A novel remote control system for air conditioning in low carbon emission buildings using sensor fusion and mobile communication technologies

Tools

Peng, W. ORCID: 0000-0002-7408-8207, Su, D. ORCID: 0000-0002-9541-8869 and Higginson, M., 2019. A novel remote control system for air conditioning in low carbon emission buildings using sensor fusion and mobile communication technologies. Building and Environment, 148, pp. 701-713. ISSN 0360-1323

Preview

Text
12846_Su.pdf - Post-print
Download (2MB) | Preview

Official URL: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.11.025

Abstract

Water-cooled air conditioning units have huge potential for providing a low carbon emission solution to controlling the temperature and humidity of commercial and domestic buildings as they do not rely on hazardous refrigerant materials in their operation unlike most present devices. Currently, however, its use is limited in high humidity areas due to low cooling efficiency and no effective method for controlling this type of system remotely.

This research developed a novel remote-controlled system for use with air-conditioning units utilising solid desiccant dehumidifiers which can be employed to create low carbon emission buildings. The system employs multiple information technologies such as sensor fusion, digital input/output communication and mobile technologies to monitor and control the internal conditions of air-conditioned buildings and provides data collection, data processing, system control, and mobile access. The data collection module is built based on sensor fusion technologies to detect the operating status of the conditioned air. The real-time data processing module is implemented with feature extraction and non-linearization computing to process received data and transmit commands to a control unit. A case study involved monitoring and controlling the working conditions of a solid desiccant dehumidifier employed in an air conditioning unit. Remote control of the process was performed by tuning a NI-DAQ controller's parameters to regulate humidity, temperature, flow rates and other conditions in the unit. A mobile phone was utilised to demonstrate the remote-control function. The results prove that the system developed is successful in controlling the operation of water-cooled air conditioning units.

Item Type:

Journal article

Publication Title:

Building and Environment

Creators:

Peng, W., Su, D. and Higginson, M.

Publisher:

Elsevier

Date:

15 January 2019

Volume:

148