Multivariable control-oriented modeling of a direct

expansion (DX) air conditioning (A/C) system

Qi Qi, Shiming Deng*
Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 28 June 2007
Received in revised form
17 October 2007
Accepted 18 October 2007
Published online 9 January 2008
Keywords:
Cooling system
Air conditioning
Direct expansion
Modelling
Simulation
Comparison
Experiment
a b s t r a c t
A dynamic mathematical model for a DX A/C system has been developed. The dynamic
model, written in state-space representation which was suitable for designing multivari-
able control, was linearized at steady state operating points. The linearized model has
been validated by comparing the model simulation results with the experimental data ob-
tained from an experimental DX A/C system. The simulated results agreed well with the
experimental data, suggesting that the model developed was able to capture the transient
characteristics of the DX A/C system modeled. It is expected that the model developed can
be useful in designing a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) controller to simultaneously
control indoor air temperature and humidity in a space served by a DX A/C system.
2007 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
Mode lisation aux variables multiples axe e sur la re gulation
dun syste` me de conditionnement dair a` de tente directe
Mots cles : Syste` me frigorique ; Conditionnement dair ; De tente directe ; Mode lisation ; Simulation ; Comparaison ; Expe rimentation
1. Introduction
Direct expansion (DX) air conditioning (A/C) systems are
widely used in small- to medium-scaled buildings in recent
decades. Compared to central chilled water-based A/C sys-
tems, the use of DX A/C systems is advantageous since they
are simpler in conguration, more energy efcient and gener-
ally cost less to own and maintain. In the US, according to
Department of Energy, packaged rooftop DX A/C systems
accounted for approximately 60% of the total installed cooling
capacity (Bordick and Gilbridge, 2002).
Residential buildings are most likely served by DX A/C sys-
tems, but controlling indoor humidity at an appropriate level
using a DX A/C system is both challenging and important
since this directly affects occupants thermal comfort and in-
door air quality (IAQ) (Fanger, 2001). Most DX A/C units are
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 852 2766 5859; fax: 852 2765 7198.
E-mail address: besmd@polyu.edu.hk (S. Deng).
www. i i i r . or g
avai l abl e at www. sci encedi r ect . com
j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . com/ l ocat e/ i j r ef r i g
0140-7007/$ see front matter 2007 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2007.10.009
i nt e r na t i ona l j o ur na l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 1 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 8 4 1 8 4 9
currently equipped with single-speed compressors and supply
fans, relying on onoff cycling compressors as a low-cost
approach to maintain only indoor air dry-bulb temperature,
resulting in either space overcooling or an uncontrolled equi-
librium indoor relative humidity (RH) level.
Recent developments in variable speed drive (VSD) tech-
nology offer tremendous opportunities for improving indoor
thermal comfort and energy efciency for DX-based space
air conditioning. Compressor speed can be continuously var-
ied to modulate the output cooling capacity to match the ac-
tual thermal load. The supply fan speed can be also altered
to affect both sensible heat and latent heat transfer rate across
heat exchangers. Therefore it is possible to improve indoor
thermal comfort control using DX A/C systems equipped
with variable speed compressor and supply air fan.
In the open literature available, a considerable number of
previous investigations have focused on the dynamic model-
ing of vapor compression refrigeration cycles. He et al. (1997)
developed an overall dynamic model for a vapor compression
refrigeration cycle, and the simulation results indicated that
there were strong cross-couplings among system inputs and
outputs. Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) technique was
then used to design a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) con-
troller with guaranteed stability and robustness (He et al.,
1998). The possibility of using a model-based nonlinear con-
troller was also investigated numerically for a vapor compres-
sion refrigeration system (Tao et al., 2004, 2005). Rasmussen
and Alleyne (2004) presented a reduced order dynamic model
of a transcritical vapor compression cycle. It was demon-
strated that the reduced order model was adequate for predict-
ing the dominant system dynamics. Therefore the reduced
order model with minimal loss in accuracy was very useful
for designing an MIMO controller. Shah et al. (2004) developed
a model for the vapor compression refrigeration cycle in an
automotive air conditioning system with a variable speed
compressor, and applied the multivariable adaptive control
strategy to the air conditioning system to improve its capacity
control and system efciency. Lin and Yeh (2007) developed
a low-order linear model for an air conditioning system
through system identication. Experimental results indicated
that an MIMO-based controller can both achieve satisfactory
transient responses in indoor air temperature and improve
energy efciency at steady states. However, the model estab-
lished through systemidentication was only valid for certain
particular systems.
In mechanical cooling based on A/C systems, dehumidi-
cation is less straightforward because of the dual function of
cooling and dehumidication taking place in cooling coils.
This has led to the controlled variables of air temperature
and humidity becoming coupled, which was conrmed by ex-
perimental investigations (Li and Deng, 2007a). Krakow et al.
(1995) suggested that space air temperature and relative hu-
midity could be controlled by varying compressor speed and
varying evaporator fan speed, separately, using a propor-
tionalintegralderivative (PID) control method. However,
the study focused on the feasibility of such a PID control
method, without looking at the coupling effect of air temper-
ature and humidity by treating the two controlled variables
separately. A DDC-based control algorithm developed by Li
and Deng (2007b,c) considered the coupling effect of air tem-
perature and humidity and used space sensible heat ratio
(SHR) as a controlled variable to simultaneously control space
Nomenclature
A, B, C coefcient matrices (in Eq. (18))
A
1
heat transfer area of the DX evaporator in dry-
cooling region, m
2
A
2
heat transfer area of the DX evaporator in wet-
cooling region, m
2
C
p
specic heat of air, kJ kg
1
K
1
f air volumetric ow rate, m
3
/s
M moisture load in the conditioned space, kg/s
M
ref
mass ow rate of refrigerant, kg/s
Pr Prandtl number
Q
load
sensible heat load in the conditioned space, kW
Q
spl
heat gain of supply fan, kW
SH super heat of refrigerant,

