From sizing and hydraulic balancing to control using the simbad tollbox

This   paper   demonstrates   one   step   forward   in   the development of virtual laboratories that can be used for the development and test of HVAC control systems. While predefined parameters are used for standard tests, individual tests of controllers on  different building construction and types or for different boundary conditions need, for each test, new sizing of the components of the HVAC system. This means, that the emitter (HVAC terminal system), tubes, valves and pumps have to be sized and the controllers to be tuned when the test case is changed. An automatic sizing procedure has been developed that is called before each simulation or emulation. Starting from the emitters, tubes, valves, pumps and controllers are then sized, parametered or selected from a predefined list from catalogue data. The advantage of such a procedure is the reproducibility of the tests, independent from the user. It can be seen as a first step to quality assurance of building controller tests. Different laws, applied for the sizing, can be changed separately in the sizing procedure and their impact on the system performance can be studied. This extends the usability of the virtual laboratory to the study of sizing and balancing problems. If controllers shall be tested, the impact of sizing and balancing of the HVAC system on the control performance or the overall system performance can be analysed. Some first results are shown, using the SIMBAD Building and HVAC toolbox for a building with  six zones equipped with hot water radiators in serial and parallel connection. The effect of flow balancing on the flow rates in the system is shown in order to compare a hydraulically balanced with an unbalanced system.