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Nanyang Technological University
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Abstract: - This paper presents a technique for developing a simple yet practicable model that can accurately
replicate equipment performance of cooling coil units and heat exchangers. The modeling technique is based on
energy balance and heat transfer principles. Only three or two parameters need to be fit in the developed model.
Catalog or commissioning information is used to estimate the best value of the model parameters by least
squares methods. The technique is illustrated for the heat transfer properties of a specific set of chilled water
coiling coils. It is shown that the method is robust and gives a good match to the real performances over the
entire operating range compared with the existing methods. This model is expected to have wide applications in
real-time control and optimization of Heating, Ventilating, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems.
1
using three empirical constants. The three constants During the course of the heat transfer, cooling
are determined by using at least sixteen performance load moves from hot air through metal pipe wall
data. The heat transfer equation derived through the (usually the materials are copper or aluminum) into
heat transfer coefficient-area product is also very chilled water. As shown in Fig. 2, the heat transfer
complicated; make it difficult for engineering process can be classified as three parts: chilled water
applications. convection, metal conduction, and hot air convection.
This paper presents technique for modeling the The cooling load can be calculated by overall heat
performance of coils or heat exchangers. Based on resistant according to heat transfer theory and energy
heat transfer mechanism and energy balance balance.
principle, a model with only three unknown
parameters representing the lumped geometric terms 1 2 3
has been developed. The proposed model gives a
Chilled Air Side
good match to the real performances over the entire Water ma
operating range compared with the existing methods. Side
mw
Ta
2 Theoretical Analysis and Model Tchw
Development
Water Film Air Film
Metal Wall
Fig. 2 heat transfer model of coil
1 Chilled water film: Convection; 2 Metal wall:
Conduction; 3 Air film: Convection
2
geometry, its velocity over the surface as well as the c1m& ae
temperature differences. Q= e
(Ta − Tchw ) , (6)
The water and air in the chilled-water coil is m&
1 + c2 a
moved mechanically by pump and fan. Therefore,
m& chw
both are forced convections. The value of the film
coefficient, h, for forced convection depends on the ca
diameter of the passage D, the fluid velocity v, the where c1 = ca; c2 = .
cchw
mean stream density ρ, and the following properties
The forced convection heat transfer is very
of the mean film temperature: viscosity µ, specific
complicated and influenced by many factors. The
heat cp, and thermal conductivity k.
approach of combining the property factors and
As a result of dimensional analysis, the following
geometric factors into the constants ---- characteristic
equation has been developed [12]:
parameters was used in the equation (6). Compared
hD D ρv
e
cpµ
f with the existing cooling coil model, the equation (6)
= C , (3) is characterized by fewer characteristic parameters
k µ k and simplicity. If e =0.8 (engineering rule of thumb
value) is adopted, the model has only two parameters
The values of the constant C and the exponents e c1 and c2 to be determined. The model is linear in
and f are difficult to determine exactly but the most terms of establishing the model parameters and the
widely accepted engineering values are: C=0.023, linear least-squares method can be used to estimate
e=0.8, and f=0.4. the model. Otherwise, the model has three parameters
For steady stable flow, it is reasonable to assume and a non-linear least-squares method is required to
that both the fluid density ρ, velocity v, and the determine the model.
product ρv (or the quality flow rate m & ) remains a
constant, provided that the flow area is constant.
Moreover, µ, k are approximately be constant if the 3 Model Identification
temperature difference is not too big. Consequently,
For the two-parameter model, the linear least-squares
for the specific chilled-water coil, the equation (3)
method proposed by Yong (1970) and Strejc (1980)
can be turned to:
can be directly used to estimate the model.
e f For three unknown parameter model, the non-
4m& cpµ k
h = C = bm& e , (4) linear least-squares equation can be used as follows:
πµD k D m
f ( c ) = ∑ ri 2 ( c )
C 4 e c pf k 1− f µ f −e i =1
where b = . 2
π e D1+e
Therefore, for chilled-water coil: m
c1m& ae
= ∑ (Ta − Tchw ) − Qi , (7)
1 1 c m& e + ca m& ae i =1 m& a
e
Rh = + = chw chwe , (5)
hchw Achw ha Aa cchw mchw ca mae 1 + c 2
m& chw
where hchw is the film coefficient of chilled water;
ha is the film coefficient of air;
Achw is the chilled-water-side convection heat where f(c) = the sum of the squares of the residuals
transfer area; between evaluated and experiment
Aa is the air-side convection heat transfer area; data;
c = [c1 e] : the parameter vector to be
T
cchw = bchw Achw ; c2
determined;
ca = ba Aa .
