Cold accumulators using slurry ice in air-conditioning systems

This article reviews cold storage technologies that use slurry ice in air-conditioning systems. The authors try to focus attention on an environmentally friendly technology that improves the energy efficiency of air-conditioning systems.

This article discusses systems with coolants, highlights their main types, and lists the main advantages and disadvantages of using two-phase coolants. Because the use of water as a coolant below 0 °C requires additional impurities, the main additives and depressants used in this technology for obtaining ice suspensions, as well as their effect on the properties of an aqueous solution of slurry ice, were considered. The authors studied and described the main methods for generating slurry ice, such as fluid subcooling, direct contact with an immiscible refrigerant, freezing on surfaces, obtaining an ice suspension in a fluidized bed, and «vacuum» ice. For each method, the principles of obtaining slurry ice and the main advantages and disadvantages are described. To more completely understand the design aspects of systems using slurry ice, the authors reviewed methods for storing and distributing an ice suspension in a system. Their scopes of application and the main differences between the use of centralized and decentralized slurry ice storage systems are described.