Multipurpose System for Cryogenic Energy Storage and Tri-Generation in a Food Factory: A Case Study of Producing Frozen French Fries

Abstract

This contribution elaborates on a futuristic hybrid concept for the multifunctional employment of a liquid air energy storage (LAES) system for combined heat, cold and power production (tri-generation) in a food factory, thereby providing a substantial part of the energy demand for various unit operations and enhancing the round-trip efficiency (RTE) of LAES. A processing line for frozen French fries, with relatively high heating and refrigeration demands, is used as a case study. The total useful energy output per charge/discharge cycle is 61,677 kWh (i.e., 38,295 kWh of electricity, 19,278 kWh of heating, and 4104 kWh of refrigeration). The estimated tri-generation RTE of the studied system reaches 55.63%, which appears to be 1.2 times higher than the RTE of a classical standalone LAES system with the same power input, considered as a baseline. In a broader context, such a performance enhancement by amalgamating food and energy technologies can make cryogenic energy storage a more viable grid balancing option capable of substantially increasing the share of renewables in the energy supply mix.

Thermal Energy Storage and Cooling Load Response

“…The cold energy generated from the evaporator can be used for industrial refrigerated warehouses, food chilling and freezing systems, cooling towers, and ice makers, among other applications (Fikiin et al 2017;Murrant and Radcliffe 2018;Popov et al 2021) The heat energy generated from air compression process can be stored in thermal oil (storage temperature up to 374°C), some of which can be applied as excess heat in the food industry (such as French fry producers) to accomplish washing, blanching, and frying processes, besides supporting the boiler for air heating in LAES (Popov et al 2021). At low charging pressures, the LAES was found to be able to produce large amounts of excess heat.…”

A Review of Energy-Efficient Technologies and Decarbonating Solutions for Process Heat in the Food Industry

“…Finally, regarding energy consumption, Tassou et al [98] show the impact of the absorption chiller COP and internal system efficiencies on the operation of a (micro)turbine. More generally, Popov et al [99] show that trigeneration systems can be extremely useful for the integration of renewable energy production in polygeneration energy facilities as they provide flexibility increase between heating, cooling, and power fluxes. Co/trigeneration units are interesting when compared with traditional energy systems in separate production modes, used to provide simultaneous heat and electricity [100].…”

An initial evaluation of humidified discharge cycle for liquid air energy storage

“…During the discharge cycle, the air is pumped from a tank at high pressure, and the cold fluid traveling between the evaporator and cold storage heats it to almost room temperature. Because The main schematic of a standalone LAES plant-scenario A, adopted from [12]; of this arrangement, a portion of the cold energy produced during liquid air regasification can be used to cool the liquefaction cycle, thus facilitating this very energy-intensive procedure.…”

“…Popov et al [12] looked into the multifunctional use of a LAES system for tri-generationthe simultaneously production of heat, cold, and electricity in the food manufacturing. This helped to meet a significant portion of the energy requirements for different equipment operations and improved the LAES system's RTE.…”