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4.2.3 Creating Performance Curves for VRF System

In order to simulate the performance of AC System Energy plus need the performance
curves of the system. The performance of a VRF AC system is based on multiple
performance characteristics.
The cooling model inputs for a VRF AC system are:
Rated Total Cooling Capacity 5.2 kW
Rated Cooling COP 3.25
Minimum Outdoor Temperature in
Cooling Mode
-5
O
C
Maximum Outdoor Temperature in
Cooling Mode
46
O
C
Cooling Capacity Ratio Modifier
Function of Low Temperature Curve
Name
DaikinCAPFTLow
Cooling Capacity Ratio Boundary
Curve Name
VRFBoundary
Cooling Capacity Ratio Modifier
Function of High Temperature Curve
Name
DaikinCAPFTHi
Cooling Energy Input Ratio Modifier
Function of Low Temperature
CurveName
DaikinEIRFTLow
Cooling Energy Input Ratio Boundary
Curve Name
VRFBoundary
Cooling Energy Input Ratio Modifier
Function of High Temperature
CurveName
DakinEIRFTHi

Cooling Energy Input Ratio Modifier
Function of Low Part-Load Ratio
CurveName
CoolingPLR
Cooling Part-Load Fraction
Correlation Curve Name
PLRFraction
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Full-load performance data defines the variations of capacity and power when outdoor
or indoor conditions changes. Part-load performance identifies how the capacity and
power change when variable compressor changes speed.


Table 9Capacity Table of Inverter based VRF AC
AFR 16.8
BF 0.29
INDOOR
EWB C 14 16 18 19 22 24
EDB C 20 22 25 27 30 32
OUTDOOR
TEMPERATURE
(CDB)
20
TC 5.33 5.57 5.81 5.93 6.29 6.53
SHC 3.84 3.77 3.93 4.13 3.97 3.86
PI 1.23 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.26
25
TC 5.09 5.32 5.56 5.68 6.04 6.28
SHC 3.71 3.65 3.82 4.02 3.88 3.78
PI 1.35 1.35 1.36 1.36 1.37 1.38
30
TC 4.84 5.08 5.32 5.44 5.8 6.04
SHC 3.59 3.54 3.71 3.92 3.79 3.69
PI 1.46 1.47 1.48 1.48 1.49 1.5
32
TC 4.75 4.99 5.23 5.35 5.7 5.94
SHC 3.54 3.49 3.67 3.87 3.75 3.66
PI 1.51 1.52 1.53 1.53 1.54 1.55
35
TC 4.6 4.84 5.08 5.2 5.56 5.8
SHC 3.47 3.42 3.6 3.81 3.7 3.61
PI 1.58 1.59 1.6 1.6 1.61 1.62
40
TC 4.36 4.6 4.84 4.96 5.32 5.56
SHC 3.35 3.31 3.5 3.71 3.61 3.53
PI 1.7 1.71 1.71 1.72 1.73 1.74

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Table 9 shows typical information provided by manufacturer of the system which is
used in this study, using tabular representations. From this information, full-load
capacity and power performance curves can be developed.
The data here is presented as an absolute value Tabular data with rated condition
highlighted, as shown in Table 9 (i.e., 5.2 kW rated total capacity, 3.81 rated Sensible
Heat capacity and 1.6 kW rated power).

4.2.3.1 Cooling Performance Curves
The operating capacity of the VRF system is calculated based on the rated cooling
capacity and the actual operating conditions. The operating conditions describing
cooling performance are outdoor dry-bulb (DB) temperature entering the condenser
and average indoor wet-bulb (IWB) temperature entering the active zone terminal
units. The first step in defining cooling performance is plotting the manufacturers
data from Table 9 to represent the relation of cooling capacity with Indoor WBT and
outdoor DBT.

Figure 21 Cooling Capacity Ratio as a Function of Outdoor Drybulb and Indoor Wetbulb
Temperature
It is evident from the plotted manufacturers data in Figure 21 that the system
performance behavior changes at 30
0
C.
0.80
0.85
0.90
0.95
1.00
1.05
1.10
1.15
1.20
1.25
1.30
20 25 30 32 35 40
C
o
o
l
i
n
g

C
a
p
a
c
i
t
y

R
a
t
i
o

Outdoor Drybulb Temperature
14
16
18
19
22
24
Indoor
Wetbulb
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We can therefore conclude that the boundary curve equation for our system can be
defined as BI =30 and the corresponding energy Plus class object definition is
shown in the Figure 22.