C
T
1
temperature of air leaving the DX evaporator,

C
T
2
air temperature in the conditioned space,

C
T
3
air temperature leaving the dry-cooling region of
the DX evaporator,

C
T
w
temperature of the DX evaporator wall,

C
V volume of the conditioned space, m
3
V
h1
air side volume of the DXevaporator in dry-cooling
region on air side, m
3
V
h2
air side volume of the DX evaporator in wet-
cooling region on air side, m
3
V
com
swept volume of the rotor compressor, m
3
W
1
moisture content of air leaving the DX evaporator,
kg/kg dry air
W
2
moisture content of air-conditioned space, kg/kg
dry air
a
1
heat transfer coefcient between air and the DX
evaporator wall in dry-cooling region, kWm
2
C
1
a
2
heat transfer coefcient between air and the DX
evaporator wall inwet-cooling region, kWm
2
C
1
r density of moist air, kg/m
3
h
fg
latent heat of vaporization of water, kJ/kg
h
r1
enthalpy of refrigerant at evaporator inlet, kJ/kg
h
r2
enthalpy of refrigerant at evaporator outlet, kJ/kg
j
e1
, j
e2
Colburn factors
k
spl
coefcient of supply fan heat gain, kJ/m
3
v
s
specic volume of superheated refrigerant,
m
3
kg
1
e rotor eccentricity, m
l stroke of cylinder, m
r radius of rotor, m
s speed of compressor, rpm
l compressors displacement coefcient
l
sys
eigenvalue (in Eq. (23))
3 rotor relative eccentricity
Superscript
w evaporator wall
i nt e r na t i o na l j our na l of r e f r i ge r a t i on 3 1 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 8 4 1 8 4 9 842
air temperature and relative humidity. However, the sensitiv-
ity of the DDC-based controller was poor as it had to wait for
a long time for the controller to be fed with the required infor-
mation to take the next control action.
It can therefore be seen that the previous studies mainly
focused on either the modeling and control of vapor compres-
sion refrigeration systemor the control of air temperature and
humidity by using conventional control such as PID control
method without much consideration on the coupling effect
of air temperature and humidity. The PID control method
was in fact to have two separate control loops, i.e., controlling
indoor air temperature by varying compressor speed and in-
door air humidity by varying supply fan speed. The two con-
trol loops have been traditionally treated as two separate
single-input single-output (SISO) systems, while the coupling
effect between the two parameters has been often ignored.
The performance of the conventional SISO control has been
inherently poor. Therefore developing an MIMO control strat-
egy for coupled air temperature and humidity is urgently re-
quired. Consequently, dynamic modeling of a DX A/C
system suitable for developing MIMO control algorithms
which consider the coupling effect of air temperature and hu-
midity becomes highly necessary.
This paper presents the development of a dynamic mathe-
matical model for aDXA/Csystem, writteninstate-spacerepre-
sentation which was suitable for designing multivariable
control. The organizationof thepaper is as follows. Section2de-
scribes briey an experimental DX A/C system. The develop-
ment of the dynamic model of the experimental DX A/C
system and its linearization process are presented in Section
3. Simulation results using the linearized model and the results
obtained for the experimental DX A/C system are compared in
Section 4 for model validation. Section 5 presents conclusions.
2. Description of the experimental
DX A/C system
The experimental DX A/C system was mainly composed of
two parts, i.e., a DX refrigeration plant (refrigerant side) and
an air-distribution sub-system (air side). Its simplied sche-
matic diagram is shown in Fig. 1. The major components in
