Multiple-model fault tolerant control of terminal unites of HVAC Systems

In this work, a fault-tolerant control scheme is applied to a air handling unit of a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system. Using the multiple-model approach it is possible to identify faults and to control the system under faulty and normal conditions in an effective way. Using well known techniques to model and control the process, this work focuses on the importance of the cost function in the fault detection and its influence on the reconfigurable controller. Experimental results show how the control of the terminal unit is affected in the presence a fault, and how the recuperation and reconfiguration of the control action is able to deal with the effects of faults.

Characterising the energy performance of centralised HVAC&R systems in the UK

Heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems account for more than 60% of the energy consumption of buildings in the UK. However, the effect of the variety of HVAC&R systems on building energy performance has not yet been taken into account within the existing building energy benchmarks. In addition, the existing building energy benchmarks are not able to assist decision-makers with HVAC&R system selection. This study attempts to overcome these two deficiencies through the performance characterisation of 36 HVAC&R systems based on the simultaneous dynamic simulation of a building and a variety of HVAC&R systems using TRNSYS software. To characterise the performance of HVAC&R systems, four criteria are considered; energy consumption, CO2 emissions, thermal comfort and indoor air quality. The results of the simulations show that, all the studied systems are able to provide an acceptable level of indoor air quality and thermal comfort. However, the energy consumption and amount of CO2 emissions vary. One of the significant outcomes of this study reveals that combined heating, cooling and power systems (CCHP) have the highest energy consumption with the lowest energy related CO2 emissions among the studied HVAC&R systems.

Feasibility Study of Solar Driven Underground Cooling System

In the United States the peak electrical use occurs during the summer. In addition, the building sector consumes a major portion of the annual electrical energy consumption. One of the main energy consuming components in the building sector is the Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems. This research studies the feasibility of implementing a solar driven underground cooling system that could contribute to reducing building cooling loads. The developed system consists of an Earth-to-Air Heat Exchanger (EAHE) coupled with a solar chimney that provides a natural cool draft to the test facility building at the Solar Energy Research Test Facility in Omaha, Nebraska. Two sets of tests have been conducted: a natural passively driven airflow test and a forced fan assisted airflow test. The resulting data of the tests has been analyzed to study the thermal performance of the implemented system. Results show that: The underground soil proved to be a good heat sink at a depth of 9.5ft, where its temperature fluctuates yearly in the range of (46.5°F-58.2°F). Furthermore, the coupled system during the natural airflow modes can provide good thermal comfort conditions that comply with ASHRAE standard 55-2004. It provided 0.63 tons of cooling, which almost covered the building design cooling load (0.8 tons, extreme condition). On the other hand, although the coupled system during the forced airflow mode could not comply with ASHRAE standard 55-2004, it provided 1.27 tons of cooling which is even more than the building load requirements. Moreover, the underground soil experienced thermal saturation during the forced airflow mode due to the oversized fan, which extracted much more airflow than the EAHE ability for heat dissipation and the underground soil for heat absorption. In conclusion, the coupled system proved to be a feasible cooling system, which could be further improved with a few design recommendations.

Integrated solar energy and absorption cooling model for HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) applications in buildings

The demands in production and associate costs at power generation through non renewable resources are increasing at an alarming rate. Solar energy is one of the renewable resource that has the potential to minimize this increase. Utilization of solar energy have been concentrated mainly on heating application. The use of solar energy in cooling systems in building would benefit greatly achieving the goal of non-renewable energy minimization. The approaches of solar energy heating system research done by initiation such as University of Wisconsin at Madison and building heat flow model research conducted by Oklahoma State University can be used to develop and optimize solar cooling building system. The research uses two approaches to develop a Graphical User Interface (GUI) software for an integrated solar absorption cooling building model, which is capable of simulating and optimizing the absorption cooling system using solar energy as the main energy source to drive the cycle. The software was then put through a number of litmus test to verify its integrity. The litmus test was conducted on various building cooling system data sets of similar applications around the world. The output obtained from the software developed were identical with established experimental results from the data sets used. Software developed by other research are catered for advanced users. The software developed by this research is not only reliable in its code integrity but also through its integrated approach which is catered for new entry users. Hence, this dissertation aims to correctly model a complete building with the absorption cooling system in appropriate climate as a cost effective alternative to conventional vapor compression system.

