A study on applicability of the advanced control algorithm for the HVAC system

Abstract

HVAC (Heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems are generally used for controlling the air condition inside of the large scale buildings. A PID controller has been most widely used for HVAC system control in real application, because of its convenience. However, the tuning process of PID controllers which is essential for satisfactory control performance is difficult and time consuming when the controlled objects have nonlinear behaviors. In order to substitute the conventional PID controller, recently advanced control algorithms have been proposed. Moreover, since the energy consumption saving becomes a global issue, an advance control algorithm for HVAC system which comprises a large portion of the energy consumption of a building is needed to reduce energy consumption of a building.In this paper, advanced control algorithm, fuzzy logic control, for HVAC control system is introduced and its applicability is examined. To verify the applicability of the algorithm, HVAC system modeling and numerical simulation of control algorithm are carried out. The HVAC system modeling is composed with the air handling unit and the room model. Three controllers are designed in accordance with the HVAC system model. The performance of the three control algorithms is evaluated by comparing with each other and the pros and cons of each control algorithm are examined.