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Building HVAC flexibility estimation and control for grid ancillary services.

Number: pap. 3474

Author(s) : ADETOLA V., LIN F., YUAN S., et al.

Summary

This paper presents data-driven methods for estimating the demand flexibility of commercial buildings’ Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system and the control architecture to enable the execution of committed grid reserves while ensuring quality of service. In particular, we describe the methodology for 1) qualifying the HVAC system to provide three power grid ancillary services (frequency response, frequency regulation and ramping services) based on defined metrics for response and ramp time, 2) quantifying the magnitude and frequency bandwidth of the service it can provide, and 3) controlling the building thermal demand within the specified flexibility limits to provide frequency regulation service. UTRC’s high performance building test-bed, a medium-sized commercial office building is used for the experimental study. The building testing is focused on the air-side electricity consumer - the supply air fans in the air handling unit (AHU). The resulting data verifies that air-side HVAC loads (ventilation fans) are sufficiently responsive to meet the requirements of frequency regulation (<5 seconds response time) and ramping services (<10 minutes response time) with ON/OFF control command, direct fan speed control, and indirect control through building duct static pressure set-point adjustment. The proposed frequency regulation control changes the command to the AHU fan motor speed (and hence power consumption) by indirectly modifying the duct static pressure set-point to track a given regulation reference signal. This architecture is selected for equipment reliability and the ease of implementation. The experimental frequency response data from static pressure set-point to AHU fan power consumption shows that each ventilation fan can provide up to 1.7 kW (18.9% of its rated power) for frequency regulation during operational hours without impacting the indoor climate or baseline controls, and the acceptable frequency range is identified as 0.0055 - 0.022 Hz based on the grid response metrics and controls requirement. The performance of the frequency regulation controller is verified through a closed-loop active response experiment.

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Pages: 10

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Details

  • Original title: Building HVAC flexibility estimation and control for grid ancillary services.
  • Record ID : 30024890
  • Languages: English
  • Subject: Environment
  • Source: 2018 Purdue Conferences. 5th International High Performance Buildings Conference at Purdue.
  • Publication date: 2018/07/09

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