Improving Water and Energy Efficiency in California’s Dairy Industry
It is critical to keep dairy cows cool during California’s hot summers. Standard cooling methods, however, such as fans and spraying cows with water, require substantial amounts of electricity and water. With the goal of reducing electricity and water consumption, WCEC and the UC Davis Department of Animal Science tested three novel approaches for cooling dairy cows in California.
Indirect-Direct Evaporative Cooling Systems for Space Conditioning
The Seeley Climate Wizard (CW) integrates indirect-direct evaporative cooling to reduce conditioning energy use in residential and commercial buildings. The residential system (CW3) relies strictly on evaporative processes to provide cooling while the commercial system (CW Hybrid) integrates a heat pump to provide both space heating and cooling.
Past Projects
Dispatchable Pre-Coolers
Condenser-air pre-coolers evaporate water into the airstream used for heat rejection from an air conditioning system. The evaporative process reduces the air temperature and allows the air conditioner to operate more efficiently at higher outdoor air temperatures. WCEC’s previous work has illustrated the energy and demand savings potential of condenser-air evaporative pre-coolers in the hot-dry California climate.
Water Management for Evaporative Condensing Units
Water management of evaporative cooling units is essential and particular care must be taken to reduce the effects of hard water on the system, often resulting in the use of additional water (or a bleed-off) to reduce mineral precipitation and maintain longevity.