the DXrefrigerationplant included a variable speedrotor com-
pressor, an electronic expansion valve (EEV), a high-efciency
tube-louver-nned DX evaporator and an air-cooled tube-
plate-nned condenser. The evaporator was placed inside
the supply air duct to work as a DX air cooling coil. The design
air face velocity for the DX cooling coil was 2.5 m/s. The nom-
inal output cooling capacity from the DX refrigeration plant
was 9.9 kW (2.8 RT). The working uid of the plant was refrig-
erant R22, with a total charge of 5.3 kg.
The air-distributionsub-systemincludedanair-distribution
ductwork with return air dampers, a variable speed centrifugal
supply fan, and a conditioned thermal space. Inside the space,
there are sensible heat and moisture load generating units
(LGUs). The units are intended to simulate the cooling load in
the conditioned space.
The experimental DX A/C system has been fully instru-
mented. High-precision sensors/transducers were used for
measuring all operating parameters including temperatures
and ow rates of both air and refrigerant, pressures in the
DX A/C unit, etc. All measurements were computerized, so
that all the measured data can be recorded for subsequent
analysis.
3. Dynamic modeling of the experimental
DX A/C system
The dynamic mathematical model for the DX A/C system was
mainly derived from the energy and mass conservation prin-
ciples. The following assumptions were made in developing
the mathematical model: (1) perfect air mixing inside all
heat exchangers and the thermal space, and no fresh air in-
take to the system; (2) two regions on the air side of the DX
evaporator, i.e., dry-cooling region and wet-cooling region;
and (3) negligible thermal losses in air ducts.
In the DX A/C system to be modeled, the temperature
and moisture content of the air leaving the DX cooling
coil, as shown in Fig. 1, were T
1
and W
1
, respectively. With
the air perfect mixing assumption, air temperature, T
2
, and
air moisture content, W
2
, leaving the conditioned space
can be regarded as being equal to those in the conditioned
thermal space. Based on the energy conservation principle,
the sensible energy balance equation for the conditioned
space was:
C
p
rV
dT
2
dt
C
p
rf T
1
T
2
Q
load
Q
spl
(1)
where V was the volume of the conditioned space, Q
load
the
space sensible load, Q
spl
heat gain of the supply fan, f the air
volumetric ow rate. The heat gain of supply fan increased
with the air ow rate.
Q
spl
k
spl
f (2)
On the other hand, the moisture mass balance inside the
conditioned space was
rV
dW
2
dt
rf W
1
W
2
M (3)
Thermal space
EEV
Variable speed
compressor
Evaporator
Condenser
Variable speed
supply fan
T
1
,W
1
T
2
,W
2
Supply air
h
r1
h
r2
Fig. 1 The schematic diagram of the experimental DX A/C
system.
i nt e r na t i ona l j o ur na l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 1 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 8 4 1 8 4 9 843
where M was the moisture load generation in the conditioned
space.
Corresponding to the assumed two regions on the air side,
the refrigerant side in the DX A/C systems was assumed to
have a two-phase region and a superheated region, as shown
in Fig. 2.
At the air side of the evaporator, with the assumption of no
fresh air, the temperature and moisture content of the air en-
tering evaporator were T
2
and W
2
, respectively. The air tem-
perature decreased along the evaporator wall and was equal
to T
3
at the end of dry-cooling region. Since the dry-cooling
region was usually small, the temperature of the entire evap-
orator wall was assumed at the same T
w
. Applying the energy
balance principle in the dry-cooling region on the air side
yielded
C
p
rV
h1
dT
3
dt
C
p
rf T
2
T
3
a
1
A
1
_
T
w

