Numerical Optimal Control of Endoreversible Single-Effect HVAC-AR System Based on Finite-Time Thermodynamic Method

Abstract For static thermodynamic systems, analytical-geometric and variational principles are used so far for optimal control in finite-time thermodynamic (FTT)-based engineering optimization problems. This solution technique has some limitations, as is the case for single-effect refrigeration absorption heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC-AR) systems thermodynamic optimization, whose problem is to optimally allocate thermal conductances in the four heat exchangers. Hence the need to explore numerical methods as an alternative solution. This paper proposes a model combining FTT–linear programing (LP) to succinctly formulate the optimization problem of HVAC-AR systems with constraints, where the thermal conductances of the four heat exchangers are the design parameters and the objective function is the cooling load. Interior-point (IP) numerical method was used to solve the optimization problem formulated. The simulation carried out shows the performance improvement of HVAC-AR system under real operation conditions. The results are validated based on previous literature.