The Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) sector is responsible for a large part of the total worldwide energy consumption, a significant part of which is caused by incorrect operation of controls and maintenance. HVAC systems are becoming increasingly complex, especially due to multi-commodity energy sources, and as a result, the chance of failures in systems and controls will increase. Therefore, systems that diagnose energy performance are of paramount importance. However, despite much research on Fault Detection and Diagnosis (FDD) methods for HVAC systems, they are rarely applied. One major reason is that proposed methods are different from the approaches taken by HVAC designers who employ process and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs). This led to the following main research question: Which FDD architecture is suitable for HVAC systems in general to support the set up and implementation of FDD methods, including energy performance diagnosis? First, an energy performance FDD architecture based on information embedded in P&IDs was elaborated. The new FDD method, called the 4S3F method, combines systems theory with data analysis. In the 4S3F method, the detection and diagnosis phases are separated. The symptoms and faults are classified into 4 types of symptoms (deviations from balance equations, operating states (OS) and energy performance (EP), and additional information) and 3 types of faults (component, control and model faults). Second, the 4S3F method has been tested in four case studies. In the first case study, the symptom detection part was tested using historical Building Management System (BMS) data for a whole year: the combined heat and power plant of the THUAS (The Hague University of Applied Sciences) building in Delft, including an aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system, a heat pump, a gas boiler and hot and cold water hydronic systems. This case study showed that balance, EP and OS symptoms can be extracted from the P&ID and the presence of symptoms detected. In the second case study, a proof of principle of the fault diagnosis part of the 4S3F method was successfully performed on the same HVAC system extracting possible component and control faults from the P&ID. A Bayesian Network diagnostic, which mimics the way of diagnosis by HVAC engineers, was applied to identify the probability of all possible faults by interpreting the symptoms. The diagnostic Bayesian network (DBN) was set up in accordance with the P&ID, i.e., with the same structure. Energy savings from fault corrections were estimated to be up to 25% of the primary energy consumption, while the HVAC system was initially considered to have an excellent performance. In the third case study, a demand-driven ventilation system (DCV) was analysed. The analysis showed that the 4S3F method works also to identify faults on an air ventilation system.
Energiebeheer gericht aanpakken, Het analyseren van doelstellingen, resultaten en impacts van energie- en broeikasgasbeheersprogramma’s in bedrijven (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands): De wereldwijde uitstoot van broeikasgassen moet drastisch worden teruggebracht om de mondiale stijging van de temperatuur tot het relatief veilige niveau van maximaal 2 graden Celsius te beperken. In de komende decennia zal de verbetering van de energie-efficiëntie de belangrijkste strategie zijn voor het verminderen van de energiegerelateerde uitstoot van broeikasgassen. Hoewel er een enorm potentieel is voor verbetering van de energie-efficiëntie, wordt een groot deel daarvan nog niet benut. Dit wordt veroorzaakt door diverse investeringsbarrières die de invoering van maatregelen voor energie-efficiëntie verbetering verhinderen. De invoering van energiemanagement wordt vaak beschouwd als een manier om dergelijke barrières voor energiebesparing te overwinnen. De invoering van energiemanagement in bedrijven kan worden gestimuleerd door de introductie van programma's voor energie-efficiëntie verbetering en vermindering van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen. Deze programma's zijn vaak een combinatie van verschillende elementen zoals verplichtingen voor energiemanagement; (ambitieuze) doelstellingen voor energiebesparing of beperking van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen; de beschikbaarheid van regelingen voor stimulering, ondersteuning en naleving; en andere verplichtingen, zoals openbare rapportages, certificering en verificatie. Tot nu toe is er echter beperkt inzicht in het proces van het formuleren van ambitieuze doelstellingen voor energie-efficiëntie verbetering of het terugdringen van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen binnen deze programma's, in de gevolgen van de invoering van dergelijke programma's op de verbetering van het energiemanagement, en in de impact van deze programma's op energiebesparing of de vermindering van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen. De centrale onderzoeksvraag van dit proefschrift is als volgt geformuleerd: "Wat is de impact van energie- en broeikasgasmanagement programma’s op het verbeteren van het energiemanagement in de praktijk, het versnellen van de energieefficiëntie verbetering en het beperken van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen in bedrijven?".
