Conference Paper

Proceedings of SimBuild Conference 2024

Enhancing Chilled Water Plant Efficiency With Real-Time Optimization

Min Gyung Yu, Alex Vlachokostas, Karthikeya Devaprasad, Tim A. Yoder, Stephanie Johnson, Timothy I. Salsbury
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, United States of America

Abstract: This paper addresses the problem of cooling tower control in water-cooled chiller systems. These types of systems use significant amounts of energy and improvements in the control improve their energy efficiency. A detailed Modelica simulation of a chilled water system serving a data center is used as a testbed to demonstrate the potential of a new type of real-time optimization (RTO) for maximizing energy efficiency. The paper also highlights the utility of coupling a pre-built system model with Python-based code as a way to streamline testing and development of new controls. The RTO algorithm is model-free and does not require traditional temperature and humidity sensors and is applied to controlling the cooling tower fans. Results show that the algorithm can save 15% energy compared to a baseline during summer periods in two different climates.
Keywords: Chiller plant, Optimization, Extremum seeking control, Model-free, Building energy savings
Pages: 241 - 248
Paper: