Experimental Calibration and Validation of a Simulation Model for Fault Detection of HVAC Systems and Application to a Case Study

Antonio Rosato, Francesco Guarino, Vincenzo Filomena, Sergio Sibilio and Luigi Maffei
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Antonio Rosato: Department of Architecture and Industrial Design, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 81031 Aversa, Italy
Francesco Guarino: Department of Architecture and Industrial Design, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 81031 Aversa, Italy
Vincenzo Filomena: C.I.R.A. (Italian Aerospace Research Centre), 81043 Capua, Italy
Sergio Sibilio: Department of Architecture and Industrial Design, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 81031 Aversa, Italy
Luigi Maffei: Department of Architecture and Industrial Design, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 81031 Aversa, Italy

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-27

Abstract: Automated fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) could provide a cornerstone for predictive maintenance of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems based on the development of simulation models able to accurately compare the faulty operation with respect to nominal conditions. In this paper, several experiments have been carried out for assessing the performance of the HVAC unit (nominal cooling/heating capacity of 5.0/5.0 kW) controlling the thermo-hygrometric comfort inside a 4.0 × 4.0 × 3.6 m test room at the Department of Architecture and Industrial Design of the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli (Italy); then, a detailed dynamic simulation model has been developed and validated by contrasting the predictions with the measured data. The model has also been used to analyze the dynamic variations of key parameters associated to faulty operation in comparison to normal performance, in order to identify simplified rules for detection of any non-optimal states of HVAC devices. Finally, the simulated performance of the HVAC unit has also been investigated while serving a typical Italian building office with and without the occurrence of typical faults with the main aim of assessing the impact of the faults on thermo-hygrometric comfort conditions as well as electric energy consumption.

Keywords: HVAC; air-handling units; model calibration and validation; fault detection and diagnosis; predictive maintenance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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