Energy efficiency of an air conditioning system coupled with a pipe-embedded wall and mechanical ventilation

Abstract Recently, impressive progress has been made in the utilization of natural sources for free cooling. However, few studies have investigated the effects of the combination of a pipe-embedded envelope with ventilation. In this study, the dynamic simulation platform TRNSYS were used to calculated the free-running temperature and cooling load of a typical office room in four typical cooling climate regions. The rooms were equipped with mechanical ventilation and/or pipe-embedded cooling systems. The pipe-embedded cooling system refers to the pipe-embedded envelope integrated with ground source heat exchangers (GSHX). The energy consumptions of the air conditioning system and the free cooling system in different coupling systems were calculated. The results show that pipe-embedded cooling systems have great potential for decreasing energy consumption. The non-air conditioning ratio is increased significantly by utilizing pipe-embedded cooling systems for free cooling, and the energy savings ratio is over 80% in Beijing. Mechanical ventilation is quite effective in mild climate regions, and the energy savings ratio in Kunming is approximately 48%. The combination of the mechanical ventilation system and the pipe-embedded cooling system can further lead to an increase in an additional 13% of the energy savings ratio in hot summer and warm winter climate regions.

[1]  Christian Inard,et al.  Free-running temperature and potential for free cooling by ventilation: A case study , 2011 .

[2]  Wenxing Shi,et al.  A potential solution for thermal imbalance of ground source heat pump systems in cold regions: Ground source absorption heat pump , 2013 .

[3]  Jose M. Marin,et al.  Review of European ventilation strategies to meet the cooling and heating demands of nearly zero energy buildings (nZEB)/Passivhaus. Comparison with the USA , 2016 .

[4]  Norhayati Mahyuddin,et al.  A review on natural ventilation applications through building façade components and ventilation openings in tropical climates , 2015 .

[5]  João Dias Carrilho,et al.  Towards sustainable, energy-efficient and healthy ventilation strategies in buildings: A review , 2016 .

[6]  Max H. Sherman,et al.  Meeting Residential Ventilation Standards Through Dynamic Control of Ventilation Systems , 2011 .

[7]  Chong Shen,et al.  Thermal performance of double skin façade with built-in pipes utilizing evaporative cooling water in cooling season , 2016 .

[8]  Yongjun Sun,et al.  A study on pipe-embedded wall integrated with ground source-coupled heat exchanger for enhanced building energy efficiency in diverse climate regions , 2016 .

[9]  Mohamed El Mankibi,et al.  Hybrid Ventilation for Multi-Zone Buildings - Development of Optimal Control Strategies through Experiments and Dynamic Modelling , 2011 .

[10]  Xianting Li,et al.  Dynamic thermal performance of pipe-embedded building envelope utilizing evaporative cooling water in the cooling season , 2016 .

[11]  Jun-long Xie,et al.  An active pipe-embedded building envelope for utilizing low-grade energy sources , 2012 .

[12]  Li Huang,et al.  A study about the demand for air movement in warm environment , 2013 .

[13]  Issam Srour,et al.  A numerical modeling approach to evaluate energy-efficient mechanical ventilation strategies , 2012 .

[14]  Arsen Krikor Melikov,et al.  Thermal environment and air quality in office with personalized ventilation combined with chilled ceiling , 2015 .

[15]  Erik L Olsen,et al.  Energy consumption and comfort analysis for different low-energy cooling systems in a mild climate , 2003 .

[16]  Xianting Li,et al.  Numerical study on energy efficiency and economy of a pipe-embedded glass envelope directly utilizing ground-source water for heating in diverse climates , 2017 .

[17]  Simon J. Rees,et al.  The potential for office buildings with mixed-mode ventilation and low energy cooling systems in arid climates , 2013 .