Virtual sensors development for ACB terminal unit

Abstract

Active Chilled Beam (ACB) technology is growing rapidly due to its higher energy saving potential than the existing Variable Air Volume (VAV) systems as well as the reduction in space requirement and noise level. Such technology requires a good control system and the measurement equipment is needed in order to keep track the control process. In active chilled beam systems design, the cost of the air flow meter is one of the greatest concerns in design implementation, it is difficult to build in with the ACB terminal unit, therefore a virtual airflow sensor is developed to replace airflow meter.

In this project, a virtual air flow sensor was designed and implemented to the Active Chilled Beam terminal unit to replace the real air flow meter in order to reduce the cost and save some space requirement for ACB. First, 3 type of ACB terminal units are used to perform the experiment to determine the relationship between airflow rate and pressure inside the ACB chamber. Based on the experiment result, the virtual airflow sensor was implemented and verified.