An Idea for Colorado
Two days ago we had a tour of a large Toyota Assembly plant. Watching how they put the cars together and watching the robot carts delivering parts was fascinating. However the focus of our visit was to see what they were doing to save energy and resources. They have a lot of ongoing programs like rainwater collection for hand washing, bio-diesel created from waste from the company cafeteria, and reuse of packing materials.
The one program that they were very proud of and that we thought could have application in our area was their snow storage. During the winter months they collect all the snow that they have to remove from the plant roads and store it in a big pile which is protected with and insulating blanket. This snow is then used to supplement the the cooling of their buildings.
We were not successful in getting any of the sizing criteria that they used or any operating data except that that they had about 3,000 cubic meters stored at a density of about 0.5 kg/L. Also they had a process diagram that showed a heat exchanger connected to their chilled water system. The also used the melt water in their cooling tower.
It seems like a similar system could be feasible in places like DIA where we have to remove a lot of snow in the winter and then turn around and cool the terminals during the summer. Also there is a lot of open space at the airport for storage of he snow.
Other places where this concept could be evaluated are shopping centers, downtown office buildings and other buildings that have an associated large area that has to be cleared of snow.