T
2
T
3
2
_
(4)
On the other hand, in the wet-cooling region, there was not
only sensible heat transfer between the air and evaporator
wall but also latent heat transfer. The coupled air cooling
and dehumidication mainly took place in the wet-cooling re-
gion. Therefore the energy balance in the wet-cooling region
can be written in enthalpy form:
rV
h2
dh
1
dt
rf h
3
h
1
a
2
A
2
_
T
w

T
3
T
1
2
_
(5)
The relationship among air enthalpy, temperature and
moisture content was
h C
p
T h
fg
W (6)
where h
fg
was the latent heat of vaporization of water.
Substitute Eq. (6) into Eq. (5) to obtain
C
p
rV
h2
dT
1
dt
rV
h2
h
fg
dW
1
dt
C
p
rf T
3
T
1
rfh
fg
W
2
W
1

a
2
A
2
_
T
w

T
3
T
1
2
_
(7)
The degree of refrigerant sub-cooling in a condenser with
a receiver is normally rather small, and the refrigerant in the
receiver can be assumed to be the saturated liquid refriger-
ant at condensing pressure. Therefore, after knowing the
real-time measured condensing pressure, the enthalpy of
refrigerant leaving the receiver, h
re2
, can be obtained using
the R22 State Equations (Cleland, 1986). Neglecting the en-
ergy loss in the refrigerant line and approximating the
refrigerant throttling process in an EEV as being isenthalpic,
the enthalpy of refrigerant entering the DX evaporator is
given by
h
r1
h
re2
(8)
The enthalpy of superheated refrigerant at compressor suc-
tion, h
rc1
, can be evaluated based on the real-time measured
pressure and the temperature of superheated refrigerant us-
ing the R22 State Equations. Neglecting the energy loss in
the refrigerant line between DX evaporator and compressor
suction owing to good thermal insulation, the enthalpy of
the refrigerant leaving the DX evaporator is given by
h
r2
h
rc1
(9)
The swept volume of the rotor compressor, V
com
, was calcu-
lated using the related compressors geometric parameters as
follows:
V
com
pr
2
l3
_
2 3
_
(10)
where l is the stroke of cylinder; r the radius of rotor and 3 the
rotor relative eccentricity.
The compressor displacement coefcient, l, was given by
l 1 0:015
_
_
P
c
P
e
_1
b
1
_
(11)
where b is the compression index which was assumed to be
constant at 1.18. P
c
and P
e
were the condensing pressure and
evaporating pressure, respectively.
Therefore, the refrigerant mass ow rate can be deter-
mined by
M
ref

sV
com
v
s
_
1 0:015
_
P
c
=P
e

1
b
1
__
(12)
where s is the compressor speed, v
s
specic volume of super-
heated refrigerant, which can be obtained from measured
pressure and temperature of refrigerant at compressor suc-
tion using the R22 State Equations.
Due to the signicant difference in thermal inertia for both
refrigerant and air, dynamic responses to changes on the air
side were much slower than that on the refrigerant side. When
theair sidewaitedfor alongtimetofullyrespond, therefrigerant
side was already in its steady state for a quite while. Thus the
same refrigerant mass ow rate at both the inlet and the outlet
of the DX evaporator was assumed. Therefore the energy
balance equation for the evaporator wall can be written as
Refrigerant side
h
1
Evaporator wall
T
1
,W
1
wet-region
T
3
dry-region
T
2
,W
2
Air side
T
w
h
2 superheated
region
two-phase region
Fig. 2 The schematic diagram of evaporator.
i nt e r na t i o na l j our na l of r e f r i ge r a t i on 3 1 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 8 4 1 8 4 9 844
_
C
p
rV
_
w
dT
w
dt
a
1
A
1
_
T
2
T
3
2
T
w
_
a
2
A
2
_
T
3
T
1
2
T
w
_
M
ref
h
r2
h
r1
(13)
The airside convective heat transfer coefcients for the
louver-nned evaporator in both dry-cooling and wet-cooling
regions were evaluated as follows (Chen, 2005):
a
1
j
e1
ry
C
p
Pr
2
3
(14a)
a
2
j
e2
ry
C
p
Pr
2
3
(14b)
where j
e1
, j
e2
are the Colburn factors, y the air velocity.
The supply air leaving the DX evaporator was assumed to
be at 95% saturated. The relationship between air moisture
content and temperature can be derived by plotting and curv-
ing tting:
W
1

