Develop a novel PID controller for an improved economizer in the air handling unit to cut the energy consumption for an office building in Saudi Arabia via Genetic Algorithm approach

Background: In hot-arid climates, the potential of using free cooling is very attractive due to the difference between night and day temperatures. In free cooling, the interior can be cooled by injecting outside air, which is done by the economizer. Methods: In this study, relying on numerical methods, economizer effectiveness was discussed from two modes. In the first case, the economizer schedule corresponds to the mechanical ventilation schedule, while in the second case, a new PID controller was approved to define a new schedule that is independent of the building's ventilation system. Findings: In the first case, it was found that for each kilowatt-hour of electricity consumption in the fan, the economizer reduces the electricity in the cooling section by 8.6 kilowatts in the first case, but in the second it was 2 kilowatt-hours. To increase the profit of the economizer, the setback temperature was introduced as an input to the Genetic algorithm and it was found out that the best results for the economizer are obtained at a temperature of 29 degrees C. Taking into account fan electricity, in the first case, the energy consumption is reduced by 432.5 kW and in the second case, it was 824.7 kWh.

Automated summary

In hot-arid climates, the potential of using free cooling is attractive due to temperature differences. This study discusses the effectiveness of economizer in two different modes using numerical methods.