A Multi-Objective Approach to Robust Control of Air Handling Units for Optimized Energy Performance
This paper presents a robust control framework with meta-heuristic intelligence to optimize the energy performance of air handling units (AHUs) and to maximize the thermal comfort of occupants by judiciously selecting the temperature set points of two controllers (i.e., the <inline-formula><...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Electronics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/12/3/661 |
| _version_ | 1797624778038706176 |
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| author | Mubashir Wani Faizal Hafiz Akshya Swain Abhisek Ukil |
| author_facet | Mubashir Wani Faizal Hafiz Akshya Swain Abhisek Ukil |
| author_sort | Mubashir Wani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper presents a robust control framework with meta-heuristic intelligence to optimize the energy performance of air handling units (AHUs) and to maximize the thermal comfort of occupants by judiciously selecting the temperature set points of two controllers (i.e., the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi>H</mi><mo>∞</mo></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> controller and the boiler controller). The selection of these set points is formulated as a <i>multi-objective optimization problem,</i> where the goal is to balance <i>energy consumption</i> with <i>thermal comfort</i>. Furthermore, the uncertainty weights of the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi>H</mi><mo>∞</mo></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> controller are estimated to minimize oscillations in the <i>outflow air temperature</i> of the AHU plant. The performance of the proposed framework is investigated by considering the real-time weather data of Auckland, New Zealand. The results of the simulation show that the proposed robust control framework could significantly reduce oscillations in the outflow air temperature compared with the conventional case, where the temperature set points are selected empirically. Moreover, annual energy savings of <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>49.13</mn><mo>%</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> are achieved without compromising the thermal comfort. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:47:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d496f8e996834a4e9450f582455d5451 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-9292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:47:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Electronics |
| spelling | doaj.art-d496f8e996834a4e9450f582455d54512023-11-16T16:29:39ZengMDPI AGElectronics2079-92922023-01-0112366110.3390/electronics12030661A Multi-Objective Approach to Robust Control of Air Handling Units for Optimized Energy PerformanceMubashir Wani0Faizal Hafiz1Akshya Swain2Abhisek Ukil3Department of Electrical, Computer & Software Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New ZealandSKEMA Business School, Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia Antipolis, 06108 Nice, FranceDepartment of Electrical, Computer & Software Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New ZealandDepartment of Electrical, Computer & Software Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New ZealandThis paper presents a robust control framework with meta-heuristic intelligence to optimize the energy performance of air handling units (AHUs) and to maximize the thermal comfort of occupants by judiciously selecting the temperature set points of two controllers (i.e., the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi>H</mi><mo>∞</mo></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> controller and the boiler controller). The selection of these set points is formulated as a <i>multi-objective optimization problem,</i> where the goal is to balance <i>energy consumption</i> with <i>thermal comfort</i>. Furthermore, the uncertainty weights of the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi>H</mi><mo>∞</mo></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> controller are estimated to minimize oscillations in the <i>outflow air temperature</i> of the AHU plant. The performance of the proposed framework is investigated by considering the real-time weather data of Auckland, New Zealand. The results of the simulation show that the proposed robust control framework could significantly reduce oscillations in the outflow air temperature compared with the conventional case, where the temperature set points are selected empirically. Moreover, annual energy savings of <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>49.13</mn><mo>%</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> are achieved without compromising the thermal comfort.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/12/3/661air handling unitsenergy consumptionmulti-objective optimizationoccupant comfortset points |
| spellingShingle | Mubashir Wani Faizal Hafiz Akshya Swain Abhisek Ukil A Multi-Objective Approach to Robust Control of Air Handling Units for Optimized Energy Performance Electronics air handling units energy consumption multi-objective optimization occupant comfort set points |
| title | A Multi-Objective Approach to Robust Control of Air Handling Units for Optimized Energy Performance |
| title_full | A Multi-Objective Approach to Robust Control of Air Handling Units for Optimized Energy Performance |
| title_fullStr | A Multi-Objective Approach to Robust Control of Air Handling Units for Optimized Energy Performance |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Multi-Objective Approach to Robust Control of Air Handling Units for Optimized Energy Performance |
| title_short | A Multi-Objective Approach to Robust Control of Air Handling Units for Optimized Energy Performance |
| title_sort | multi objective approach to robust control of air handling units for optimized energy performance |
| topic | air handling units energy consumption multi-objective optimization occupant comfort set points |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/12/3/661 |
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