Model calibration of a variable refrigerant flow system with a dedicated outdoor air system: A case study

Kim, Dongsu; Cox, Sam J.; Cho, Heejin; Im, Piljae

doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.10.049

Title: Model calibration of a variable refrigerant flow system with a dedicated outdoor air system: A case study

Journal Article · 16 October 2017 · Energy and Buildings

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.10.049 · OSTI ID:1409253

Kim, Dongsu ^[1]; Cox, Sam J. ^[1]; Cho, Heejin ^[1];

^[2]

Mississippi State Univ., Starkville, MS (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

With increased use of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems in the U.S. building sector, interests in capability and rationality of various building energy modeling tools to simulate VRF systems are rising. This paper presents the detailed procedures for model calibration of a VRF system with a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) by comparing to detailed measured data from an occupancy emulated small office building. The building energy model is first developed based on as-built drawings, and building and system characteristics available. The whole building energy modeling tool used for the study is U.S. DOE’s EnergyPlus version 8.1. The initial model is, then, calibrated with the hourly measured data from the target building and VRF-DOAS system. In a detailed calibration procedures of the VRF-DOAS, the original EnergyPlus source code is modified to enable the modeling of the specific VRF-DOAS installed in the building. After a proper calibration during cooling and heating seasons, the VRF-DOAS model can reasonably predict the performance of the actual VRF-DOAS system based on the criteria from ASHRAE Guideline 14-2014. The calibration results show that hourly CV-RMSE and NMBE would be 15.7% and 3.8%, respectively, which is deemed to be calibrated. As a result, the whole-building energy usage after calibration of the VRF-DOAS model is 1.9% (78.8 kWh) lower than that of the measurements during comparison period.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1409253

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1549388

Journal Information:: Energy and Buildings, Vol. 158, Issue C; ISSN 0378-7788

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 25 works

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Title: Model calibration of a variable refrigerant flow system with a dedicated outdoor air system: A case study

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