Because the world’s fossil fuel reserves are finite, it is essential to substantially improve the efficiency of all energy consumers. Heating,... Show moreBecause the world’s fossil fuel reserves are finite, it is essential to substantially improve the efficiency of all energy consumers. Heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) accounts for 45% of energy consumption in residential buildings. Thus, this project studied and proposed solutions to improve the efficiency of such systems. The project begins with an analysis of a cooling system using electric chillers for a new hypothetical residential community in the Chicago area. Then, two new hybrid configurations were proposed: the utilization of electric and absorption chillers and then this system was augmented with a Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system. A simulation environment based on Matlab/Simulink®, using the concepts of Economic Model Predictive Control (EMPC) was developed to evaluate the performance of these configurations. The main benefits found were the increasing energy efficiency, the environmental impacts reduction and a reduction of more than 70% in operating costs (in some cases, profit was generated). M.S. in Chemical Engineering, May 2016 Show less
Query
(-) mods_name_creator_namePart_mt:"Franco, Diego Pacheco"
