Staggered BESS Cooling Blocks for Demand Charge Avoidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) incur significant demand charges due to the operation of cooling systems during peak demand hours, increasing operational costs substantially.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that staggers the operation of cooling systems for BESS containers into non-overlapping blocks, optimizing cooling utilization to avoid demand charges by ensuring each block's cooling load remains below the demand limit and adjusting operation times based on real-time monitoring and temperature thresholds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the cooling system operates continuously during demand charge hours, then the internal temperature of BESS is maintained within specified thresholds, but demand charges increase substantially
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is divided into multiple independent cooling units, each capable of operating separately. This segmentation allows the system to distribute the cooling load across different time intervals, ensuring that the aggregate demand charge threshold is not exceeded while still maintaining temperature requirements for all BESS containers.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling units operate in a staggered periodic manner rather than continuously. Each cooling unit is activated for a specific duration and then deactivated, with subsequent units following a timed sequence. This periodic operation pattern reduces peak demand while ensuring continuous temperature management across the facility.
2Use of energy by stationary object
If the cooling system is turned OFF during demand charge hours, then demand charges are reduced, but internal temperature of BESS may exceed specified thresholds
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-cools BESS containers before demand charge periods begin, storing thermal energy in the form of cold mass within the containers and cooling infrastructure. This preliminary cooling action creates a thermal buffer that allows the system to reduce or pause cooling operations during high-demand periods without immediately compromising temperature requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system continuously monitors internal temperatures of BESS containers and adjusts the operation of cooling units in real-time. This feedback mechanism ensures that cooling is activated or intensified when temperature thresholds are approached, while allowing cooling reduction when temperatures are well within acceptable ranges, thereby maintaining reliability while optimizing energy usage.
3Reliability
If multiple cooling units operate simultaneously, then temperature control is more reliable, but the aggregate cooling load exceeds demand charge thresholds
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling infrastructure is divided into multiple independently controllable units or zones, each serving specific BESS containers. This segmentation enables the system to activate only the necessary number of cooling units at any given time, distributing the aggregate load across different time intervals while maintaining temperature control reliability through coordinated operation of the segmented units.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the number and operation intensity of active cooling units based on real-time conditions including temperature readings, external ambient conditions, and predicted demand charge periods. This dynamic control allows the system to optimize the balance between reliability and energy consumption, activating additional units only when necessary rather than operating all units simultaneously at constant capacity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Reduces or eliminates demand charges by ensuring that the cooling load does not exceed the demand charge threshold, thereby optimizing energy consumption and maintaining internal BESS temperatures within specified limits.
Implementation Method 1
BESS requires internal temperature to be maintained between specific thresholds
Implementation Method 2
cooling system for at least one of the plurality of BESSs is turned ON
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a system and method for smart control of cooling systems to optimize cooling utilization such that demand charges can be avoided. The present invention groups battery energy storage systems (BESS) containers into multiple individual blocks. The cooling units of individual blocks are staggered to turn ON/OFF with a time delay such that: i) cooling load of each block is below the demand load; ii) if the cooling load of a given block exceeds the demand load (ex: 500 kilowatts), the turn-on time during the demand charge hour is not to exceed the demand charge time limit (example: 15 minutes); iii) No two blocks are operating at the same time; iv) the staggered time limits are to be determined based on real-time monitoring of BESS; and BESS containers' internal temperatures such that they do not exceed a set temperature.