_
0:0198T
2
1
0:085T
1
4:4984
__
1000 (15a)
Therefore
dW
1
dt
2 0:0198T
1
0:085
dT
1
dt
=1000 0 (15b)
Eqs. (1), (3), (4), (7), (13) and (15b), all of which were rst order
differential equations, formed the dynamic model of DX A/C
system. Since the objective of the model development was
to assist the design of a multivariable controller, it was sug-
gested (Tewari, 2002; Skogestad and Postletheaite, 1996) that
these differential equations should be written in state-space
representation, such that it did not formally distinguish be-
tween a multivariable system and a single variable system,
allowing an efcient design and analysis for a multivariable
system in the same manner as for a single variable system.
Hence the model in state-space representation may be
expressed in the following compact format:
_
X D
1
$g
1
_
X; U
_
D
1
$g
2
_
Z
_
(16)
where the state variables X T
1
; T
2
; T
3
; T
w
; W
1
; W
2

T
and
_
X dX=dt, the input variables U f ; s
T
, and the disturbance
variables Z Q
load
; M
T
, g
1
, g
2
are the functions, dened as
follows:
g
1
X; U
_

_
C
p
rf T
1
T
2
k
spl
f
rf W
1
W
2

C
p
rf T
2
T
3
a
1
A
1
_
T
w

T
2
T
3
2
_
C
p
rf T
3
T
1
rfh
fg
W
2
W
1
a
2
A
2
_
T
w

T
3
T1
2
_
a
1
A
1
_
T
2
T
3
2
T
w
_
a
2
A
2
_
T
3
T
1
2
T
w
_
s
vs
Vcoml
h
r2
h
r1

0
_

_
(17a)
g
2
Z
_

_
Q
load
M
0
0
0
0
_

_
(17b)
D
_

_
0 C
p
rV 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 rV
0 0 C
p
rV
h1
0 0 0
C
p
rV
h2
0 0 0 rV
h2
h
fg
0
0 0 0
_
C
p
rV
_
w
0 0
1 0 0 0 20:0198T
1
0:085=1000 0
_

_
(18)
Table 2 Operating condition of the DX A/C system
T
1
13.25

C P
c
1.812 10
6
Pa
W
1
9.03/1000 kg/kg dry air P
e
0.486 10
6
Pa
T
2
24

C Q
load
4.49 kW
W
2
11.35/1000 kg/kg dry air M 0.96/1000 kg/s
T
3
17

C M
ref
0.042 kg/s
T
w
13

C s 3960 rpm
SH 6

C f 0.347 m
3
/s
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
23.00
23.25
23.50
23.75
24.00
24.25
24.50
Simulation
Experiment
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(

C
)
Time (s)
Fig. 3 Simulated and measured air temperature in the
conditioned space in response to a step change in
compressor speed.
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
10.6
10.8
11.0
11.2
11.4
11.6
M
o
i
s
t
u
r
e

c
o
n
t
e
n
t

(
g
/
k
g
)
Time (s)
Simulation
Experiment
Fig. 4 Simulated and measured air moisture content in
the conditioned space in response to a step change in
compressor speed.
Table 1 Numerical values of the system parameters
C
p
1.005 kJ/kg A
1
4.14 m
2
r 1.2 kg/m
3
A
2
17.65 m
2
h
fg
2450 kJ/kg V
h1
0.04 m
3
V 77 m
3
V
h2
0.16 m
3
i nt e r na t i ona l j o ur na l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 1 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 8 4 1 8 4 9 845
The developed dynamic model expressed in state-space
representation, i.e., Eq. (16), was nonlinear since the relation-
ship between state variables and input variables was nonlin-
ear. In most cases, a DX A/C system was designed to operate
in the vicinity of a predetermined set point given that thermal
space cooling load did not signicantly change. As long as the
control systemcan properly regulate the dynamic deviation of
the controlled objectives from the set points, the controlled
system can be well represented by a linearized model around
the set points. Hence, the state variables, X, and control in-
puts, U, can be expressed as follows, respectively:
Xxx
0
(19a)
Uuu
0
(19b)
where x
0
and u
0
are the state vector and input vector, both evalu-
ated at a steady state operating point, and x and u represent the
small dynamic deviation from x
0
and u
0
, respectively. For the DX
A/C system to be modeled, the sensible and moisture content load
disturbance can be regarded as being constant at a steady state.
Therefore the linearized model describing the systems dynamic de-
viation at an operating point can be written as
_ x
vg
1
vX

