Abstract
Most air-handling units in commercial buildings adopt an air-side economizer to use outdoor air for free cooling when the outdoor air is cool or cold. An economizer changeover is sequenced by high-limit controls for outdoor air. Several highlimit controls have been specified with consideration of climate zones and availability of humidity measurements. However, confusion regarding optimal outdoor air high-limit curves and the lack of accurate humidity measurements are major barriers to achieve maximum economizer energy savings. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of economizer high-limit controls and to identify an alternative for effective economizer operations, optimal high-limit curves are studied by simulating and comparing the energy consumption between minimum outdoor air and economizer modes of an air-handling unit. Investigation of impacts on optimal high-limit curves reveals that supply air temperature can replace return air humidity to attain optimal high-limit curves. A practical engineering approachfor economizer control also is investigated by the use of internet weather data to substitute for local outdoor air humidity measurements.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | ASHRAE Transactions |
| Publisher | Amer. Soc. Heating, Ref. Air-Conditoning Eng. Inc. |
| Pages | 383-396 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Volume | 120 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781936504824 |
| State | Published - 2014 |
| Event | 2014 ASHRAE Annual Conference - Seattle, United States Duration: Jun 28 2014 → Jul 2 2014 |
Other
| Other | 2014 ASHRAE Annual Conference |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| City | Seattle |
| Period | 6/28/14 → 7/2/14 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Mechanical Engineering
- Building and Construction