A near-optimal operation strategy for ice storage air-conditioning systems

In this paper, a near- optimal operation strategy, weight priority method, is presented for ice storage air-conditioning systems. How to determine proper proportion between ice storage tanks and chillers to meet buildings load demand is a key factor for the optimal control of ice storage systems. By the priority weight method, the optimization control problem is converted into a sorting problem. Compared weight priority strategy with usual chiller priority strategy for a typical office building with ice storage air-conditioning systems, the result shows that the running cost for design day is near, but when the system runs at 80% and 60% of cooling load of design day, the energy charges by the weight priority control strategy will save 34% and 43% respectively. The novel strategy is suitable for optimal control of ice storage air conditioning system, and can be easily implemented in practice.