x
0
;u
0
x
vg
1
vU

x
0
;u
0
uA
_
x
0
;u
0
_
xB
_
x
0
;u
0
_
u (20)
Therefore the linearized dynamic model of the DX A/C sys-
tem in state-space representation, which is highly suitable for
designing multivariable control, can be written as
_
_
_
_ xAxBu
yCx
(21)
where the output variables ydT
2
;dW
2

T
, the dynamic devia-
tions of air temperature and moisture content from their set
points, respectively, and A, B, C were the coefcient matrices.
At a particular operating point, where T
2
24

C,
W
2
0.0135 kg/kg dry air, T
1
13.25

C, W
1
0.00903 kg/kg
dry air and the air owrate f 0.347 m
3
/s, the systemmatrices
A, B and C were calculated as follows:
A
_

_
5:731 0 0:0756 4:1883 5287 5287
0:0045 0:0045 0 0 0 0
0 4:6577 12:692 8:0346 0 0
0:0139 0:0067 0:0206 0:0412 0 0
0:0006 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0:0045 0:0045
_

_
(22a)
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
12.00
12.25
12.50
12.75
13.00
13.25
13.50
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(

C
)
Time (s)
Simulation
Experiment
Fig. 5 Simulated and measured temperature of the air
leaving evaporator in response to a step change in
compressor speed.
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
8.0
8.2
8.4
8.6
8.8
9.0
9.2
M
o
i
s
t
u
r
e

c
o
n
t
e
n
t

(
g
/
k
g
)
Time (s)
Simulation
Experiment
Fig. 6 Simulated and measured moisture content of the
air leaving evaporator in response to a step change in
compressor speed.
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
58.0
58.5
59.0
59.5
60.0
60.5
61.0
R
H

(




)
Time (s)
Simulation
Experiment
Fig. 7 Simulated and measured relative humidity in the
conditioned space in response to a step change in
compressor speed.
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Latent cooling capacity
Sensible cooling capacity
C
o
o
l
i
n
g

c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y

(
k
W
)
Time (s)
Total cooling capacity
Simulation
Experiment
Fig. 8 Simulated and measured output cooling capacities
in response to a step change in compressor speed.
i nt e r na t i o na l j our na l of r e f r i ge r a t i on 3 1 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 8 4 1 8 4 9 846
B
_

_
55:035 0
0:098 0
172:5 0
0 5:931
0 0
0:00003 0
_

_
; C
_
0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1
_
(22b)
Theeigenvaluesof thelinearizedmodel for theDXA/Csystem
are showninEq. (23) for the operating point. All the eigenvalues
have the negative real parts, suggesting that the DXA/Csystem
represented by the linearized model was asymptotically stable.
l
sys

_

_
2:46e 017
4:51e 003
2:85e 002
6:15e 001
5:12e 000
1:27e 001
_

_
(23)
4. Model validation
Simulation results using the linearized dynamic model, i.e.,
Eq. (18), have been compared with the experimental data
obtained from the experimental DX A/C system for the pur-
pose of model validation. The simulation results and experi-
ment results were the open-loop responses to step changes
in compressor and supply fan speeds, respectively.
When the systemwas operating around a steady state con-
dition, step changes were introduced to the controllable in-
puts such as compressor speed and supply fan speed. The
same operating conditions and step changes were also input
to the model to obtain simulation results to facilitate the
comparison.
The following comparisons were based on the steady state
operational condition of around 24

