Stochastic optimized chiller operation strategy based on multi-objective optimization considering measurement uncertainty

Abstract Chillers are responsible for nearly 30–40% of the energy consumption of an HVAC system. To enhance the efficiency of HVAC systems, it is necessary to optimize the operation of chillers. Conventional chiller operation strategies are mostly intended to save energy by suitably distributing the chiller cooling load in accordance with the measured cooling system data, which is typically considered noise-free. In other words, the uncertainty of the cooling system measurement and the necessity of customized optimization—as different buildings require different tradeoffs between energy-saving and indoor comfort—are usually not considered. This paper proposes a stochastic optimized chiller operation strategy based on multi-objective optimization and measurement uncertainty. The strategy consists of five steps: (1) Quantify the indoor comfort utility and energy consumption utility by using utility functions; (2) integrate these two utilities into one comprehensive utility using user-defined weights; (3) specify the measurement uncertainty distribution in the cooling system; (4) traverse each possible operation plan, and calculate the mean value (i.e., mathematical expectation) of its corresponding comprehensive utility (expected utility, EU); and (5) determine the optimal operation plan to be the one corresponding to the maximum EU value. The performance of the proposed strategy is validated by establishing a cooling system model on TRNSYS and comparing the findings with those of two conventional chiller operation strategies commonly adopted in Shanghai: the cooling load control strategy and coefficient of performance (COP) optimization strategy. Moreover, the robustness of the proposed strategy is validated by performing a comparison with the deterministic multi-objective strategy, which assumes that the measured system data is noise-free. The simulation results suggest that the proposed strategy can be customized to satisfy different optimization requirements such as less energy consumption or a high level of indoor comfort.

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