Researchers Develop Algorithm For Automatic Detection Of HVAC System Failures

A team of researchers from Indian Institute of Technology Mandi have collaborated with a scientist from Université de Lorraine, France, to develop a novel algorithm that automatically detects operational failures in Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems installed in buildings.  

The results of this research have been published in the Journal of Building Performance Simulation in a paper coauthored by Dr Tushar Jain, Associate Professor, School of Computing and Electrical Engineering and his research scholar Dr Mona Subramaniam from IIT Mandi and his collaborator Dr Joseph J Yamé from Université de Lorraine, France

Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems are essential for maintaining the thermal comfort of occupants inside buildings. HVAC systems employing Variable Air Volume (VAV) terminal boxes offer an energy-efficient solution to maintain the thermal comfort of occupants inside the building. A VAV box sends a controlled amount of processed air inside each zone of the building.

The sensors and dampers in VAV boxes can become faulty and need repairs. However, detecting and identifying these faults manually is a slow, costly and error-prone process. Delays in detecting and fixing the faults in HVAC systems can lead to indoor environmental issues, such as poor thermal comfort and indoor air quality, affecting occupant health and productivity. This also results in the wastage of energy, thereby reducing building energy efficiency. Research suggests that faults in HVAC systems could increase the energy consumption of buildings by 4 per cent to 18 per cent.

IIT Mandi researchers have developed an automated fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) algorithm that integrates with the building automation system (BAS) or building energy management system (BEMS). This system helps maintenance crews identify and predict potential failures, analyse their impact, determine their importance to the BAS and quickly direct repairs, ensuring that the system is always available.