Mireille Micallef

M. Sc. SERM Dissertation Proposal

05-Mar-2013

Potential for the Use of Surface Water for District Heating and Cooling in Malta
Dissertation Format
This dissertation will be carried out in the form of a project.

Brief Description of Proposed Research Work

Introduction
In recent years, the Maltese Islands have seen an increase in both the number and size of industrial, commercial and residential edifices. Such large buildings necessitate systems that provide heating and cooling in order to obtain a comfortable temperature within. These systems require an energy input in order to provide the necessary commodity of temperature control. With rises in energy costs and increased concern over the by-products of combustion, the use of surface water (any body of water that is exposed to the atmosphere including ponds, lakes, oceans and rivers (Mitchell & Spitler, 2013)) to provide heating and cooling is becoming a more attractive solution since water bodies are a natural storage of renewable solar energy (Cao, Han, Gu, Zhang, & Hu, 2009).

The Heat Pump

Air source heat pumps can be used to provide both heating and cooling and use air as their heat source and sink. During the colder season during the year, when the outside air is cold and heating is thus required indoors, the heat pump harvests heat from the cold air outdoors and transfers it indoors by means of a refrigerant. Conversely, in the hotter season, when the outside air is hot and cooling is required indoors, the heat pump harvests heat from indoors and transfers it outdoors. Heat pumps have rather high performance factors since they transfer energy rather than convert it as in the case of combustion. (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2001) The higher the temperature of the source the better will the heat pump perform in heating the sink and the lower the temperature of the source the better will the heat pump perform in cooling the sink. Air, is not the best source and sink for heat pumps when used to heat and cool buildings since the temperature of the air is usually the opposite of what the desired temperature indoors is. Water, with its high heat capacity, shows a delay in temperature change with respect to seasons. During summer, water bodies are cooler than the surrounding air and absorb solar radiation which slowly increases their temperature. When winter comes, water bodies would have warmed up and slowly start cooling down again until the following summer. The temperature of water bodies is thus in ante-phase with the air temperature. This phenomenon can be exploited to our advantage for use in district heating and cooling.

Types of Heating and Cooling Systems

Three options are available when using surface water for heating and/or cooling (Mitchell & Spitler, 2013):

Mireille Micallef

M. Sc. SERM Dissertation Proposal

05-Mar-2013

1. Direct surface water cooling (DSWC) water from the sea or a lake is used directly to cool buildings without the use of heat pumps or chillers. Intermediate heat exchangers may be used to isolate surface water from the actual cooling system due to the fouling problems and corrosion that it may create. 2. Surface water heat pump (SWHP) surface water acts as the source or sink for heat pumps or chillers which are used to provide heating and/or cooling. Heat pumps are becoming increasingly popular in heating and cooling applications since; they are capable of recovering heat from certain sources such as seawater (Cao, Han, Gu, Zhang, & Hu, 2009) (Chua, Chou, & Yang, 2010) (Mitchell & Spitler, 2013); they can have high coefficients of performance (Chua, Chou, & Yang, 2010) (Cao, Han, Gu, Zhang, & Hu, 2009); and they have evolved to become more energy efficient (Chua, Chou, & Yang, 2010). Also, heat pumps have been shown to produce less greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, when used for space heating and heat generation (Chua, Chou, & Yang, 2010). 3. Hybrid surface water heat pump (HSWHP) water is used directly for cooling when the temperature is low enough. When the temperature does not permit, heat pumps or chillers provide heating and/or cooling. Malta, despite not having any significant inland water bodies (Malta Environment and Planning Authority, 2005), is surrounded by the sea which has great potential for being used as a heat source and sink.

The Research Problem

The questions that this dissertation will seek to answer are: How suitable is the bathymetry and climate of Malta for operating systems which make use of surface water for heating and cooling? How much more efficiently will systems making use of surface water be when compared to conventional systems such as air-source heat pumps, systems using fossil fuel fired boilers or direct electricity? How much energy and greenhouse gas emissions can be avoided if systems making use of surface water are implemented?

This research is important since it will establish whether systems making use of surface water for heating and cooling are viable in the Maltese Islands. If such systems prove to be viable, environmental benefits can result from the reduced emissions as well as cost reductions which arise from the decrease in the use of energy. Also, the implementation of similar systems could contribute towards reaching targets established by regulations such as the energy performance of buildings regulations (LN376/2012) and the promotion of energy from renewable sources regulations (LN538/2010 as amended by LN210 of 2012).

