Effective tuning of cascaded control loops for nonlinear HVAC systems

Christopher R. Price, Bryan P. Rasmussen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Residential and commercial buildings are large consumers of energy in the United States with Heating, Ventilation, and Air- Conditioning (HVAC) systems representing a significant portion of total use. These systems control aspects such as humidity and room air temperature to ensure building occupant comfort. Control of HVAC units presents unique challenges due to large nonlinearities heavily dependent on operating conditions. Static linear controllers are unable to counteract such nonlinearities resulting in sustained oscillations known as hunting behavior. Previous research has shown the ability of cascaded architectures to compensate for HVAC nonlinearities and improve overall system performance without the need for detailed dynamic models. To aid the implementation of cascaded loops on real building systems, analysis of the effects of inner loop gain are presented and three outer loop tuning cases are identified. A simulation case study of an air handling unit demonstrates the simplicity of the procedure and compares it with optimally tuned gains.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDiagnostics and Detection; Drilling; Dynamics and Control of Wind Energy Systems; Energy Harvesting; Estimation and Identification; Flexible and Smart Structure Control; Fuels Cells/Energy Storage; Human Robot Interaction; HVAC Building Energy Management; Industrial Applications; Intelligent Transportation Systems; Manufacturing; Mechatronics; Modelling and Validation; Motion and Vibration Control Applications
PublisherAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers
ISBN (Electronic)9780791857250
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes
EventASME 2015 Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, DSCC 2015 - Columbus, United States
Duration: Oct 28 2015Oct 30 2015

Publication series

NameASME 2015 Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, DSCC 2015
Volume2

Conference

ConferenceASME 2015 Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, DSCC 2015
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityColumbus
Period10/28/1510/30/15

Funding

Part of this work was performed under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Grant Number: 60NANB12D209. The views expressed are those of the authors and are not representative of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

FundersFunder number
National Institute of Standards and Technology60NANB12D209
U.S. Department of Commerce

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