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2018 Building Performance Analysis Conference and SimBuild co-organized by ASHRAE and IBPSA-USA

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A Simulation Based Approach for Impact Assessment of Physical Faults: Large Commercial Building HVAC Case Study

Yan Chen, Sen Huang, Draguna Vrabie
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA

Abstract: We developed a simulation-based approach for fault impact analysis for a single duct variable air volume (VAV) system, and analyzed the dynamic and steady-state impact of equipment physical faults on building operation. The simulation model, a virtual testbed, can capture physical faults in the HVAC system of a large commercial building. The model can be used to generate data that can then be analyzed to quantify the impact of single or multiple faults. This paper illustrates the implementation of three physical faults: supply air temperature sensor bias, outdoor air temperature sensor bias, and cooling coil valve stuck. Each fault was simulated with several fault intensity levels and under different seasonal operating conditions. Then, we analyzed the impact of the above-mentioned faults using the energy and comfort metrics. The results show that the impact of a given physical fault depends on implemented control logic sequence and the seasonal operating conditions.
Pages: 823 - 830
Paper:
simbuild2018_C113