rely on maintaining a stratified chilled water temperature gradient inside the tank like a chilled water storage tank does.
Uses A Building's Existing Cooling Towers and Air Conditioning Equipment.
One of the primary advantages of Transphase’s original 47-degree PCM (now an improved Fusion 47) was its ability to be fully retrofitted into an existing facility’s chiller-based air conditioning system.
Fusion Phase’s new PCMs maintain this advantage by utilizing a building’s existing conventional air conditioning equipment, including cooling towers, pumps, and air handlers.
Also, no HCFCs or other refrigerants are added or used in the Fusion Phase PCM Cool Storage system. And the tank’s chilled water can be used in the facility’s fire protection system as well. Most significant, Fusion PCMs provide an added layer of redundancy and protection to the facility’s cooling system.
System Energy Use Comparison
Ice Storage, Chilled Water Storage & Eutectic PCM Storage Systems
EPRl Cool Storage Monitoring Workshop Presentation Material, September 1989
In September 1989, the Electric Power Research Institution (EPRI) commissioned Science Applications International Corporation to produce a Cool Storage Monitoring Workshop report. According to the graph on the left, the Eutectic PCM Cool Storage System, using a 47 degree PCM. displayed significantly lower energy consumption, indicating higher energy efficiency.
This does not include the decarbonization and energy conservation innovation with Fusion PCMs.
For further information about Fusion Phase Technologies, contact us.