Current symptom detection methods for energy diagnosis in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are not standardised and not consistent with HVAC process and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs) as used by engineers to design and operate these systems, leading to a very limited application of energy performance diagnosis systems in practice. This paper proposes detection methods to overcome these issues, based on the 4S3F (four types of symptom and three types of faults) framework. A set of generic symptoms divided into three categories (balance, energy performance and operational state symptoms) is discussed and related performance indicators are developed, using efficiencies, seasonal performance factors, capacities, and control and design-based operational indicators. The symptom detection method was applied successfully to the HVAC system of the building of The Hague University of Applied Sciences. Detection results on an annual, monthly and daily basis are discussed and compared. Link to the formail publication via its DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2020.103344
Due to the existing pressure for a more rational use of the water, many public managers and industries have to re-think/adapt their processes towards a more circular approach. Such pressure is even more critical in the Rio Doce region, Minas Gerais, due to the large environmental accident occurred in 2015. Cenibra (pulp mill) is an example of such industries due to the fact that it is situated in the river basin and that it has a water demanding process. The current proposal is meant as an academic and engineering study to propose possible solutions to decrease the total water consumption of the mill and, thus, decrease the total stress on the Rio Doce basin. The work will be divided in three working packages, namely: (i) evaluation (modelling) of the mill process and water balance (ii) application and operation of a pilot scale wastewater treatment plant (iii) analysis of the impacts caused by the improvement of the process. The second work package will also be conducted (in parallel) with a lab scale setup in The Netherlands to allow fast adjustments and broaden evaluation of the setup/process performance. The actions will focus on reducing the mill total water consumption in 20%.
Climate change is one of the most critical global challenges nowadays. Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration brought by anthropogenic emissions has been recognized as the primary driver of global warming. Therefore, currently, there is a strong demand within the chemical and chemical technology industry for systems that can covert, capture and reuse/recover CO2. Few examples can be seen in the literature: Hamelers et al (2013) presented systems that can use CO2 aqueous solutions to produce energy using electrochemical cells with porous electrodes; Legrand et al (2018) has proven that CDI can be used to capture CO2 without solvents; Shu et al (2020) have used electrochemical systems to desorb (recover) CO2 from an alkaline absorbent with low energy demand. Even though many efforts have been done, there is still demand for efficient and market-ready systems, especially related to solvent-free CO2 capturing systems. This project intends to assess a relatively efficient technology, with low-energy costs which can change the CO2 capturing market. This technology is called whorlpipe. The whorlpipe, developed by Viktor Schauberger, has shown already promising results in reducing the energy and CO2 emissions for water pumping. Recently, studies conducted by Wetsus and NHL Stenden (under submission), in combination with different companies (also members in this proposal) have shown that vortices like systems, like the Schauberger funnel, and thus “whorlpipe”, can be fluid dynamically represented using Taylor-Couette flows. This means that such systems have a strong tendency to form vortices like fluid-patterns close to their air-water interface. Such flow system drastically increase advection. Combined with their higher area to volume ratio, which increases diffusion, these systems can greatly enhance gas capturing (in liquids), and are, thus, a unique opportunity for CO2 uptake from the air, i.e. competing with systems like conventional scrubbers or bubble-based aeration.
The SPRONG-collaboration “Collective process development for an innovative chemical industry” (CONNECT) aims to accelerate the chemical industry’s climate/sustainability transition by process development of innovative chemical processes. The CONNECT SPRONG-group integrates the expertise of the research groups “Material Sciences” (Zuyd Hogeschool), “Making Industry Sustainable” (Hogeschool Rotterdam), “Innovative Testing in Life Sciences & Chemistry” and “Circular Water” (both Hogeschool Utrecht) and affiliated knowledge centres (Centres of Expertise CHILL [affiliated to Zuyd] and HRTech, and Utrecht Science Park InnovationLab). The combined CONNECT-expertise generates critical mass to facilitate process development of necessary energy-/material-efficient processes for the 2050 goals of the Knowledge and Innovation Agenda (KIA) Climate and Energy (mission C) using Chemical Key Technologies. CONNECT focuses on process development/chemical engineering. We will collaborate with SPRONG-groups centred on chemistry and other non-SPRONG initiatives. The CONNECT-consortium will generate a Learning Community of the core group (universities of applied science and knowledge centres), companies (high-tech equipment, engineering and chemical end-users), secondary vocational training, universities, sustainability institutes and regional network organizations that will facilitate research, demand articulation and professionalization of students and professionals. In the CONNECT-trajectory, four field labs will be integrated and strengthened with necessary coordination, organisation, expertise and equipment to facilitate chemical innovations to bridge the innovation valley-of-death between feasibility studies and high technology-readiness-level pilot plant infrastructure. The CONNECT-field labs will combine experimental and theoretical approaches to generate high-quality data that can be used for modelling and predict the impact of flow chemical technologies. The CONNECT-trajectory will optimize research quality systems (e.g. PDCA, data management, impact). At the end of the CONNECT-trajectory, the SPRONG-group will have become the process development/chemical engineering SPRONG-group in the Netherlands. We can then meaningfully contribute to further integrate the (inter)national research ecosystem to valorise innovative chemical processes for the KIA Climate and Energy.
