Optimal chiller loading using modified artificial bee colony algorithm

Abstract

In Taipei, over 45% of the energy used in buildings is for air-conditioning systems. In particular, multiple chiller systems consume about 70% of the energy in an air-conditioning system. Consequently, optimal chiller loading (OCL) or energy saving of a building is a vital issue. In this paper, we report a newly developed heuristic algorithm to solve OCL problems. A digital flow meter and a digital meter are installed to calculate the energy efficiency of a chiller. The exploration and exploitation of chiller loading can be efficiently improved without increasing the number of iterations by adopting the proposed modified artificial bee colony (MABC) algorithm. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm, it has been analyzed in comparison with other optimization methods. The result shows that the proposed algorithm can obtain a similar or better solution than previous algorithms. Therefore, it is a promising approach for solving the OCL problem.