Management optimization of the luminous flux regulation of a lighting system in road tunnels

Lighting very long road tunnels implies a high consumption of electrical energy since it requires a proper illumination during the whole day. In particular, in the daytime, the illuminance levels right at the tunnel entrance threshold and exit zones must be higher than those characterizing the inside of the tunnel; in this way, the eye of the driver is able to adapt and be safe while passing from a high natural illumination of the outside to the lighting conditions characterizing the inside of the tunnel. However this causes a high energy demand. Therefore, this case study investigates whether it is possible to minimize the energy demand through the exertion of an automatic new control system regulating the luminous fluxes of artificial sources (guaranteeing the parameters set by the regulation) with respect to the variation of the natural light characterizing the outside. The innovative control systems must be characterized by high reliability levels in order to guarantee conditions which are not dangerous to the driver if an outage occurs and minimize their maintenance costs. To carry out this type of study, the software DIALux was used to simulate a tunnel with a dimming system (with lamps characterized by a high luminous efficiency) regulated by a pre-programmed logic control system (with high Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) values). The savings obtained enabled the amortization of the solution here suggested in a time interval that makes it an advantageous choice economically speaking.

[1]  A. Peña-García,et al.  Decrease of energy demands of lighting installations in road tunnels based in the forestation of portal surroundings with climbing plants , 2015 .

[2]  G. Graditi,et al.  Predictive models for building's energy consumption: An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach , 2015, 2015 XVIII AISEM Annual Conference.

[3]  Dimitrios Gyalistras,et al.  Intermediate complexity model for Model Predictive Control of Integrated Room Automation , 2013 .

[4]  Luisa María Gil-Martín,et al.  Study of pergolas for energy savings in road tunnels. Comparison with tension structures , 2013 .

[5]  Ferdinando Salata,et al.  Case Study on Economic Return on Investments for Safety and Emergency Lighting in Road Tunnels , 2015 .

[6]  D. Barchiesi,et al.  A Model Predictive Control strategy for energy saving and user comfort features in building automation , 2015, 2015 19th International Conference on System Theory, Control and Computing (ICSTCC).

[7]  V I George,et al.  Integrated design and real-time implementation of an adaptive, predictive light controller , 2012 .

[8]  Ferdinando Salata,et al.  Energy Optimization of Road Tunnel Lighting Systems , 2015 .

[9]  Alberto Giretti,et al.  Environmental modeling for the optimal energy control of subway stations , 2012 .

[10]  Luca Evangelisti,et al.  Influence of the Thermal Inertia in the European Simplified Procedures for the Assessment of Buildings’ Energy Performance , 2014 .

[11]  Ferdinando Salata,et al.  Method for energy optimization with reliability analysis of a trigeneration and teleheating system on urban scale: A case study , 2015 .

[12]  Luisa María Gil-Martín,et al.  Use of sunlight in road tunnels: An approach to the improvement of light-pipes’ efficacy through heliostats , 2016 .

[13]  Luca Evangelisti,et al.  Analysis of Two Models for Evaluating the Energy Performance of Different Buildings , 2014 .

[14]  Paola Gori,et al.  A step towards the optimization of the indoor luminous environment by genetic algorithms , 2017 .

[15]  Manfred Morari,et al.  Use of model predictive control and weather forecasts for energy efficient building climate control , 2012 .

[16]  B. Mattoni,et al.  A territorial based strategy for the distribution of sensor networks in smart cities , 2015, 2015 IEEE 15th International Conference on Environment and Electrical Engineering (EEEIC).

[17]  Ferdinando Salata,et al.  A MODEL FOR THE EVALUATION OF HEAT LOSS FROM UNDERGROUND CABLES IN NON-UNIFORM SOIL TO OPTIMIZE THE SYSTEM DESIGN , 2013 .

[18]  Fabio Bisegna,et al.  Study of a daylight “filter” zone in tunnels , 2015, 2015 IEEE 15th International Conference on Environment and Electrical Engineering (EEEIC).

[19]  Ferdinando Salata,et al.  Energy and reliability optimization of a system that combines daylighting and artificial sources. A case study carried out in academic buildings , 2016 .

[20]  W. Adrian.  A Method for the Design of Tunnel Entrance Lighting , 1990 .

[21]  Ashish Pandharipande,et al.  Light sensor calibration and dimming sequence design in distributed lighting control systems , 2014, Proceedings of the 11th IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing and Control.

[22]  Ferdinando Salata,et al.  The reliability of technological systems with high energy efficiency in residential buildings , 2014 .

[23]  Ferdinando Salata,et al.  Maintenance and Energy Optimization of Lighting Systems for the Improvement of Historic Buildings: A Case Study , 2015 .

[24]  Luisa María Gil-Martín,et al.  Study of light-pipes for the use of sunlight in road tunnels: From a scale model to real tunnels , 2014 .

[25]  Giorgio Baldinelli,et al.  Life cycle assessment of electricity production from renewable energies: Review and results harmonization , 2015 .

[26]  Robert Babuska,et al.  INTEGRATED PREDICTIVE ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF HEATING, COOLING, VENTILATION, DAYLIGHTING AND ELECTRICAL LIGHTING IN BUILDINGS , 2001 .

[27]  Savitha G Kini,et al.  Prediction of Daylight Availability For Visual Comfort , 2016 .

[28]  Ferdinando Salata,et al.  An economic perspective on the reliability of lighting systems in building with highly efficient energy: A case study , 2014 .

[29]  Leszek Kotulski,et al.  Multi-Agent System Supporting Automated Large-Scale Photometric Computations , 2016, Entropy.

[30]  Ferdinando Salata,et al.  Underground electric cables a correct evaluation of the soil thermal resistance , 2015 .

[31]  Luisa María Gil-Martín,et al.  Use of diffusers materials to improve the homogeneity of sunlight under pergolas installed in road tunnels portals for energy savings , 2015 .

[32]  D A Schreuder.  ENTRANCE LIGHTING FOR ROAD TRAFFIC TUNNELS , 1983 .

[33]  Ferdinando Salata,et al.  Plant Reliability in Hospital Facilities , 2014 .

[34]  V I George,et al.  Robust control and optimisation of energy consumption in daylight—artificial light integrated schemes , 2008 .