Energy Management And Control System Research Articles

Application of a Hybrid Energy System Combining RES and H2 in an Office Building in Lavrion Greece

In the framework of the H2SusBuild project, a prototype hybrid energy system combining Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and hydrogen (H2), as energy storage material and as a green fuel, has been designed, installed and is currently in operation in Lavrion, Greece. The system comprises thin-film PV panels, wind turbines, a water electrolysis unit, a H2 compressor, a micro-CHP unit (PEM fuel cell) and a H2 burner. The aim of this system is to cover the energy needs of a ≈500 m2 office building and to render it a self-sustained, zero CO2 emission installation. The entire site is operated through an advanced Energy Management and Control System (EMCS), responsible for monitoring magnitudes of interest (for example power, energy, stored H2 volume etc.) and managing the synergistic operation of all components based on a custom developed control algorithm. This paper’s aim is to present the results of system operation and evaluate the performance of key components based on data collected during system operation under real conditions. The results show good efficiencies for all major system components and that the implemented control algorithm achieves the zero CO2 emissions goal.

Design and Development of a New Control System For Improving Energy Efficiency and Demand Response

One of the best strategies for improving energy efficiency in any system is using the energy resources in the facilities properly. Using energy systems only when they are absolutely necessary is one of the best cost-benefit ratio strategies, i.e. the best energy saving strategy is, not using it.The aim of this paper resides on introducing a new Energy Management and Control System (EMCS), developed by the authors, which has been installed at the Universitat Politècnica de València. Alongside the paper, the architecture, the components and the installation cost analysis of the EMCS, as well as management actions implemented in the university and the obtained results are presented.Furthermore, this innovative system has been designed to improve demand response in energy systems by providing consumers with a tool for responding actively to energy demands, and also to provide all the different electrical market agents with a communication and business platform for exchanging information.

Effect Evaluation of Chiller-side Strategies in Demand Response of Chinese Commercial Buildings

Air-conditioning systems in commercial buildings play a vital role in the demand respond (DR) of cities. At present, many researches are focused on zone temperature reset strategies which are used frequently in the commercial buildings of the United States. However, this strategy requires the support of the energy management and control system (EMCS), which is not suitable for most commercial buildings in China. This paper focuses on the DR effect of the chiller-side control strategies in Chinese commercial buildings. Taking an office building as the research object, the coupling thermal inertial model of the building and the air conditioning system was built; based on the coupling model, the demand reduction effects of the typical chiller-side DR control strategies, including intermittent shutdown, chiller quantity reduction and chilled water temperature increase, were simulated; and the characteristics and applicability of these strategies were pointed out.

Methodology of comprehensive building energy performance diagnosis for large commercial buildings at multiple levels

The proposed energy performance diagnosis is intended to identify poor energy performance in a building and pinpoint the causes to provide suggestions for building operators to implement timely repair and maintenance. Many previous studies have probed the complicated problem of building energy performance diagnosis to achieve energy conservation and better performance. However, few of them have been successful because most of these methods rely on a large amount of data from an Energy Management and Control System (EMCS), and these data are unreliable. A detailed description of the methodology based on energy consumption data is presented in this paper along with the development of a prototype integrated toolkit. Weekly, daily and hourly diagnoses are developed at the whole building level, system level and component level, respectively. To validate the feasibility and applicability of the method, a case study on an office building demonstrating the proposed method was completed and was able to detect underperformance operation and energy waste.

Modeling and optimization of HVAC systems using artificial neural network and genetic algorithm

Intelligent energy management and control system (EMCS) in buildings offers an excellent means of reducing energy consumptions in HVAC systems while maintaining or improving indoor environmental conditions. This can be achieved through the use of computational intelligence and optimization. The paper thus proposes and evaluates a model-based optimization process for HVAC systems using evolutionary algorithm for optimization and artificial neural networks for modeling. The process can be integrated into the EMCS to perform several intelligent functions and achieve optimal whole-system performance. The proposed models and the optimization process are tested using data collected from an existing HVAC system. The testing results show that the models can capture very well the system performance, and the optimization process can reduce cooling energy consumption by about 11% when compared to the traditional operating strategies applied.

