A detailed comparison of liquid cooling and air conditioning refrigeration technologies in industrial and commercial energy storage systems, covering many aspects such as working principle, performance, cost, and maintenance:

1. Working principle
Liquid cooling system
How it works: Circulate inside or outside the battery pack through a liquid medium (such as water, glycol solution, or special coolant) to directly absorb the heat generated by the battery, and then dissipate the heat to the outside environment through a heat exchanger.

Composition: including liquid cooling plate, pump, pipeline, heat exchanger, coolant storage tank, etc.
Working mode: The liquid directly contacts the surface of the battery or indirectly contacts through the liquid cooling plate, and the heat is quickly transferred through the liquid flow.

Air conditioning refrigeration system
Principle: Through the air as a cooling medium, the use of air conditioning equipment to cool the air inside the energy storage system, and then through the fan to blow the cold air to the battery pack, indirectly reduce the battery temperature.

Composition: including air conditioning compressor, condenser evaporator, fan, air duct and so on.
Working mode: Air circulates outside the battery pack to indirectly coo the battery through convection and conduction.

2 Cooling efficiency
Liquid cooling system
Pros:
The liquid heat capacity is large, the heat conduction efficiency is high, and the heat can be quickly taken away.
Suitable for high power density, high energy density energy storage systems, such as large-scale industrial and commercial energy storage or fast charge scenarios.
Good cooling uniformity, can effectively avoid local overheating of the battery pack.
Cons:

The system is complex, and the liquid flow needs to be precisely controlled, otherwise it may affect the cooling effect.

Air Conditioning Refrigeration system
Pros:
The system is simple and easy to install and maintain.
Suitable for small and medium-sized energy storage systems or scenarios with low cooling efficiency requirements.
cons:
Small air heat capacity, low cooling efficiency, difficult to cope with high power density scenarios.
Poor temperature uniformity may result in a large temperature difference inside the battery pack.

3 Have temperature uniformity
Liquid cooling system
The liquid flow is uniform, and the temperature of each part of the battery pack can be accurately controlled, and the temperature difference can be controlled within ±2°C
Suitable for temperature-sensitive high-performance batteries (such as ternary lithium batteries).

Air conditioning refrigeration system
The air flow is uneven, and the temperature difference inside the battery pack may reach +5°C or more.
Excessive temperature differences over a long period of time can affect battery life and performance.

4. Energy Consumption
Liquid cooling system
Pros:
High liquid cooling efficiency, low energy consumption in long-term operation.
Suitable for long time high load operation scenario.
Cons:
High initial energy consumption, requiring additional pumps and heat exchangers.

Air Conditioning Refrigeration system

Pros:Low initial energy consumption, fast system startup.
Cons:
High energy consumption in long-term operation, especially in high temperature environments

5.System complexity
Liquid cooling system
Pros:High cooling efficiency for high performance needs.
Cons:
The system is complex and requires liquid circulation lines, pumps heat exchangers and other components.
Installation and maintenance requirements are high, and liquid leakage can affect system safety.

Air Conditioning Refrigeration system
Pros.
The system is simple and easy to install and maintain.
Cons:
Low cooling efficiency, difficult to meet high performance needs.

6. Cost
Liquid cooling system
Initial costs:
Higher, including liquid cooling plates, pumps, pipelines, heat exchangers and other equipment.
Long-term costs:
High operating efficiency, low energy consumption, and low long-term operating costs.

Air conditioning refrigeration system
Initial costs:
Low, air conditioning equipment and air duct costs are relatively low.
Long-term costs:
Low operating efficiency, high energy consumption, and high long term operating costs.
7. Application scenario
Liquid cooling system
Suitable for industrial and commercial energy storage systems with high power density and high energy density.
Suitable for high temperature environment or the scene with strict temperature control requirements.
lt is suitable for the scene that needs to run for a long time with high load.
Air conditioning refrigeration system
Suitable for small to medium-sized energy storage systems or cost-sensitive scenarios.
Suitable for scenarios where the ambient temperature is low or the cooling efficiency is not required.
Suitable for short term or intermittent operation scenarios

Step 8: Maintenance
Liquid cooling system
Pros:

Cons:
Maintenance is complicated and requires regular inspection of liquid circulation systems, pumps and lines.
Fluid leaks can lead to system failure or safety hazards.

Air Conditioning Refrigeration System
Pros:
Maintenance is simple, mainly focusing on the operating status of air conditioning equipment.
Disadvantages:
Long-term operation may lead to aging of air conditioning equipment, requiring regular replacement or maintenance.

9. Safety
Liquid cooling system
Pros:
Uniform cooling, can effectively avoid the battery overheating caused by safety problems.

Cons:
Liquid leaks may cause short circuits or damage to equipment.

Air conditioning refrigeration system
Advantages:
No liquid leakage risk, high safety.
Cons:
Uneven cooling may lead to local overheating, which is a potential safety hazard.

10. Environmental impact
Liquid cooling system
Liquid media may cause pollution to the environment, need to choose environmentally friendly coolant.
Systems are complex, and manufacturing and recycling processes can produce more carbon emissions.
Air conditioning refrigeration system
Air conditioning refrigerants may cause environmental pollution (such as freon).
The system is simple and the manufacturing and recycling processes have low carbon emissions.

Summary

The choice of liquid cooling or air conditioning cooling must be based on the specific application scenario, performance requirements, budget, and environmental conditions.