Comparative study of on-off control and novel high-low control of regenerative indirect evaporative cooler (RIEC)

Yi Chen, Huaxia Yan and Hongxing Yang

Applied Energy, 2018, vol. 225, issue C, 233-243

Abstract: The main characteristic of an indirect evaporative cooler (IEC) is its dependency on ambient air conditions. To ensure stable indoor temperature and provide better thermal comfort for the occupants, proper control strategy is essential. However, very limited studies report the controller used in IEC. Therefore, two control schemes are comparatively studied for regenerative indirect evaporative cooler (RIEC) application, including conventional on-off control and newly proposed high-low (H-L) control. Under on-off control scheme, the fans are either in operation at constant rated speeds or turned off if the indoor temperature is satisfied. While under H-L control scheme, the fans would be switched between high speed and low speed rather than completely turned off. The annual performance of RIEC was simulated under the two control schemes based on the RIEC model and dynamic indoor heat and mass balance model. The results show that the H-L control is superior to on-off control by providing better thermal comfort, better indoor air quality and 11.3% less energy consumption annually. The advantages of H-L control are mainly reflected in transition seasons with smaller indoor temperature variation range, lower switch frequency of the fan speed, smaller predicted mean vote (PMV) variation and longer fresh air guarantee.

Keywords: Indirect evaporative cooler; Comparative study; Controller; Thermal comfort; Energy efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261918307566
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:225:y:2018:i:c:p:233-243

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.05.046

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().