A framework for simulation-based real-time whole building performance assessment

Most commercial buildings do not perform as well in practice as intended by the design and their performances often deteriorate over time. Reasons include faulty construction, malfunctioning equipment, incorrectly configured control systems and inappropriate operating procedures. One approach to addressing this problems is to compare the predictions of an energy simulation model of the building to the measured performance and analyze significant differences to infer the presence and location of faults. This paper presents a framework that allows a comparison of building actual performance and expected performance in real time. The realization of the framework utilized the EnergyPlus, the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB) and the Energy Management and Control System (EMCS) was developed. An EnergyPlus model that represents expected performance of a building runs in real time and reports the predicted building performance at each time step. The BCVTB is used as the software platform to acquire relevant inputs from the EMCS through a BACnet interface and send them to the EnergyPlus and to a database for archiving. A proof-of-concept demonstration is also presented.

Development of an optimal daylighting controller

A new lighting and daylighting control strategy is modeled and evaluated against conventional lighting and daylighting controls. The new lighting and daylighting control strategy can be incorporated in an energy management and control system (EMCS) to operate and control lighting fixtures in any indoor space. The new daylighting control can also be modeled and integrated in detailed building energy simulation tools. Through a validation analysis, it was found that the new control strategy provides more energy savings than conventional daylighting controls. Moreover, the validation analysis has indicated that existing daylighting control simulation analysis tools could overestimate lighting energy savings associated with daylighting controls. Moreover, it was also found that if calculated solar and illuminance data are used instead of measured solar radiation data, the errors in predicting lighting energy use when daylighting controls are utilized can be significant.

Application of an energy management and control system to assess the potential of different control strategies in HVAC systems

The significant and continuous increment in the global electricity consumption is asking for energy saving strategies. Efficient control for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems (HVAC) is the most cost-effective way to minimize the use of energy in buildings. In this framework, an energy management and control system (EMCS) has been developed to schedule electricity end-uses in the campus of the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV), Spain. This paper presents an evaluation performed by using the EMCS of different control strategies for HVAC split systems. It analyzed the effect of different schedules for a common air-conditioning device and demand response strategies are tested in several situations. The economic saving is calculated taking into account the electricity contract clauses. Finally, a test is made for the control of a group of similar devices in order to reduce the maximum peak power in consumption and to obtain a flexible load shape with the HVAC loads. The studies are then extrapolated to a larger system, the whole University campus, for which energy and economic savings are quantified.

96/05643 Characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a coal fly ash standard reference material

Most commercial buildings do not perform as well in practice as intended by the design and their performances often deteriorate over time. Reasons include faulty construction, malfunctioning equipment, incorrectly configured control systems and inappropriate operating procedures. One approach to addressing this problems is to compare the predictions of an energy simulation model of the building to the measured performance and analyze significant differences to infer the presence and location of faults. This paper presents a framework that allows a comparison of building actual performance and expected performance in real time. The realization of the framework utilized the EnergyPlus, the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB) and the Energy Management and Control System (EMCS) was developed. An EnergyPlus model that represents expected performance of a building runs in real time and reports the predicted building performance at each time step. The BCVTB is used as the software platform to acquire relevant inputs from the EMCS through a BACnet interface and send them to the EnergyPlus and to a database for archiving. A proof-of-concept demonstration is also presented.

Integration of an operations information system into an energy management and control system

The Houston Lighting and Power Company Energy Management and Control System (EMACS) represents a departure from designs historically associated with energy management systems. The EMACS inherently provides a data collection system that is useful to a variety of other users not associated with system dispatching. To meet the needs of those users, the EMACS includes an operations information system (OIS) that can support programs and displays identical to those provided to power system dispatchers. The OIS, however, is intended to be used by personnel in distribution-zone offices, power plant control rooms, and a variety of other departments. The reasons for inclusion of the OIS as well as alternate implementation is discussed. >