Definición e implantación de herramientas avanzadas 3D en el diseño integrado y eficiente de sistemas HVAC en buques, desde el proyecto conceptual hasta la producción

Uno de los aspectos más complicados del diseño de sistemas HVAC en buques es la correcta evaluación de las necesidades de aire fresco y el correcto dimensionado de los conductos que suministran dicho aire y evacuan el calor generado a bordo. Contrariamente a lo que sucede en los sistemas de tuberías, las características particulares del caudal de aire hacen que el dimensionado de los conductos sea muy sensible al trazado y geometría de los mismos, por lo que para obtener un buen diseño es necesaria una relación muy estrecha y una integración bidireccional entre los cálculos y el trazado de los propios conductos en el buque. Asumida la utilización de sistemas CAD/CAM para las tareas de diseño, históricamente, aquellos que permitían modelar conductos HVAC no incluían en su alcance de suministro los aspectos de cálculo, y como consecuencia de ello, el trazado de conductos se reducía a la inclusión en el modelo 3D de circuitos y sistemas previamente calculados y dimensionados, Así, servían únicamente para calcular interferencias con otros elementos del modelo 3D y para obtener posteriormente planos de fabricación y montaje. Esto, que por sí no es poco, dejaba el diseño de sistemas HVAC pendiente de una importante interacción manual y de habituales retrabajos, ya que cualquier modificación en el trazado de los conductos, consecuencia de otras necesidades del diseño, obligaba a los diseñadores a recalcular y redimensionar los conductos en un entorno diferente al del propio sistema CAD/CAM, y volver a realizar el modelado de los mismos, reduciendo significativamente las ventajas de la utilización de un modelo 3D. Partiendo de esta situación real, y con objeto de solucionar el problema que para el diseño y la propia producción del buque se creaba, se concibió una herramienta que permitiera la definición en el modelo 3D de diagramas de ventilación, el cálculo de pérdidas de presión, el dimensionado automático de los conductos, y que toda esta información pudiera estar disponible y reutilizarse en las etapas posteriores del diseño. Con ello, los diseñadores podrían realizar su trabajo en un entorno único, totalmente integrado con el resto de disciplinas. El objeto de esta Tesis Doctoral es analizar en detalle el problema y las ineficiencias actuales del diseño de HVAC, describir la innovadora herramienta concebida para paliar estas ineficiencias, detallando las bases sobre la que se construye, y destacar las ventajas que se obtienen de su uso. La herramienta en cuestión fue concebida como una funcionalidad adicional del sistema CAD/CAM naval FORAN, referente tecnológico en el mundo del diseño y la construcción navales, y como consecuencia de ellos se llevó a cabo el desarrollo correspondiente. En la actualidad, el sistema FORAN incluye en su alcance de suministro una primera versión de esta herramienta, cuya utilidad queda avalada por el uso que de la misma hacen astilleros y oficinas técnicas en todo el mundo. Esta Tesis Doctoral es eminentemente práctica. No es un estudio teórico de dudosa aplicación, sino que tiene por objeto aportar una solución eficiente a un problema real que muchos astilleros y oficinas técnicas, incluidas los más avanzados, padecen hoy en día. No tiene otra motivación que servir de ayuda para lograr diseñar y construir mejores barcos, en un plazo más corto, y a un coste menor. Nada más, pero nada menos. ABSTRACT One of the most complicated aspects of the design of HVAC systems in shipbuilding is the correct evaluation of the fresh air needs, the correct balancing of the ducts that supply this air and evacuate the existing heat on board. In opposition to piping systems, due to the particular characteristics of the air flow, the balancing of the ducts is very sensitive to the routing and the aspect of the ducts, so the correct design requires a close interconnectivity between calculations and routing. Already assumed the use of CAD/CAM systems for design tasks, historically, those CAD/CAM systems capable of modelling HVAC ducts did not cover calculation aspects, with the result that the routing of HVAC ducts was reduced solely to the input of previously balanced circuits into the 3D Product Model for the purpose of interference checking and generation of fabrication and assembly drawings. This situation, not negligible at all, put the design of HVAC ducts very dependent on manual operations and common rework task, as any modification in the routing of the HVAC ducts, derived from design needs, obliged engineers to re-balance the ducts and eventually to re-size them independently of the CAD-CAM environment, thus annulling the advantages of the 3D Product Model. With this situation in mind, and with the objective of filling the gap created in the design and construction of the ship, it was conceived a tool allowing the definition, within the 3D Product model, of HVAC diagrams, the calculation of pressure drops, the automatic dimensioning of ducts. With this, engineers could make the complete HVAC design in a single working environment, fully integrated with the rest of the disciplines. The present Ph. D. thesis analyses in deep the existing problem and the current lack of efficiency in HVAC design, describes the innovative tool conceived to minimize it, details the basis on which the tool is built, and highlights the advantages of its use. This tool was conceived as an additional functionality of the marine CAD/CAM system FORAN, a technological reference in the shipdesign and shipbuilding industry. As a consequence, it was developed, and nowadays FORAN System includes in its scope of supply a first version of the tool, with its usefulness endorsed by the fact that it is used by shipyards and shipdesign offices all over the world. This Ph. D. thesis is on top everything, of practical nature. It is not a theoretical study with doubtful application. On the contrary, its objective is to provide with an efficient solution for solving a real problem that many shipyards and shipdesign offices, including those more advanced, suffer nowadays. It has no other motivation that to help in the process of designing and building better and cheaper ships, within a shorter deliver time. Nothing more, but nothing less.

