CEMS Engineering Lowers Energy Consumption of Centralized

Air-Conditioning Systems by 30% using National Instruments

Technologies.

The Challenge:
Lowering energy consumption of large-scale air-conditioning systems

The Solution:
Using NI Compact Field Point and LabVIEW Real-Time to acquire and
analyze real-time data for more efficient cooling.

"Operating instructions determined through a series of variance

calculations of the real-time input data, PID control loops, principles of
thermodynamics, heat transfer and advanced mathematical
optimization and other equations in a LabVIEW Real-Time application,
resulted in reduced electricity bills and energy consumption up to 30
percent."
Chiller Energy Management System (CEMS Engineering) Engineering
specializes in energy management of centralized air-conditioning
systems. CEMS Engineering has made breakthroughs in conserving
energy in large scale, climate-controlled commercial and industrial
facilities.

To cool a large area, commercial and industrial centralized air-

conditioning systems traditionally consist of multiple machines,
commonly known as chillers that control air temperature by removing
heat from a coolant liquid through vapor-compression or an
absorption-refrigeration cycle. CEMS Engineering has pioneered the
technology to lower the energy usage of these chillers while still
maintaining the same, cooled temperature of the building. CEMS
Engineering uses the NI Compact Fieldpoint (cFP) Programmable
Automation Controller (PAC) to acquire real-time input data directly
from sensors on the chillers and then uses this data to determine and
send new operating instructions to the chillers. These operating
instructions are determined through a series of variance calculations of
the real-time input data, PID control loops, principles of
thermodynamics, heat transfer and advanced mathematical
optimization and other proprietary equations in a LabVIEW Real-Time
application, resulting in reduced electricity bills and energy
consumption up to 30 percent.
The CEMS Engineering systems use a novel approach in determining
optimized operating parameters of chillers. Genetic algorithms that
combine heat transfer principles, thermodynamics and mathematical
predication are used to operate the chillers in the most energy efficient
manner, while maintaining industry standards and without
compromising the comfort level of occupants in a commercial or
industrial building. With the support of National Instruments LabVIEW
and Compact FieldPoint hardware, implementation of the CEMS
Engineering system was completed within six months of
commencement and is now installed and running at customer sites.

CEMS Engineering reduced time to market with the integration

inherent between NI LabVIEW software and its Compact FieldPoint
hardware. With LabVIEW, CEMS Engineering could fully use the power
of graphical system design, progressing from a design to a prototype, to
working deployment in astounding speed. The system relied on
Compact FieldPoint for data acquisition, analysis, decision making and
solid state controls.

Author Information:
For more information on this Case Study, contact:
Thirumalaichelvam Subramaniam
CEMS Engineering Sdn Bhd
thiru@saag.com

http://www.cems.com.my/