Energy analysis and heat loads calculation approach: application to agrifood industrial premises.

Nowadays, the agrifood industry is increasingly concerned about energy bills. Thus, there is an increasing trend on the implementation of measures and procedures that ensure and promote energy efficiency. Computational modelling is a powerful tool for project and design of engineering systems, allowing to anticipate and/or correct problems that may lead to inefficiencies. The purpose of this paper is to assess the energy performance of refrigerated premises of a real company modelled in EnergyPlus. The data that characterize the company and the production process were collected previously through an energy audit. Results of the comparison between real case and simulation show that the cooling system represents 56.4% and 47.8% of the total electrical energy consumption, respectively. Also, it is found that heat transmission loads trough cold rooms envelope and air infiltration are those that most affect the energy performance, accounting for almost 80% of the refrigeration needs of the company.