Energy performance analysis of pool air handling units and comparison of heat re-covery options

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

URL

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

School of Engineering | Master's thesis

Date

2024-09-30

Department

Major/Subject

Energy in Buildings and Built Environment

Mcode

Degree programme

Master's Programme in Advanced Energy Solutions

Language

en

Pages

67

Series

Abstract

Global energy consumption continues to rise due to advancements in technology, significantly contributing to climate change. Buildings play a crucial role in this trend, consuming about 40% of total energy, with swimming halls being among the highest energy consumers in this sector. There is a pressing need for more energy-efficient systems that rely less on primary energy sources and more on recovered and renewable energy resources. This thesis addresses the energy consumption of the air handling unit (AHU) in a swimming pool facility. A base model was first built for the Töölö swimming hall and validated using measured data from the BMS system, focusing on key factors such as supply and extract humidity and temperature. Three different AHU configurations were then simulated in IDA ICE: simple heat recovery, heat recovery with a heat pump, and heat recovery with an enthalpy wheel. The focus was to maintain consistent indoor parameters while comparing the energy consumption of these units with the validated simulation. The findings revealed that combining a heat pump with simple heat recovery significantly reduced the heating energy consumption of the pool AHU, lowering it from 18,710 kWh to 13,065 kWh, though this also led to an increase in electrical energy consumption. While this combination proved to be the most effective in enhancing overall energy efficiency, its high capital cost remains a significant limitation, warranting further research on its feasibility. Overall, this study emphasizes the potential for optimizing energy use in pool facilities while ensuring a comfortable indoor environment.

Description

Supervisor

Ferrantelli, Andrea

Thesis advisor

Kravchenko, Ilia
Simson, Raimo

Keywords

AHU, heat recovery, energy consumption, ventilation, IDA ICE, swimming hall

Other note

Citation