B V V SANGHA’S

BASAVESHWAR ENGINEERING COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS) BAGALKOT

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
2022 - 2023

ECONOMISING AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEM IN ROOMS BY

USING VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE
Project Guide Project Coordinate HOD
Dr. M C Goudar Prof.(Smt). S. B. Wadawadgi Dr. V V Kuppast

Project Associates
Name USN
1) Praveen Gudasalamani 2BA20ME416
2) Basappa Myageri 2BA20ME402
3) Shameer Zare 2BA20ME419
4) Husenbhasha 2BA20ME405
 ABSTRACT

Traditionally, we have to use a fixed speed compressor in air conditioning system. Now these are
simply just turn ON and OFF and that results to poor control of higher inrush currents. we find them used
to control the things such as pumps, fans, blowers and compressors in A/C systems. By using VFD unit
which is connected to the motor’s electrical supply, This can be used to vary the frequency of electricity
being supplied to drive the motor and by varying this rotational speed of the motor can be controlled. it
allows to unlock energy savings and we improve the performance and control air conditioning system.
The VFD unit which is use to control the speed of compressor in A/C system and it allows to closely
match to the cooling demand, which results in significant of energy saving. Building’s air- conditioning
(A/C) systems are designed to operate at the peak load, which only occurs in a very short period of time
throughout the year. One of the most effective ways to improve the air conditioning system’s efficiency is
to utilize the variable frequency drives (VFDs). They are widely used in the A/C field, including fans,
pumps, compressors, etc. In a VFD-equipped system, the VFD adjusts the speed of one or more motors
based on the system load requirements and operation schedule, resulting in a dramatic cut in energy
consumption.
 INTRODUCTION
• A VFD is an electrical device used to control the rotation speed of an alternating current (AC) electric
motor by adjusting the frequency of the electrical power supplied to the motor. It is also called pulse-
width-modulated drive (PWM drive).
• In general, a VFD can be used in a variety of applications where the load is variable, such as fans,
pumps, and blowers etc.
• Electric motor-driven systems (EMDS) are the largest electrical end users and account for 43-46% of all
global electricity consumption.
• Reducing energy consumption is the most direct and effective way to improve the efficiency of the
electric motors and increasing advancement of electronic and control technology greatly improves the
performance of variable speed drives.
• To overcome this, systematically introduces the application of VFDs in air conditioning systems,
including heating system, ventilation system, cooling system and refrigeration systems in commercial
and industrial buildings.
• Air conditioning systems are also good candidates for VFD applications. The compressor is the major
device where the VFD is installed in a A/C loop. The typical applications include AHUs (Air handling
unit), FCUs (unit), and chillers.
 INTRODUCTION
• Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) change the speed of motor by changing voltage and frequency of the
power supplied to the motor. In order to maintain proper power factor and reduce excessive heating of
the motor, the name plate volts/hertz ratio must be maintained. This is the main task of Variable
Frequency Drive.
• It becomes possible to control the speed of electric motors as well as increase in efficient energy use
decrease in energy consumption by air conditioning system.
 LITERATURE REVIEW
 Luigi Schibuola et. al[1]: Variable speed drive (VSD) technology can be introduced in heating,
ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, normally sized for peak load conditions, to match
actual load requirements. This paper presents a detailed assessment of the impact of the application of
VSDs to HVAC components in a public building. As regards the electricity consumption of pumping and
fans, the investigation has pointed out the achievement of a global annual energy saving of 38.9% in
comparison with the alternative of a constant speed HVAC system.
 Annapurna Birdar et. al[2]: This paper describes the volume of air pumped into the kiln is controlled
by air blower motor, which is necessary for firing of insulators. Variable frequency drives (VFDs) are
used to control three phase induction motor which intern controls the output of an air blower motor.
VFDs are used to vary supply frequency to control the speed of air blower motor and Installation of
VFDs offers high efficiency ease of operation and savings in cost due to less power consumption. VFDs
require less maintenance, improve process control and have become the drive of choice in the majority
of applications.
 LITERATURE REVIEW
 Yunha li [3]:This paper presents the principles are introduced for VFDs, variable speed fans, pumps,
and compressors. Next, the control application of VFDs on each type of system, VFDs play a great role
in the optimal operation of building energy systems. The increased functionality and reliability along
