Seawater air-conditioning and ammonia district cooling: A solution for warm coastal regions

The world switching to more sustainable energy sources to curb CO2 emissions and haul climate change. One sector expected to see rapid growth in energy consumption is the cooling sector due to population growth and climate change. A sustainable solution for cooling needs in coastal areas that are not often addressed is seawater air-conditioning, which pumps cold water from the deep sea to the shore and uses it for cooling. The main challenge for this technology is to distribute the cooling service. This paper proposes using pressurized ammonia to distribute the cooling services provided by SWAC plants. Results show that ammonia district cooling allows SWAC to significantly increase its load demand and lower cooling costs. Ammonia district cooling could be the missing piece for implementing seawater air-conditioning due to its potential to increase the cooling load of district cooling systems