Abstract
Abstract The objective of this study is to analyze the energy performance of two types of water-cooled air conditioning systems, variable air volume (VAV) and variable refrigerant flow (VRF), in terms of their cooling energy use through building simulation. These systems were designed to operate in an office building located in the city of Florianópolis, Brazil. The analysis involved the application of two building use schedules: a) constant and b) variable. Moreover, an analysis of the coefficient of performance (COP) and partial load ratio (PLR), and the percentage of operating hours for each range of cooling COP and PLR for each air conditioning system, allowed the system cooling efficiency to be assessed and the results to be related to the annual energy consumption. The coefficient of performance of VAV and VRF is 6.7 and 5.0, respectively, but the VRF system presented the lowest energy consumption for both schedules. The difference in the cooling energy consumption values for the VRF and VAV systems, for the variable schedule compared with the constant schedule, is mainly influenced by the partial load performance during the hottest period of the year.
Highlights
Energy efficiency currently represents a theme with major potential for research, mainly because of increased environmental and economic concerns and technological advances
Assessing the energy performance of variable air volume (VAV) and variable refrigerant flow (VRF) air conditioning systems in an office building located in the city of Florianópolis
The energy savings of a VRF system compared to a VAV system was observed by Aynur, Hwang and Assessing the energy performance of VAV and VRF air conditioning systems in an office building located in the city of 263 Florianópolis
Summary
Energy efficiency currently represents a theme with major potential for research, mainly because of increased environmental and economic concerns and technological advances. In this regard, important achievements have been made in the area of buildings, due to their contribution to the total energy consumption, mostly associated with the air conditioning system, which accounts for a significant percentage of this consumption (ZHOU et al, 2008; AYNUR; HWANG; RADERMACHER, 2009). The energy use for space cooling is growing fast in the world and has tripled from 1990 to 2016 (INTERNATIONAL..., 2018) This is putting an enormous strain on electricity systems in many countries and Brazil is one of them. An assessment of commercial offices in Brazil indicated that the air conditioning systems represent from 25% to 75% of the total energy consumption (GHISI; GOSCH; LAMBERTS, 2007)
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