Pump Controller Design for Variable Primary Flow Configuration Systems

Authors

Yifan Shi, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Josephine Lau

Date of this Version

5-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science

Major: Architectural Engineering

Under the supervision of Professor Josephine Lau

Lincoln, Nebraska, May 2013

Comments

Copyright 2013, Yifan Shi. Used by permission

Abstract

Pump systems are utilized widely in Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems. There are mainly three configuration types: (1) the constant primary-only flow configuration, (2) the constant primary/variable secondary flow configuration, and (3) the variable primary-only flow configuration. This thesis focuses on finding the optimal control strategy for it and programming a controller for easy in-field usage.

In this thesis, the pump brake horse power (BHP) of the three pump configurations is simulated and compared using varying control methods. The best pump efficiency staging and DP reset control methods are implemented into the pump controller. A one month field experiment is performed in a chiller/boiler plant at the Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) for the pump controller. The proposed control strategy is found to achieve an energy savings of 64.5% in comparison to the constant flow configuration.

Advisor: Josephine Lau