C indoor air temperature
and 11.3 g/kg moisture content, or 60% RH in conditioned
space. The numerical values of both the system parameters
used in the simulation and the operating condition of the
DX A/C system are given in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. The
linearization of the model was also based on this operating
condition. Figs. 38 present the comparisons between the sim-
ulation results and experimental data in response to a step
change in compressor speed from 3960 rpm to 4488 rpm
(from 66 Hz to 75 Hz), introduced at 420 s. When the compres-
sor speed increased, the temperature and moisture content of
0 200 400 600 800 1000
11.0
11.5
12.0
12.5
13.0
13.5
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(

C
)
Time (s)
Simulation
Experiment
Fig. 9 Simulated and measured temperature of the air
leaving evaporator in response to a step change in supply
fan speed.
0 200 400 600 800 1000
8.0
8.2
8.4
8.6
8.8
9.0
9.2
M
o
i
s
t
u
r
e

c
o
n
t
e
n
t

(
g
/
k
g
)
Time (s)
Simulation
Experiment
Fig. 10 Simulated and measured moisture content of the
air leaving evaporator in response to a step change in
supply fan speed.
0 200 400 600 800 1000
23.00
23.25
23.50
23.75
24.00
24.25
24.50
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(

C
)
Time (s)
Simulation
Experiment
Fig. 11 Simulated and measured air temperature in the
conditioned space in response to a step change in supply
fan speed.
0 200 400 600 800 1000
11.00
11.05
11.10
11.15
11.20
11.25
11.30
11.35
11.40
M
o
i
s
t
u
r
e

c
o
n
t
e
n
t

(
g
/
k
g
)
Time (s)
Simulation
Experiment
Fig. 12 Simulated and measured air moisture content in
the conditioned space in response to a step change in
supply fan speed.
i nt e r na t i ona l j o ur na l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 1 ( 2 0 0 8 ) 8 4 1 8 4 9 847
the air in conditioned space decreased due to the increased
output cooling capacity of the DX A/C system, as shown in
Figs. 3 and 4. As seen in both gures, there existed a good
agreement between the simulated responses and the experi-
mental results. Similar observations can be obtained for other
operating parameters such as the temperature and moisture
content of air leaving the DX evaporator (Fig. 5 and 6), indoor
air relative humidity (Fig. 7) and output cooling capacities
(Fig. 8). In Fig. 8, it is seen that the increase in output latent
cooling capacity was more than that in output sensible cooling
capacity, when the total output cooling capacity was in-
creased due to the increase in compressor speed, which
resulted in a lower evaporating temperature or a lower evap-
orator wall temperature. Hence, as seen in Fig. 7, indoor air
RH was reduced due to the increased output latent cooling
capacity.
On the other hand, the comparisons between the simula-
tion results and experimental data, in response to a step
change in supply fan speed from 2448 rpm to 2160 rpm (from
41 Hz to 36 Hz), introducedat 290 s, are illustratedinFigs. 914.
When the supply fan speed was reduced, the temperature and
moisture content of the air leaving the DX evaporator de-
creased, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively. Again, in
both gures, a good agreement between the simulated results
and measured experimental data can be observed. Similar ob-
servations of agreement can also be found for other systems
parameters as shown in Figs. 1114.
The comparisons shown in Figs. 314 conrmed that the
developed model after linearization was experimentally vali-
dated to be able to both capture the transient change of sys-
tem parameters in a timely manner, and to represent the
steady state operation with an acceptable accuracy. Although
there were a number of points where there existed noticeable
differences between the measured and the simulated re-
sponses possibly due to the fact that the model developed
was a simplied one, the general trends for both were consis-
tent. Hence, this model was a good representation of the DXA/
C system during both the steady state and transient operating
conditions. More importantly, the model was written in state-
space representation, thus suitable for multivariable control-
ler design.
5. Conclusions
A dynamic mathematical model of a DX A/C system has been
developed based on the principle of energy and mass conser-
vation, and is reported in this paper. The dynamic model writ-
ten in state-space representation was linearized at its
operating point, which makes it highly suitable for designing
a multivariable control algorithm, such as MIMO control.
The linearized model was experimentally validated. It is
expected that the validated model could pave the way for fu-
ture work of designing an MIMO controller for simultaneously
controlling indoor air temperature and humidity in a space
served by a DX A/C system.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the nancial supports from both
the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong (B-Q796) and The
Hong Kong Polytechnic University for the work reported in
this paper.
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