Experimental Study of Optimum Chilled Water Distribution Configuration in Air Conditioning Terminal Unit Using RSM Technique

Abstract

The distribution of chilled water flow rate in terminal unit is an important factor used to evaluate the performance of central air conditioning unit. A prototype of A/C unit has been made, which contains three terminal units with a complete set of accessories (3-way valve, 2-way valve, and sensors) to study the effect of the main parameters, such as total water flow rate and chilled water supply temperature with variable valve opening. In this work, 40 tests were carried out. These tests were in two groups, 20 test for 3-way valve case and 20 test for 2-way valve case. These tests were performed at three levels of valve opening, total water flow rate and water supply temperature according to the design matrices established by Design of Experiment (DOE) software 'version 7' with Response surface methodology (RSM) technique. The model was conducted for each case of total heat rate, then checked statistically for adequacy by Analysis of variance (ANOVA), and found good with 95% confidence level. The results showed that the water supply temperature has a significant effect on the total heat rate of two cases. It was found that the optimum solution for maximum total heat rate and minimum flow deviation represented by standard deviation was obtained at 10°C water supply temperature, 5.5 l/min total water flow rate and 70% valve opening. The total heat rate and standard deviation were (890.249 Watt), (0.000513), respectively in three-way valve case and (743.155 Watt), (0.00277), respectively in two-way valve case. Finally, the predicted and experimental results of total heat rate and standard deviation were in agreement with a maximum error of 6.6 % in three-way valve case and 1.4% in two-way valve case.