Evaluation Of An Extended Duct Air Delivery System For Spaces Conditioned By Rooftop Units

Traditional air delivery to high-bay buildings involves ceiling level supply and return ducts that create an almost-uniform temperature in the space. Problems with this system include potential recirculation of supply air and higher-than-necessary return air temperatures. A new air delivery strategy was investigated that involves changing the height of conventional supply and return ducts to have control over thermal stratification in the space. A full-scale experiment using ten vertical temperature profiles was conducted in a manufacturing facility over one year. The experimental data was utilized to validated CFD and EnergyPlus models. CFD simulation results show that supplying air directly to the occupied zone increases stratification while holding thermal comfort constant during the cooling operation. The building energy simulation identified how return air temperature offset, set point offset, and stratification influence the building’s energy consumption. A utility bill analysis for cooling shows 28.8% HVAC energy savings while the building energy simulation shows 19.3 – 37.4% HVAC energy savings.

Techno-economic analysis of three HVAC retrofitting options

Accounting for around 40% of the total final energy consumption, the building stock is an important area of focus on the way to reaching the energy goals set for the European Union. The relatively small share of new buildings makes renovation of existing buildings possibly the most feasible way of improving the overall energy performance of the building stock. This of course involves improvements on the climate shell, for example by additional insulation or change of window glazing, but also installation of new heating systems, to increase the energy efficiency and to fit the new heat load after renovation. In the choice of systems for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), it is important to consider their performance for space heating as well as for domestic hot water (DHW), especially for a renovated house where the DHW share of the total heating consumption is larger. The present study treats the retrofitting of a generic single family house, which was defined as a reference building in a European energy renovation project. Three HVAC retrofitting options were compared from a techno-economic point of view: A) Air-to-water heat pump (AWHP) and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR), B) Exhaust air heat pump (EAHP) with low-temperature ventilation radiators, and C) Gas boiler and ventilation with MVHR. The systems were simulated for houses with two levels of heating demand and four different locations: Stockholm, Gdansk, Stuttgart and London. They were then evaluated by means of life cycle cost (LCC) and primary energy consumption. Dynamic simulations were done in TRNSYS 17. In most cases, system C with gas boiler and MVHR was found to be the cheapest retrofitting option from a life cycle perspective. The advantage over the heat pump systems was particularly clear for a house in Germany, due to the large discrepancy between national prices of natural gas and electricity. In Sweden, where the price difference is much smaller, the heat pump systems had almost as low or even lower life cycle costs than the gas boiler system. Considering the limited availability of natural gas in Sweden, systems A and B would be the better options. From a primary energy point of view system A was the best option throughout, while system B often had the highest primary energy consumption. The limited capacity of the EAHP forced it to use more auxiliary heating than the other systems did, which lowered its COP. The AWHP managed the DHW load better due to a higher capacity, but had a lower COP than the EAHP in space heating mode. Systems A and C were notably favoured by the air heat recovery, which significantly reduced the heating demand. It was also seen that the DHW share of the total heating consumption was, as expected, larger for the house with the lower space heating demand. This confirms the supposition that it is important to include DHW in the study of HVAC systems for retrofitting.

Energy performance comparison of three innovative HVAC systems for renovation through dynamic simulation

In this paper, dynamic simulation was used to compare the energy performance of three innovativeHVAC systems: (A) mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) and micro heat pump, (B) exhaustventilation with exhaust air-to-water heat pump and ventilation radiators, and (C) exhaust ventilationwith air-to-water heat pump and ventilation radiators, to a reference system: (D) exhaust ventilation withair-to-water heat pump and panel radiators. System A was modelled in MATLAB Simulink and systems Band C in TRNSYS 17. The reference system was modelled in both tools, for comparison between the two.All systems were tested with a model of a renovated single family house for varying U-values, climates,infiltration and ventilation rates.It was found that A was the best system for lower heating demand, while for higher heating demandsystem B would be preferable. System C was better than the reference system, but not as good as A or B.The difference in energy consumption of the reference system was less than 2 kWh/(m2a) betweenSimulink and TRNSYS. This could be explained by the different ways of handling solar gains, but also bythe fact that the TRNSYS systems supplied slightly more than the ideal heating demand.