scholarly journals An Online Grey-Box Model Based on Unscented Kalman Filter to Predict Temperature Profiles in Smart Buildings

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Massano ◽  
Edoardo Patti ◽  
Enrico Macii ◽  
Andrea Acquaviva ◽  
Lorenzo Bottaccioli

Nearly 40% of primary energy consumption is related to the usage of energy in Buildings. Energy-related data such as indoor air temperature and power consumption of heating/cooling systems can be now collected due to the widespread diffusion of Internet-of-Things devices. Such energy data can be used (i) to train data-driven models than learn the thermal properties of buildings and (ii) to predict indoor temperature evolution. In this paper, we present a Grey-box model to estimate thermal dynamics in buildings based on Unscented Kalman Filter and thermal network representation. The proposed methodology has been applied in two different buildings with two different thermal network discretizations to test its accuracy in indoor air temperature prediction. Due to a lack of a real-world data sampled by Internet of Things (IoT) devices, a realistic data-set has been generated using the software Energy+, by referring to real industrial building models. Results on synthetic and realistic data show the accuracy of the proposed methodology in predicting indoor temperature trends up to the next 24 h with a maximum error lower than 2 °C, considering one year of data with different weather conditions.

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 6577
Author(s):  
Hans Lundström ◽  
Magnus Mattsson

Indoor air temperature belongs to the most important climatic variables in indoor climate research, affecting thermal comfort, energy balance, and air movement in buildings. This paper focuses on measurement errors when using thermocouples in indoor temperature measurements, with special attention on measurements of air temperature. We briefly discuss errors in thermocouple measurements, noting that, for temperatures restricted to indoor temperature ranges, a thermocouple Type T performs much better than stated in “standards”. When thermocouples are described in the literature, industrial applications are primarily considered, involving temperatures up to several hundred degrees and with moderate demands on accuracy. In indoor applications, the temperature difference between the measuring and the reference junction is often only a few degrees. Thus, the error contribution from the thermocouple itself is almost immeasurable, while the dominant error source is in the internal reference temperature compensation in the measuring instrument. It was shown that using an external reference junction can decrease the measurement error substantially (i.e., down to a few hundredths of a degree) in room temperature measurements. One example of how such a device may be assembled is provided. A special application of room temperature measurements involves measuring indoor air temperature. Here, errors, due to radiation influence on the sensor from surrounding surfaces, were surprisingly high. The means to estimate the radiative influence on typical thermocouples are presented, along with suggestions for modification of thermocouple sensors to lower the radiation impact and thereby improve the measurement accuracy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Ebrahim Poulad

The performance of a thermodiode panel (TDP) is investigated thoroughly. A phase change material (PCM) layer is integrated into the TDP. A TDP can transfer solar thermal energy into the building. Adding a PCM layer to the TDP adds capacity of storing solar energy into the TDP, and releases the stored energy when the sun goes down. The TDP is composed of dense foam, which is sandwiched between two aluminium sheets, and a thermosyphon passes through the foam layer. PCM layer is added to the condenser section of the TDP that is connected into the building envelope. PCM thermal properties and their effects on energy demand and indoor temperature are investigated on a typical building. The best melting point for the PCM was found to be a temperature in the middle of the set points (upper and lower). Quantitative indices are introduced to evaluate the effects of PCM on indoor air temperature fluctuations. PCM reduces the indoor air temperature fluctuations. Increasing thermal conductivity of PCM by an order of magnitude reduces about 2% annual energy demand of a building. Regarding convention heat transfer coefficient, by increasing the convective heat transfer coefficient at interior wall surface, the cooling demand slightly increases in summer. In winter, energy demand is sensitive to h-value with a positive correlation. Matlab codes developed using genetic algorithm to optimize the TDP sizes, i.e., thicknesses of three aluminium sheets, copper tube diameter and its thickness that makes the structure of thermosyphon. The optimum sizes found to be: plate thicknesses of 1.5 mm, 2.5 mm, and 2 mm and thermosyphon diameter and thickness of 32 mm and 9 mm, respectively, provide the maximum objective function (the best performance of the TDP). Thermal bridging of a TDP can be reduced 76 times by adding a piece of Teflon in the thermosyphon assembly. The integration can do both store and collect/gain solar thermal energy, which makes this panel a novel alternative for south walls. It is also shown that thermosyphon angle from the horizon shall be between 30 and 45 degree to have the best performance of the TDP.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Ebrahim Poulad