with the reduced cost make them more and more widely accepted and used in the HVAC industry. These
applications will achieve a tremendous energy savings from motors.
• Tamal Aditya[4]: This paper presents the working principle of Variable Frequency Drive. The
performance of VFD is also described. The Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) in waveforms is also
analyzed. The use of Variable Frequency Drive has been increased dramatically in the field of HVAC
applications. The common applications of VFDs are in air handler, chiller, pumps and tower fans. A
better understanding of Variable Frequency Drives with leads to improve in application and selection of
both equipment and HVAC system. This paper is intended to provide a basics understanding of VFD
terms, VFD operations and Power Factor improvement, Harmonics mitigation by VFD and a simulation
project to show how VFD is beneficial for energy savings. In addition to this paper will discuss the
comparison between Variable Frequency Drives and other technologies with respect to industrial
standards.
 LITERATURE REVIEW
 Pravin G. Sanas et. al[5]: A Variable frequency drive (VFD) is the type of motor controller that drives
an electric motor by varying the frequency and voltage supplied to electric motor. The AC input given to
VFD is used to drive induction motor. Rectifier diode is used for rectification of AC output & filter
capacitor is used to reduce the ripples in output DC supply. The inverter circuit drives the IGBT to invert
DC to AC as per inverter frequency to AC induction motor input. Microcontroller is used to
control/monitor/set the output frequency and current of the AC induction motor.
 Mr. Manoj Nimase et. al[6]: This paper focuses on the study of different control strategies of Air
Handling Unit (AHU) and also the power saving techniques. As energy performance of the system
strongly depends on the selection of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system
configuration as HVAC systems account for approximately 30 - 60% of the total energy consumption.
Variable frequency drives are nowadays a key manner for lowering the consumption of the HVAC
system in peak time. In this paper different types of variable frequency drives, their operations, methods
of controlling speed, challenges faced during implementation of VFD and power saving techniques are
discussed.
 LITERATURE REVIEW
 Yanfeng Li et. al (7): This paper presents an intelligent control scheme for fan coil air-conditioning
systems has been put forward in order to overcome the shortcomings of the traditional proportion-
integral-derivative (PID) control scheme. These shortcomings include the inability of anti-interference
and large inertia. A software for data exchange has been developed to combine the intelligence control
system and the building automation (BA) system. They had experimental tests conducted to investigate
the effectiveness of different control schemes including the traditional PID control, fuzzy control, and
fuzzy-PID control for fan coil air-conditioning system.
 IP Knight et .al (8) This research paper is provided us the energy consumption information for 34 air-
conditioning systems, “as found” in UK office accommodation. The results will highlight those areas of
design and operation of air-conditioning systems that were found to be crucial in terms of energy
consumption. This is the 3-year field-monitoring program researching the energy consumption of air-
conditioning (A/C) systems in UK Offices. The premise of the work is that little published data exists
concerning the energy use of A/C systems in practice.
LITERATURE REVIEW
 Observations
 After studying various papers it is seen that voltage and frequency (V/F) control technique is most
commonly used than other control techniques.
 This control technique the supply voltage and frequency (V/F) is varied keeping ratio constant.
 Using VFDs help the motors are starts softly and reduces motor energy consumption and use to making
it energy efficient.
 VFDs are also reduces the switching losses and increases the operating speed making it motor operation
more reliable.
 Air-conditioners use a lot of electricity. This creates both financial disadvantages for the people who
have to pay for the power, and more generalized environmental disadvantages caused by power
production.
 The air-conditioning systems account for approximately 30 - 60% of the total energy consumption.
 The increasing the functionality and reliability along with the reduced cost and It can be use in air-
conditioning systems.
 Objectives
 To save the energy and improve the system efficiency.
 To match the speed of the drive to the process.
 To reduces the motor power consumption significantly with proper control in A/C system.
 To reduce mechanical stress on machines to extend their lifetime.
 To improves the power factor of the A/C drive system including VFD units.
 To reduced noise and vibration level.
 To achieve large energy savings in commercial buildings and industries.
METHODOLOGY
Expected out comes
• To save the energy and improve system efficiency.
• To match the speed of the drive to the process.
• To reduce mechanical stress on machines to extend
their lifetime.