Figure 22Input values of Boundary curve object
. A typical cooling capacity curve equation is given below
CAPFI =o +b (I
wB,
) +c (I
wB,
)
2
+J (I
c
) +c (I
c
)
2
+ + (I
wB,
)(I
c
)
Where:
CAPFT=heat pump Cooling Capacity Ratio Modifier
T
WB,i
=wet-bulb temperature of the air entering the cooling coil.
a f =equation coefficients for Cooling Capacity Ratio Modifier
T
C
=Temperature of the air entering the condenser
The equation for the simulation model is generated by following algorithm defined
below.
1) Sorting the manufacturers' data in the tabular form of CAPFT, Indoor Wet
Bulb, and Outdoor Dry Bulb.
2) Prepare the data and compute the values for (WB
2
), (DB
2
) and (WB*DB)
3) The equation is generated using a regression analysis tool called Eureqa
Formulize developed by Nutonian which is a scientific data mining software
package that searches for mathematical patterns hidden in a data set.
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Since the cooling capacity of the system cannot be defined by single curve, two
different equations have been generated for high and low outdoor dry bulb
temperature
(i) Cooling Capacity Ratio Modifier Function of Low
Temperatures
Select the data from Table 9 that represent the cooling capacity ratio at low outdoor
temperatures (i.e., data to the left of and including the boundary curve in Figure 21)
and organize the indoor and outdoor temperatures according to the fundamental form
of the CAPFT equation. The tabular data given by the manufacturer is in the form
capacity(kW), in order to obtain the capacity curves the data must be converted to a
cooling capacity ratio term (i.e., the data must be normalized).
Table 10Regression Analysis for Creating Cooling Performance curve
CAPFT IWB IWB^2 DB DB^2 IWB*DB Predicted
CAPFT
1.025 14 196 20 400 280 1.02517
0.978846 14 196 25 625 350 0.977386
0.930769 14 196 30 900 420 0.930878
1.071154 16 256 20 400 320 1.07123
1.023077 16 256 25 625 400 1.02345
0.976923 16 256 30 900 480 0.976942
1.117308 18 324 20 400 360 1.1173
1.069231 18 324 25 625 450 1.06951
1.023077 18 324 30 900 540 1.02301
1.140385 19 361 20 400 380 1.14033
1.092308 19 361 25 625 475 1.09255
1.046154 19 361 30 900 570 1.04604
1.209615 22 484 20 400 440 1.20942
1.161538 22 484 25 625 550 1.16164
1.115385 22 484 30 900 660 1.11513
1.255769 24 576 20 400 480 1.25549
1.207692 24 576 25 625 600 1.2077
1.161538 24 576 30 900 720 1.1612

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To do so we use the rated conditions as the reference point and Divide all capacity
data by the Rated Total Cooling Capacity to yield cooling capacity ratio. Table below
shows a typical spreadsheet layout of this data.
CAPFI
Low
= 0.906616945+0.02303191162 IwB +2.552047779
-5
(B^2) 0.01070512808 B
Table 11 Statistical data of Generated Cooling Performance Equation
R^2 Goodness of Fit 0.999
Correlation Coefficient 0.999
MaximumError 0.001
Mean Squared Error 1.64E-07
Mean Absolute Error 2.44 E-04


(ii) Cooling Capacity Ratio Modifier Function of High
Temperatures
Similar analysis is done to create Cooling Capacity Ratio Modifier Function of High
Temperatures and following equation is obtained
CAPFI
H
=0.885+ 0.0231 IWB 0.009425 DB
R^2 Goodness of Fit 0.999
Correlation Coefficient 0.999
MaximumError 0.001
Mean Squared Error 2.38E-07
Mean Absolute Error 0.000272


4.2.3.2 Cooling Energy Input Ratio Modifier
The method used to create performance curve coefficients for cooling energy input
ratio modifier function of temperatures is identical to the method used for cooling
capacity ratio. Table 12 below shows the power input ratio data extracted from
capacity tables provide by manufacturer. This data is normalized to the rated power
input in order to create the performance curves.
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Table 12 Input Power Ratio Normalized to Rated Power
IWB 14 16 18 19 22 24
ODB Power ratio
20 0.768750 0.76875 0.775 0.78125 0.7875 0.7875
25 0.843750 0.84375 0.85 0.85 0.85625 0.8625
30 0.912500 0.91875 0.925 0.925 0.93125 0.9375
32 0.943750 0.95 0.95625 0.95625 0.9625 0.96875
35 0.987500 0.99375 1 1 1.00625 1.0125
40 1.062500 1.06875 1.06875 1.075 1.08125 1.0875



Figure 23 Manufacturer's Data of Cooling Energy Input Ratio

0.76
0.86
0.96
1.06
20 25 30 32 35 40
P
o
w
e
r

I
n
p
u
t

R
a
t
i
o

Outdoor Dry Bulb Temperature
14
16
18
19
22
24
IWB
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It is evident from the cooling energy input data plot Figure 23 that performance of the
system changes at the outdoor temperature of 30
O
C Therefore same boundary curve
from cooling capacity curve is used The following equations are obtained from the
analysis of manufacturers performance data.

EIRFI
Low
=0.4802+0.01317 B + 5.854
-5
wB
2
+ 3.169
-5
B
2

R^2 Goodness of Fit 0.999035
Correlation Coefficient 0.99957
MaximumError 0.003891
Mean Squared Error 3.49E-06
Mean Absolute Error 0.001406


EIRFI
HI
=PIR = 0.4355 + 0.01484 B + 0.002364 wB
R^2 Goodness of Fit 0.999525
Correlation Coefficient 0.999767
MaximumError 0.003136
Mean Squared Error 1.62E-06