Impacts of Static Pressure Reset on VAV System Air Leakage, Fan Power and Thermal Energy- Part 1: Theoretical Model and Simulation

Authors

Mingsheng Liu, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
Jingjuan Feng, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Zhan Wang, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Lixia Wu, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Keke Zheng, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Xiufeng Pang, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, pp. 1-13

Abstract

As for a variable air volume (VAV) System, the air duct static pressure is a typical control variable maintained by modulating supply fan speed. The static pressure equals to the summation of the duct pressure loss downstream of the sensor to the terminal box and box inlet static pressure. Typically, the air duct static pressure is set as a constant set point based on the system design information and sensor location. However, under partial load conditions, the terminal dampers have to be closed more since the required airflow which directly leads to much less pressure loss. This the static pressure set point should be reset lower in order to reduce fan power, avoid noise at terminal box dampers and box damper malfunction due to excessive pressure. Different static pressure reset schedules are reviewed and compared, considering the influence of outside air temperature on the building load, availability of the VAV box damper positions, the airflow ratio based static pressure reset has also applicable advantages over the existing constant static pressure reset on fan airflow, fan head, air leakage, fan power and thermal energy for both pressure independent and pressure dependent boxes. The impacts are also demonstrated using the parametric analysis and numerical results to show the benefits of the static pressure reset including reducing fan power, cooling energy and heating energy.