Method and Deliverable

From an initial review of literature, the properties of some existing systems are summarised in Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3. For DSWC, water at a temperature as high as 18C can be used to provide cooling (Ciani, 1978). As can be seen from Table 1, distances from the cold water source to the installation tend to be large due to the low temperatures required for DSWC. Due to the large distances and associated 2

Mireille Micallef

M. Sc. SERM Dissertation Proposal

05-Mar-2013

infrastructure costs, only large systems are viable (Mitchell & Spitler, 2013). The system coefficient of performance (COP) for DSWC is however, very high.
Table 1 Summary of existing DSWC systems (Mitchell & Spitler, 2013)

City State/Province Country Latitude Longitude Water source Cooling capacity, (MW) Intake depth, (m) Intake length, (m) Intake temp, (C) Return depth, (m) Flow rate, m3/h Operation date System COP References

Helsinki S. Finland Finland 60 10 N 24 56 E Gulf of Finland 7.5 8 2012 (Miller, 2011)

Ithaca New York United States 42 26 N 76 30 W Lake Cayuga 70 76 3200 4 4.3 7300 2000 25.8 (Peer & Joyce, 2002) (Looney & Oney, 2007) (Zogg, Roth, & Broderick, 2008)

Mollis Glarus Nord Switzerland 47 6 N 9 5 E Lake Walen 60 6 30 2530 (Hamilton, 2010)

Bora Bora Fr. Polynesia France 16 30 S 151 44 W Pacific Ocean 1.6 900 2350 4 2006 (Makai Ocean Engineering, 2011) (War, 2011)

As can be seen in Table 2, SWHP temperatures can be much higher than those required for DSWC. This means that the water inlet does not need to be deep down into the sea. However, coefficients of performance are lower in general than those of DSWC systems.
Table 2 Summary of existing SWHP systems (Mitchell & Spitler, 2013)

City State/Province Country Latitude Longitude Water source Heating capacity, (MW) Cooling capacity, (MW) Intake depth, (m) Flow rate, m3/h Operation date Inlet temp (cooling), (C) System COP (cooling) Heat Pump COP (cooling) Inlet temp (heating), (C) System COP (heating) Heat Pump COP (heating) References

Nagasaki Kyushu Japan 32 47 N 129 52 E Nagasaki Harbor 4 762 2000 2.9 (Song, Akashi, & Yee, 2007)

Xiangtan Hunan China 27 51 N 112 54 E Mengze Lake 8.1 15 2 2003 25-35 3.8-4.2 4.3-4.8 7-15 3.4-4 3.8-4.3 (Chen, Zhang, Peng, Lin, & Liu, 2006) 3

Drammen Buskerud Norway 59 44 N 10 12 E Oslo Fjord 15 2010 3 (Lind, 2010)

Stockholm Sodermanland Sweden 59 20 N 18 4 E Baltic Sea 180 15 1984 3 3.75 (Friotherm, 2012)

Mireille Micallef

M. Sc. SERM Dissertation Proposal

05-Mar-2013

Table 3 summarizes the properties of some of the existing HSWHP.

Table 3 Summary of existing HSWHP systems (Mitchell & Spitler, 2013)

City State/Province Country Latitude Longitude Water source Heating capacity, (MW) Cooling capacity, (MW) Intake depth, (m) Operation date References

Oslo Vestfold Norway 59 57 N 10 45 E Oslo Fjord 2 4.2 32 (Smebye, Midttmme, & Stene, 2011)

Stockholm Sodermanland Sweden 59 20 N 18 4 E Baltic Sea 27 43 0-20 1995 (Fermbck, 1995) (Friotherm, 2012)

Geneva Geneva Switzerland 46 12 N 6 9 E Lake Geneva 23.5 35 2009 (Viquerat, Lachal, Weber, Mermoud, & Pampaloni, 2008) (Viquerat, Lachal, & Hollmuller, 2012) (Viquerat, 2012)

Toronto Ontario Canada 43 43 N 79 20 W Lake Ontario 176 83 2006 (Fotinos, 2003) (Zogg, Roth, & Broderick, 2008) (Newman & Herbert, 2009)

