Occupancy Sensor-Enabled Demand Control Ventilation

36 Pages Posted: 14 Jan 2024

See all articles by Gang Wang

Gang Wang

University of Miami

Nurayn Tiamiyu

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Junke Wang

University of Oklahoma - School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

Zufen Wang

Tennessee State University

Li Song

University of Oklahoma - School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Nowadays, the outdoor air (OA) flow requirement for demand control ventilation (DCV) can be accurately determined using occupancy sensors in commercial buildings. However, due to the lack of precise OA flow measurements in air handling units (AHUs), the OA is often controlled by a fixed-damper position method, which cannot maintain the required OA flow rate. The objective of this study is to develop and evaluate occupancy sensor-enabled DCV OA control using a virtual OA flow meter in AHUs. Firstly, a virtual OA flow meter is derived from a virtual supply fan flow meter by applying the correlation between the OA ratio and damper position under appropriate building pressure control. Subsequently, experiments are conducted to calibrate the virtual OA flow meter in an AHU with the design OA flow rate of 120 L/s. Finally, occupancy sensor-enabled DCV OA control is implemented by using the calibrated virtual OA flow meter. The evaluation results show that the proposed DCV OA control can match the actual OA flow rate well with the required OA flow rate. The root mean squared error (RMSE) falls within the range of 16 to 20 L/s, demonstrating an improvement over the fixed-damper position control, which yields an RMSE of 36 L/s.

Keywords: Demand control ventilation (DCV), Occupancy sensors, Outdoor air control, Virtual flow meters, Air handling units (AHUs)

Suggested Citation

Wang, Gang and Tiamiyu, Nurayn and Wang, Junke and Wang, Zufen and Song, Li, Occupancy Sensor-Enabled Demand Control Ventilation. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4694278 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4694278

Gang Wang (Contact Author)

University of Miami ( email )

Nurayn Tiamiyu

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Junke Wang

University of Oklahoma - School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering ( email )

Zufen Wang

Tennessee State University ( email )

3500 John A Merritt Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37209
United States

Li Song

University of Oklahoma - School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering ( email )

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