Optimal Planning of Multi-chillers Refrigeration System for Maximizing Efficiency with the Influence of Hourly Weather Condition

The formulation of optimization modeling for the multi-chillersChiller refrigerationRefrigeration system is studied to maximize the efficiency of the system. The main challenge to formulate an actual representation of the system occurs when some assumptions are oversimplified in the model formulations. The cooling load with the effect of ambient temperatures is usually not predicted in the model formulations and it is assumed to be a constant value. The option to decide which chillerChiller to operate or in standby mode is usually unavailable. The reason for simplified model assumptions is due to the lack of understanding the optimization problems and limited data availability. The main aim of this study is to formulate a mathematical model for the whole process of the refrigerationRefrigeration system and to find the maximum coefficient of performance profile. The formulation of the optimization framework for the system is modeled as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming Model to establish an accurate representation of the theoretical process integration of each component in the system. Statistical analysis such as time-series and regression methods are applied to find the relation of the energyEnergy consumption profile with the ambient temperatures. The result is the operational planning of the multi-chillersChiller network over the planning time points and the optimal time-varying COP profile for the system that is obtained from the optimal solution with the main aim of obtaining highly efficient performance of the system. Therefore, this study will be beneficial to systematically evaluate the potential control strategy for achieving optimal operation of the system.