"Modeling of active beam units with Modelica" by Alessandro Maccarini, Göran Hultmark et al.

Building Simulation: An International Journal

Article Title

Modeling of active beam units with Modelica

Authors

Alessandro Maccarini, Aalborg University, Danish Building Research Institute, Denmark
Göran Hultmark, Lindab A/S, Denmark
Anders Vorre, Lindab A/S, Denmark
Alireza Afshari, Aalborg University, Danish Building Research Institute, Denmark
Niels C. Bergsøe, Aalborg University, Danish Building Research Institute, Denmark

Keywords

active beams, Modelica, building energy simulation, modeling

Abstract

This paper proposes an active beam model suitable for building energy simulations with the programming language Modelica. The model encapsulates empirical equations derived by a novel active beam terminal unit that operates with low-temperature heating and high-temperature cooling systems. Measurements from a full-scale experiment are used to compare the thermal behavior of the active beam with the one predicted by simulations. The simulation results show that the model corresponds closely with the actual operation. The model predicts the outlet water temperature of the active beam with a maximum mean absolute error of 0.18 °C. In term of maximum mean absolute percentage error, simulation results differ by 0.9%. The methodology presented is general enough to be applied for modeling other active beam units.