The performance of a thermodiode panel (TDP) is investigated thoroughly. A phase change material (PCM) layer is integrated into the TDP. A TDP can transfer solar thermal energy into the building. Adding a PCM layer to the TDP adds capacity of storing solar energy into the TDP, and releases the stored energy when the sun goes down. The TDP is composed of dense foam, which is sandwiched between two aluminium sheets, and a thermosyphon passes through the foam layer. PCM layer is added to the condenser section of the TDP that is connected into the building envelope. PCM thermal properties and their effects on energy demand and indoor temperature are investigated on a typical building. The best melting point for the PCM was found to be a temperature in the middle of the set points (upper and lower). Quantitative indices are introduced to evaluate the effects of PCM on indoor air temperature fluctuations. PCM reduces the indoor air temperature fluctuations. Increasing thermal conductivity of PCM by an order of magnitude reduces about 2% annual energy demand of a building. Regarding convention heat transfer coefficient, by increasing the convective heat transfer coefficient at interior wall surface, the cooling demand slightly increases in summer. In winter, energy demand is sensitive to h-value with a positive correlation. Matlab codes developed using genetic algorithm to optimize the TDP sizes, i.e., thicknesses of three aluminium sheets, copper tube diameter and its thickness that makes the structure of thermosyphon. The optimum sizes found to be: plate thicknesses of 1.5 mm, 2.5 mm, and 2 mm and thermosyphon diameter and thickness of 32 mm and 9 mm, respectively, provide the maximum objective function (the best performance of the TDP). Thermal bridging of a TDP can be reduced 76 times by adding a piece of Teflon in the thermosyphon assembly. The integration can do both store and collect/gain solar thermal energy, which makes this panel a novel alternative for south walls. It is also shown that thermosyphon angle from the horizon shall be between 30 and 45 degree to have the best performance of the TDP.


2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 6175-6185
Author(s):  
Sun-Hee Kim ◽  
Hyung-Jeong Yang ◽  
Ngoc Anh Thi Nguyen ◽  
Raja Majid Mehmood ◽  
Seong-Whan Lee

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 530
Author(s):  
Abdullah Abdulhameed Bagasi ◽  
John Kaiser Calautit ◽  
Abdullah Saeed Karban

This paper reviewed related research works and developments on the traditional architectural element “mashrabiya” focusing on its history, design and structure, typology, and functions in hot climates. Moreover, the paper assessed the effect of the traditional mashrabiya on the indoor thermal environment and thermal comfort in a selected case study building. For this purpose, two similar rooms were investigated in a selected historic building with abundant mashrabiyas located in the Makkah Region, specifically in Old Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The field tests were conducted during a typical hot summer month with two different configurations. The study demonstrated that opening the mashrabiya allowed more airflow into the room during the day and reduced the indoor temperature by up to 2.4 °C as compared to the closed mashrabiya. Besides, the building envelope played an important role in preventing the high fluctuation of the indoor air temperature, where the fluctuation of the rooms air temperature ranged between 2.1 °C and 4.2 °C compared to the outdoor temperature which recorded a fluctuation between 9.4 °C and 16 °C. The data presented here can be used for the future development of the mashrabiya concept and the potential incorporation with passive cooling methods to improve its design according to the requirements of modern buildings in hot climates. Moreover, further studies and tests on mashrabiyas under different climatic conditions are required. Also, the different strategies or materials can be incorporated with mashrabiyas in order to improve its thermal performance.


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Csáky ◽  
F. Kalmár

Abstract Nowadays the facades of newly built buildings have significant glazed surfaces. The solar gains in these buildings can produce discomfort caused by direct solar radiation on the one hand and by the higher indoor air temperature on the other hand. The amplitude of the indoor air temperature variation depends on the glazed area, orientation of the facade and heat storage capacity of the building. This paper presents the results of a simulation, which were made in the Passol Laboratory of University of Debrecen in order to define the internal temperature variation. The simulation proved that the highest amplitudes of the internal temperature are obtained for East orientation of the facade. The upper acceptable limit of the internal air temperature is exceeded for each analyzed orientation: North, South, East, West. Comparing different building structures, according to the obtained results, in case of the heavy structure more cooling hours are obtained, but the energy consumption for cooling is lower.


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