IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i21p5289-d1505698.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Development of Operating Strategies for Return Fan in HVAC System Considering Differential Pressure

Author

Listed:
  • Hye-In Lee

    (ENERGYX, Seoul 06128, Republic of Korea)

  • Hyo-Jun Kim

    (R&D Center, BETECH, Daegu 41228, Republic of Korea)

  • Jin-Hyun Lee

    (Architecture Research Institute, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, Republic of Korea)

  • Young-Hum Cho

    (School of Architecture, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, Republic of Korea)

Abstract

The pressure difference in buildings causes indoor and outdoor airflow, significantly impacting the indoor thermal environment and building energy consumption due to the introduction of outdoor air. The pressure difference in buildings is highly variable, influenced by outdoor wind speed, indoor–outdoor temperature differences, and heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system operation, making it difficult to consider this factor during general HVAC system operation, potentially leading to an imbalance in indoor and outdoor pressure differences. Therefore, this study proposes an appropriate operation strategy for HVAC system return fans considering indoor–outdoor pressure differences. The proposed strategy involves adjusting the return fan airflow to maintain a constant indoor airflow balance, thereby controlling the indoor–outdoor pressure difference, satisfying the indoor thermal environment, and reducing HVAC system energy consumption. To evaluate the proposed strategy, dynamic simulations using TRNSYS and TRNFLOW were utilized, targeting one floor of an office building equipped with a variable air volume (VAV) system. The evaluation results showed that the maximum pressure difference decreased from −142 Pa to −18 Pa compared to the existing strategy, and the total energy consumption of the HVAC system was reduced by 29%, highlighting the importance of considering pressure differences during HVAC system operation.

Suggested Citation

  • Hye-In Lee & Hyo-Jun Kim & Jin-Hyun Lee & Young-Hum Cho, 2024. "Development of Operating Strategies for Return Fan in HVAC System Considering Differential Pressure," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-15, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:21:p:5289-:d:1505698
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/21/5289/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/21/5289/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Okochi, Godwine Swere & Yao, Ye, 2016. "A review of recent developments and technological advancements of variable-air-volume (VAV) air-conditioning systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 784-817.
    2. Gholipour, Hassan F. & Arjomandi, Amir & Yam, Sharon, 2022. "Green property finance and CO2 emissions in the building industry," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Huang, Haiping & Huang, Baolian & Sun, Aijun, 2023. "How do mineral resources influence eco-sustainability in China? Dynamic role of renewable energy and green finance," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    2. Behzad Rismanchi & Juan Mahecha Zambrano & Bryan Saxby & Ross Tuck & Mark Stenning, 2019. "Control Strategies in Multi-Zone Air Conditioning Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-14, January.
    3. Jingrong Tan & Lin Chen, 2022. "Spatial Effect of Digital Economy on Particulate Matter 2.5 in the Process of Smart Cities: Evidence from Prefecture-Level Cities in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-20, November.
    4. Rafael Herrera-Limones & Ángel Luis León-Rodríguez & Álvaro López-Escamilla, 2019. "Solar Decathlon Latin America and Caribbean: Comfort and the Balance between Passive and Active Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-17, June.
    5. Rui Dong & Shengnan Wang & Muhammad Awais Baloch, 2024. "Do green finance and green innovation foster environmental sustainability in China? Evidence from a quantile autoregressive-distributed lag model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(10), pages 25995-26017, October.
    6. Rosaria E.C. Amaral & Joel Brito & Matt Buckman & Elicia Drake & Esther Ilatova & Paige Rice & Carlos Sabbagh & Sergei Voronkin & Yewande S. Abraham, 2020. "Waste Management and Operational Energy for Sustainable Buildings: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-21, July.
    7. Miqdad Aziz & Kushsairy Kadir & Haziq Kamarul Azman & Kanendra Vijyakumar, 2023. "Optimization of Air Handler Controllers for Comfort Level in Smart Buildings Using Nature Inspired Algorithm," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-32, December.
    8. Nina Szczepanik-Scislo & Jacek Schnotale, 2020. "An Air Terminal Device with a Changing Geometry to Improve Indoor Air Quality for VAV Ventilation Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-20, September.
    9. Alessandro Franco & Lorenzo Miserocchi & Daniele Testi, 2021. "HVAC Energy Saving Strategies for Public Buildings Based on Heat Pumps and Demand Controlled Ventilation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-20, September.
    10. Wang, Hao & Chen, Xiwen & Vital, Natan & Duffy, Edward & Razi, Abolfazl, 2024. "Energy optimization for HVAC systems in multi-VAV open offices: A deep reinforcement learning approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).
    11. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Chen, Pei-Fen & Chu, Pin-Jie, 2023. "Green recovery through financial inclusion of mobile payment: A study of low- and middle-income Asian countries," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 729-747.
    12. Li, Songran & Shao, Qinglong, 2022. "Greening the finance for climate mitigation: An ARDL–ECM approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 1469-1481.
    13. Wei Wang & Xiaofang Shan & Syed Asad Hussain & Changshan Wang & Ying Ji, 2020. "Comparison of Multi-Control Strategies for the Control of Indoor Air Temperature and CO 2 with OpenModelica Modeling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-20, August.
    14. Png, Ethan & Srinivasan, Seshadhri & Bekiroglu, Korkut & Chaoyang, Jiang & Su, Rong & Poolla, Kameshwar, 2019. "An internet of things upgrade for smart and scalable heating, ventilation and air-conditioning control in commercial buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 408-424.
    15. Hyo-Jun Kim & Young-Hum Cho, 2017. "A Study on a Control Method with a Ventilation Requirement of a VAV System in Multi-Zone," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-17, November.
    16. Cheng, Fanyong & Cui, Can & Cai, Wenjian & Zhang, Xin & Ge, Yuan & Li, Bingxu, 2022. "A novel data-driven air balancing method with energy-saving constraint strategy to minimize the energy consumption of ventilation system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PB).
    17. Afroz, Zakia & Shafiullah, GM & Urmee, Tania & Higgins, Gary, 2018. "Modeling techniques used in building HVAC control systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 64-84.
    18. Nikolaos Kampelis & Nikolaos Sifakis & Dionysia Kolokotsa & Konstantinos Gobakis & Konstantinos Kalaitzakis & Daniela Isidori & Cristina Cristalli, 2019. "HVAC Optimization Genetic Algorithm for Industrial Near-Zero-Energy Building Demand Response," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-23, June.
    19. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Hussain, Jafar, 2023. "An assessment of socioeconomic indicators and energy consumption by considering green financing," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    20. Wang, Yufeng, 2023. "Can the green credit policy reduce carbon emission intensity of “high-polluting and high-energy-consuming” enterprises? Insight from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:21:p:5289-:d:1505698. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.