ri (c) : the residuals between evaluated and
The heat transfer equation of the cooling coil is
derived from equation (1) and equation (5): experiment data;
m: the number of fitting points;
3
Qi : experiment data (cooling load). towers and flexible partitions up to twelve rooms. All
To find optimal solution for Equation (7), motors (fans, pumps and compressors) are equipped
Levenberg-Marquardt method (Wolfe, M.A., 1978; with VSDs. The system is made very flexible to
Nocedal, J. and S.J. Wright, 1999) can be used. The configure these three units to form different schemes.
method incorporates a constant or variable scalar
number to deal with problems related to singularity
and is an effective algorithm for small residual
problems. The downhill iteration direction can be
obtained by solving the following equation:
T T
( J ( k ) ( c ) J ( k ) ( c ) + λ( k ) I ) P ( k ) ( c ) = − J ( k ) ( c ) r ( k ) ( c )
(8)
where r ( c ) = [r1 ( c ) r2 ( c ) L rm ( c )] ,
T
∑ (Q m ,cacul − Qm ,exp er ) 2
RMS e = m =1
, (12)
N
4 Experiments
The test is conducted on a pilot centralized HVAC where RMSe is root-mean-square error;
system as shown in Picture 1. The system has three N is the number of fitted points;
chillers, three zones with three AHUs, three cooling
4
Qm,cacul is the cooling load predicted by the In this case, Re=3.45%.
model;
Qm,exper is the cooling load acquied by
experiments;
Two parameters:
In the case of two unknown parameters, the
energy balance equation is given as Equation (6b)
with c1 and c2 are fitting parameters, and e=0.8. The
fitting results are c1= 0.6484 and c2=0.5104.
The results of the parameter estimation are shown
in Fig. 3, where the calculated heat transfer rate is
plotted as a function of the experiment heat transfer
rate. The data points used cover the entire operating Fig. 4 Heat transfer rate calculated versus measured
range of the equipment cooling load capacity. for two variable parameters case
Re=7.25 %.
Three Parameters:
The results of three fitted parameters, c1, c2, and e
are c1 = 0.4533, c2=0.7021, e = 0.6074, respectively.
The results of the parameter estimation are shown
in Fig. 5, where the calculated heat transfer rate is
plotted as a function of the experiment heat transfer
rate. Re=2.62%.
Table 1. Two Variable Parameters Model Comparing Fig. 3, 4 and 5, it can be easily seen
that:
1) If the cooling load variation is small, the
Minimum Maximum C1 C2
simplest fitting model of two parameters gives a
Cooling Load Cooling Load
relatively reasonable answer.
(kw) (kw)
2) For wide variation of cooling loads, the two
variable parameters model provides a relatively
0.40 0.75 0.7132 0.5402
simple and accurate solution.
3) The three-parameter model is the best in terms
0.75 1.00 0.7076 0.6499
of minimum square error over entire operation range
1.00 1.20 0.7403 0.9183 but with the price of more complicated calculation.
5
5 Conclusions [12] J.R.Waldram, The theory of thermodynamics, New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
A simple engineering model for cooling coil unit
[13] M.A. Wolfe, Numerical Methods for Unconstrained
based on the energy conservation and heat transfer Optimization. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold
principles was derived. Unlike the existing cooling Company, 1978.
coil model, the method captures the geometric effect
without requiring geometric specifications. The
proposed model using experiment data is simple yet
accurate, and appropriate for application in
engineering practice. Consequently, on-line
determination of the model parameters becomes
simple. The optimization problems of HVAC system
actually are ones that set points are looked for.
Cooling coils connect chilled water loop and air loop
based on heat transfer and energy balance. Therefore,
the cooling coil model is the constraint condition in
the course of the energy minimization of the two
loops. Further work in the area will concentrate on
the test on the simulation and energy optimization of
HVAC system based on the proposed model.
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