Nonlinear Control of VAVAC System via Feedback Linearization

This paper presents the design of a nonlinear controller for variable air volume air conditioning (VAVAC) by feedback linearization approach. VAVACs are aimed at reducing building energy consumption while maintaining the primary role of air conditioning. The temperature of the space is maintained at a constant level by establishing a balance between the cooling load generated in the space and the supply air delivered to meet the load. The dynamic model of VAVAC is formulated as a MIMO bilinear system. Feedback linearization method is applied for decoupling and linearization of the non linear model. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the potential of keeping comfort and save energy by this methodology. The results obtained with the conventional controller and feedback linearizing controller are compared, and superiority of the proposed approach is established.