Design and experimental performance of practical model predictive control (MPC) for multi-zone variable refrigerant system (VRF) for small and medium commercial buildings.

Number: 3511

Author(s) : HAM S. W., KIM D., PAUL L.

Summary

With the urgent call for carbon reduction, the realization of grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) that provide load flexibility (e.g., load shifting, peak demand reduction, etc.) has become a major research area. Model predictive control (MPC), which optimizes the operations of building heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and distributed energy resources (DERs) based on grid conditions, is one of the mature and viable solutions for GEBs of small and medium commercial buildings (SMCBs), where the advanced building management system and sensor infrastructure are often not available. Despite the recent success of practical MPC solutions for SMCBs with simple HVAC systems such as rooftop units (RTUs), the design of MPC for a complex system such as a variable refrigerant (VRF) system is still costly. In this paper, we present a practical MPC solution for a multi-zone VRF system for small and medium commercial buildings. Utilizing heating operational data from a multi-zone laboratory office building, we propose a VRF model for heating operation and MPC structures based solely on the available data. The developed MPC solution was applied to the laboratory office building for a heating week with a dynamic pricing signal. The results indicate that the proposed MPC can achieve reductions of approximately 32% in peak demand and 3% in energy costs by shifting 24% of peak-time load to non-peak time hours, respectively.

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Details

  • Original title: Design and experimental performance of practical model predictive control (MPC) for multi-zone variable refrigerant system (VRF) for small and medium commercial buildings.
  • Record ID : 30032924
  • Languages: English
  • Subject: Regulation, Technology
  • Source: 2024 Purdue Conferences. 8th International High Performance Buildings Conference at Purdue.
  • Publication date: 2024/07/15

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