Teaching Approved Methods of Tuning and Adjusting Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Control Systems

Sinclair Community College, Dayton OH

Investigators

Abstract

The Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) industry is presently struggling with a problem that affects its credibility with owners and occupants of buildings: installed, renovated, and maintained building HVAC systems are not meeting the conditions, comfort, and economy of operation expectations of owners, occupants and other end users. As evidenced by articles and letters of concern in HVAC and building trade periodicals, building mechanical system owners, designers, installers, and occupant representatives need a commonly understood, scientific means of field testing HVAC system control performance which can more readily determine compliance with desired and specified operation. A previous NSF grant to the Sinclair Community College (DUE 9544183) sponsored a symposium attended by national representatives of colleges and universities, HVAC industry professionals, and HVAC equipment manufacturers. At the symposium it was demonstrated that control systems performance could be analyzed through hard copy recordings of controller responses. This textbook-described method of analysis was in lieu of the non-scientific practice of visual monitoring, or vague "self tuning" programs used for observing and correcting controller behavior. As the result of a request at the symposium, Sinclair faculty is developing a curriculum module to teach the utilization of a hand-held graphing calculator to be substituted for the fragile, expensive, sophisticated laboratory test equipment that was used at the symposium to demonstrate the method of controller behavior analysis based on textbook control theory. The curriculum module is used in existing HVAC control courses at Sinclair Community College and is available to other Associate and Bachelor degree programs in mechanical engineering technology. All materials and technology developed are disseminated through engineering education professional associations. The final report serves as the basis of technical papers presented to general meetings of such professional societies as ASHRAE, IEEE, ASEE, and ISA. Development of curriculum is accomplished in cooperation with faculty from the University of Dayton, a professional advisory panel, and curriculum developers at the National Center of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing Education. The Sinclair faculty researchers administering this development project have years of experience in designing and installing major commercial HVAC control systems. In addition, such material can find ready use nationally in continuing-education courses offered by two-year colleges to employees of local industry. With the articulation agreements and working arrangements that Sinclair has with such four-year colleges as the University of Dayton, Miami University of Middletown, University of Cincinnati College of Applied Science, University of Toledo, and Ferris State University, the developed material is being used in many engineering and technical programs.