• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.592-604
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• 2017

A chiller, having a thermal storage system, can contribute to load-leveling and can reduce the cost of electricity by using electricity at night. In this study, the control experiments and simulations are conducted using both conventional and advanced methods for the building cooling system. Advanced approaches, such as the "region control method", divide the control region into five zones according to the size of the building load, and determines the cooling capacities of the chiller and thermal storage. On the other hand, the "dynamic programming method" obtains the optimal cooling capacities of the chiller and thermal storage by selecting the minimum-cost path by carrying out repetitive calculations. The "thermal storage priority method" shows an inferior chiller performance owing to the low-part load operation, whereas the chiller priority method leads to a high electric cost owing to the low utilization of thermal storage and electricity at night. It has been proven that the advanced control methods have advantages over the conventional methods in terms of electricity consumption, as well as cost-effectiveness. According to the simulation results during the winter season, the electric cost when using the dynamic programming method was 6.5% and 8.9% lower than that of the chiller priority and the thermal storage priority methods, respectively. It is therefore concluded that the cost of electricity utilizing the region control method is comparable to that of the dynamic programming method.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.472-481
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• 2017

Radiant floor heating systems have been used as common heating supply systems in most residential buildings in Korea. Since the system uses a floor as thermal storage, proper control strategy should be adopted to avoid over-or under-heating problems. So far, studies related to control of the floor heating system have been conducted based on computer simulations. The active layer in TRNSYS is known for its usability as a floor heating system model and is integrated with the TRNSYS building model (Type 56). However, floor heating system simulations with the active layer are operated only if pre-defined minimum mass flow rate is ensured. This study proposes a simple RC (Resistance-Capacitance) model for radiant floor heating systems. Model parameters such as Rs and Cs are defined by optimization. The active layer, in this study, is used as the target system to search for optimal values. A TRNOPT optimization tool was used to conduct optimization under given simulation conditions. The RC model with optimal parameters are tested in other mass flow rates that were not used during optimization. Results reveal the RC model describes the active layer with successfully optimized model parameters. The RC model has fewer model limitations, and is expected to be used for various target systems, e.g. experimental data of a real radiant heating system.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.249-265
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• 1995

The performance of a refrigerant mixture of propane(R290)/isobutane(R600a) as a substitute for CFC12 was investigated in a domestic refrigerator with single evaporator. A thermodynamic cycle simulation indicated an increase in COP of a 1.7 to 2.4% with R-290/600a in the composition range of 0.2 to 0.6 mass fraction of R290 compared to CFC12. For the tests, two units($299{\ell}$, $465{\ell}$) were used. All refrigeration components remained the same throughout the tests, except that the length of capillary tube and amount of charge were changed for the mixture. The refrigerators were fully instrumented with more than 20 thermocouples, 2 pressure transducers, and watt/watt-hour meter for each refrigerator. 'Energy consumption test' and 'no load pulldown test' were performed under the same condition. The experimental results obtained with the same compressor indicated that R-290/600a mixture at 0.6 mass fraction of R290 showed a 3 to 5% increase in energy efficiency and a faster cooling speed compared to CFC12. The R-290/600a mixture showed a shorter compressor on-time and a lower compressor dome temperature than CFC12. In conclusion, the proposed hydrocarbon mixture seems to be an appropriate candidate to replace CFC12 without causing more environmental problems.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.153-159
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• 2001

A system simulation program was developed for a multi-type inverter heat pump. Electronic expansion valve(EEV) was used to extend the capacity modulating range of the heat pump as expansion device. The program was also developed to calculate actual system performance with the building load variation with climate during a year. The performance variation of a multi-type hat pump with two EEV and an inverter compressor was simulated with compressor speed, capacity, and flow area of the EEV. As a result, the optimum operating frequency of the compressor and openings of the expansion device were decided at a given load. As compressor speed increased, he capacity of heat pump increased, the capacity of heat pump increased. Therefore flow area of EEV should be adjusted to have wide openness. Thus the coefficient of performance(COP) of the heat pump decreased due to increasement of compressor power input. The maximum COP point at a given load was decided according to the compressor speed. And under the given specific compressor speed and the load, the optimum openings point of EEV was also decided. Although the total load of indoor units was constant, the operating frequency increased as the fraction of load in a room increased. Finally ad the compressor power input increased, the coefficient of performance decreased.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.159-166
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• 2018