Halifax Nova Scotia Canada 44 51 N 63 12 W Atlantic Ocean 3.5 18 1989 (Eliadis, 2003) (Newman & Herbert, 2009) (War, 2011)

A more thorough review of available literature relating to the subject will be conducted in order to determine more comprehensively what technology is available, what systems exist internationally and what coefficients of performance are exhibited by these systems. This will be complemented with an exploration of local systems. Visits to local systems will provide greater insight and perhaps awareness of the existence of other similar systems on the islands. A request for data will also be made during these visits. Coefficients of performance will be requested if available. In case of unavailability, other metrics can be requested from which a measure of performance can be inferred. Such metrics include heating and/or cooling capacity, inlet water temperature and outlet water temperature, flowrate and energy consumption of sub-systems. Data relating to average seawater temperature during different times of the year and average seawater temperature at various depths will also be needed. Sea depth at sea temperatures at different distances from the shore might also be required. Operation of a SWHP requires seawater temperatures higher than 2C for heating and temperatures lower than 26C for cooling (Cao, Han, Gu, Zhang, & Hu, 2009) (Zhen, Lin, Shu, Jiang, & Zhu, 2007). Sea temperatures will be used to determine whether they are within the operational range of a heat pump. Depths at which sea temperatures occur are a determining factor in establishing the cost of the system costs and technical difficulties increase with increasing depth (Cao, Han, Gu, Zhang, & Hu, 2009). The distance from the shore at which suitable sea temperatures occur is another important constraint since transporting cold sea water through warmer areas (and vice versa) may 4

Mireille Micallef

M. Sc. SERM Dissertation Proposal

05-Mar-2013

result in an increase (or decrease) in its temperature, thus causing the system to not remain as efficient. Data related to the performance and energy consumption of systems will be used to compare local systems to other systems documented in literature. Furthermore, a comparison with traditional systems could be made in order to establish what savings could be achieved. Measures of avoided greenhouse gas emissions could also be calculated. Finally, a meeting with the Malta Resources Authority (MRA) will determine whether the use of surface water for district heating and cooling can contribute towards reaching the targets set by the energy performance of buildings regulations (LN376/2012) and/or the promotion of energy from renewable sources regulations (LN538/2010 as amended by LN210 of 2012). If such is the case, the quantified values obtained can be used to determine by how much these systems contribute towards the set targets.

Timeline
1-May 8-May 15-May 22-May 29-May 5-Jun 12-Jun 19-Jun 26-Jun 3-Jul 10-Jul 17-Jul 24-Jul 31-Jul 7-Aug 14-Aug 21-Aug 28-Aug 4-Sep 11-Sep 18-Sep 25-Sep 2-Oct 9-Oct 16-Oct 23-Oct 30-Oct 6-Nov 13-Nov 20-Nov Literature Review Sea-Related Data Acquisition Plant Visits Systems-Related Data Acquisition Data Analysis Law Review MRA Meeting Documentation Proof-Reading Corrections Preparation for Oral Presentation Submission of Final Copy to UoM, JMU

Ethical Issues
An ethical issue might arise from the fact that data regarding the operation and performance of heating and cooling systems will be requested from private companies such data might be considered sensitive. However, since the companies operating the systems are not the manufacturers of the system and since such systems are already available on the market, this should not be the case. No other significant ethical issues are expected to arise from this project. 5

