Feedback linearization based control of a variable air volume air conditioning system for cooling applications.

Area of Science:

• Engineering
• Control Systems
• Building Energy Management

Background:

• Variable Air Volume Air Conditioning (VAVAC) systems aim to reduce building energy consumption while maintaining thermal comfort.
• Traditional control methods may not fully optimize energy usage or maintain precise temperature control.
• VAVAC systems regulate space temperature by balancing cooling loads with supplied air.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate a nonlinear control system for VAVAC plants.
• To improve energy efficiency and occupant comfort in VAVAC systems.
• To demonstrate the effectiveness of feedback linearization for VAVAC control.

Main Methods:

• Derivation of the VAVAC plant's dynamic model as a MIMO bilinear system.
• Application of feedback linearization for decoupling and linearizing the nonlinear model.
• Simulation of a laboratory-scale VAVAC plant.

Main Results:

• The feedback linearizing controller demonstrated superior performance compared to a conventional PI controller.
• The proposed methodology effectively maintains occupant comfort and optimizes energy performance.
• Simulation results validated the potential of the feedback linearization approach.

Conclusions:

• Feedback linearization offers a superior control strategy for VAVAC systems.
• The developed nonlinear control system enhances both energy efficiency and thermal comfort.
• This approach presents a significant advancement in VAVAC system control.