The Korean fenestration energy consumption efficiency rating system only considers thermal performance of the heat transfer coefficient (U-value) and airtightness excluding optical characteristics of the solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC). This study analyzed annual heating and cooling energy requirements on the middle floor of apartment by optical and thermal performance of windows to evaluate the suitability of the rating system. One hundred and twenty-eight windows were analyzed using THERM and WINDOW 7.4, and energy simulation for a reference model of an apartment house facing south was performed using TRNSYS 17. The results showed that window performance was the main factor in the heating and cooling load. The heating load of the reference model was 539 kWh to 2,022 kW, and the cooling load was 376 kWh to 1,443 kWh. The coefficient of determination ($R^2$) of the heating and cooling loads driven from the SHGC were 0.7437 and 0.9869, which are more compatible than those from the U-value, 0.0558 and 0.4781. Therefore, it is not reasonable to evaluate the energy performance of windows using only the U-value, and the Korean fenestration energy consumption efficiency rating system requires a new evaluation standard, including SHGC.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.321-327
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• 2007

In an apartment house that is generally air-tight and well insulated, the combustion gas from cooking devices is the major source of air pollution in the kitchen. It spreads throughout the house affecting the overall Indoor all quality. In this study, the performance of the kitchen range hood which employs air induction and air curtain was investigated by numerical simulation. The results are compared with that of two other kitchen range hoods which are in general use. The two general types of range hoods considered in the present calculations are box and plate type range hoods. The former has a large capture space between the filter and suction duct, while the latter has little. It was found that the capture efficiency of the kitchen range hood with air induction and air curtain Is higher than that of the general types of range hoods by 20% approximately The reason may be because the air induction and the air curtain block the air stream escaping from the front and the side part of range hoods effectively and because an additional fan for air induction and air curtain increases suction flow rates.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2016

This paper studies the wind pressure distribution over the Commonwealth Advisory Aeronautical Council building model (CAARC model) using CFD. We also considered the interaction between the CAARC model and other buildings. The Reynolds number based on the building height was 380,000. The number of sells for the simulation was about 500,000. The wind pressure was lowest when the wind direction was blowing at an angle 45 degrees of the CAARC model. When the gap between the two buildings in front of the CAARC was over 1/2 the horizontal length of the CAARC model, the wind pressure was higher than the pressure without the two buildings. When the distance between the two front buildings and the CAARC was less than 1.5 times the vertical length of the CAARC model, the wind pressure increased. Accordingly, the relative distance between two buildings or the distance from the CAARC model should be considered when extra wind exists due to other buildings.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.501-508
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• 2006

MPCM (Microencapsulated Phase Change Material) slurries show several advantages over the sensible heat transportation system. In this study, a numerical model for a vapor compression refrigeration system using MPCM slurries as a secondary fluid through an evaporator was developed, and the system performance was compared with that using water. Generally, the MPCM system showed higher performance than the water system. The COP of the MPCM system was higher by 16.6 to 18.6% than that of the water system at all conditions. The MPCM slurry yields better performance in the aspect of heat transfer and heat transportation comparing to the sensible heat transfer medium such as water.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.439-452
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• 1994

One of the chlorofluorocarbon compounds. R-12 deplete atmospheric ozone. It leads to international agreement to reduce CFC production. R-134a has similar thermodynamic properties to CFC-12. It has zero ODP(Ozone Depletion Potential). This Paper focuses on the lubricating oils for using with R-134a PAGs(Polyalkylene Glycol's) and esters are primary lubricants that are now being tested for use with R-134a Because of extreme polarity of R-134a. there are many problems in the selection of lubricating oil. This investigation analyzes compressor working conditions and calculates wear parts friction for simulation testing. Miscibility and material compatibility is proved by sealed glass tests. Friction was tested on the closed type pin on disk wear tester. This equipment simulates actual refrigerating compressor. Environment controlled test made more reliable result than field test Conventional oils(mineral oils, Alkylbenzene, PAO(Polyalpha Olefin) are immiscible with R-134a. PAGs and ester oils are miscible with R-134a. Friction coefficient is similar to conventional system(mineral oil/R-12 systems) at operating condition. At start & stop condition, PAGs/R-134a system has high friction coefficient. It provide reliable result on the lubricity, miscibility, material compatibility of R-134a with these new lubricants. It suggests proper selection of refrigeration oil that may improve compressor durability of performance.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.128-136
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• 2015

Reducing the building energy consumption has become one of the most important issues. However, the current engineering and technological involvement in energy analysis has been relatively low in the existing buildings. In the existing buildings, end-use analysis must be accompanied to calculate the exact amount in energy savings and such analysis should be conducted based on the energy billing data or measurement data by calibration process. Mostly, detailed energy simulation programs have been proposed for the analysis but, it is difficult to utilize them due to realistic problems. In this paper, we developed an end-use analysis tool that have input function for energy audit data and two case studies were conducted in the real-life office buildings located in Seoul, Korea. Mean Bias Error (MBE) and Coefficient of Variation of Root-Mean- Squreaed-Error (CV(RMSE)) are used for the criteria of comparison. Each index was calculated by using monthly utility bills of electricity and gas consumption. Results showed that MBE and CV (RMSE) represented with acceptable values of -0.1% and 5.7% respectively.