Mireille Micallef

M. Sc. SERM Dissertation Proposal

05-Mar-2013

References
Cao, Z. K., Han, H., Gu, B., Zhang, L., & Hu, S. T. (2009). Application of seawater source heat pump. Journal of the Energy Institute, 82(2), 76-81. Chen, X., Zhang, G., Peng, J., Lin, X., & Liu, T. (2006). The performance of an open-loop lake water heat pump system in south China. Applied Thermal Engineering, 26, 2255-2261. Chua, K. J., Chou, S. K., & Yang, W. M. (2010). Advances in heat pump systems: A review. Applied Energy, 87, 3611-3624. Ciani, J. (1978). Sea/lake water cooling for naval facilities. Report N-1528. Port Hueneme, CA: Civil Engineering Laboratory. Eliadis, C. (2003). Deep lake water cooling - A renewable technology. Electrical Line, 9(3), 26-28. Fermbck, G. (1995). Sea water plays key role in Stockholm cooling system. District Energy, 81(1), 4143. Fotinos, D. (2003). Deep lake water cooling. Power Engineering Society General Meeting, July 13-17, (pp. 2297-2230). Toronto, Canada. Friotherm. (2012). Vrtan Ropsten - The largest sea water heat pump facility worldwide, with 6 Unitop(R) 50FY and 180 MQ total capacity. Retrieved March 6, 2013, from Friotherm: http://www.friotherm.com/webautor-data/41/vaertan_e008_uk.pdf Hamilton, J. (2010, November 21). 46 MW with water cooling at a PUE of 1.10. Retrieved March 6, 2013, from Perspectives James Hamilton's Blog: http://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2010/11/21/46MWWithWaterCoolingAtAPUEOf110.aspx Lind, O. (2010). In Norwegian - Drammen frst i verden med ammoniakkvarmepumpe som leverer 90C. Norsk Energi, 86(1), 10-12. Looney, C. M., & Oney, S. K. (2007). Seawater district cooling and lake source district cooling. Energy Engineering, 104(5), 34-45. Makai Ocean Engineering. (2011). Cold seawater air conditioning (SWAC). Retrieved March 6, 2013, from Makai Ocean Engineering: http://www.makai.com/p-swac.htm Malta Environment and Planning Authority. (2005). Water Framework Directive Article 5 Summary Reports for Surface Waters - Malta. Miller, R. (2011, September 6). Sea-cooled Data Center Heats Homes in Helsinki. Retrieved March 6, 2013, from Data Center Knowledge: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2011/09/06/sea-cooled-data-center-heatshomes-in-helsinki/ Mitchell, M. S., & Spitler, J. D. (2013, February 25). Open-loop direct surface water cooling and surface water heat pump systems - A review. HVAC&R Research, 19(2), pp. 125-140. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. (2001). Air-Source Heat Pumps. U.S Department of Energy. 6

Mireille Micallef

M. Sc. SERM Dissertation Proposal

05-Mar-2013

Newman, L., & Herbert, Y. (2009). The use of deep water cooling systems: Two Canadian examples. Renewable Energy, 34, 727-730. Peer, T., & Joyce, W. S. (2002). Lake Source Cooling. ASHRAE Journal, 44(4), 37-39. Smebye, H., Midttmme, K., & Stene, J. (2011). In Norwegian - Energi fra overflatevann i Norge Kartlegging av konomisk potensial. Report 9/2011. Oslo, Norway: Norges vassdrags-og energidirektorat. Song, Y. H., Akashi, Y., & Yee, J. J. (2007). Effects of utilizing seawater as a cooling source system in a commercial complex. Energy and Buildings, 39, 1080-1087. Viquerat, P. A. (2012). In French - Utilisation des rsaux d'eau lacustre profonde pour la climatisation et le chauffage des btiments; bilan nergtique et impacts environnementaux: Etude de cas: le projet GLN (Genve-Lac-Nations) Genve. Ph. D. Geneva, Switzerland: Universit de Genve. Viquerat, P. A., Lachal, B., & Hollmuller, P. (2012). In French - Connexion des btiments de l'ONU au rsau GLN Analyse de la premire anne de fonctionnement. Geneva, Switzerland: Universit de Genve. Viquerat, P. A., Lachal, B., Weber, W., Mermoud, A., & Pampaloni, E. (2008). Utilization of a deep lake water direct cooling network for cooling a large administrative district. Energy and environmental demonstration and follow-up. Improving Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings, (pp. 477-490). Frankfurt, Germany, April 10-11. War, J. C. (2011). Seawater Air Conditioning (SWAC) - A Renewable Energy Alternative. Oceans 2011, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, September 9-22, (pp. 1-9). Zhen, L., Lin, D. M., Shu, H. W., Jiang, S., & Zhu, Y. X. (2007). District cooling and heating with seawater as heat source and sink in Dalian, China. Renewable Energy, 32, 2603-2616. Zogg, R., Roth, K., & Broderick, J. (2008). Lake-source district cooling systems. ASHRAE Journal, 50(2), 55-56.