POSSIBLE USAGE OF VARIABLE REFRIGERANT FLOW IN ARID CLIMATE: TECHNICAL AND MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

All over the world, there is a call to encourage sustainable energy thinking and implementation. In the heating, ventilation and air conditioning field, the rise of the variable refrigerant flow systems has made a big progress throughout the years. This study presents a life-cycle cost analysis to evaluate the economic feasibility of constant refrigerant flow (CRF) in particular the conventional ducted unit air conditioning system that is widely used in Qatar and the variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system. Detailed cooling load profiles will be used for the existing units and the new VRF model in addition to initial, operating, and maintenance costs. Two operating hours scenarios are utilized to consider 12 and 24 operating hours and the present-worth value technique for life-cycle cost analysis is applied to an existing office building located in Qatar which can be conditioned by CRF and VRF systems. The results indicate that although the initial cost of the VRF system is higher than that of the CRF system, the present-worth cost of the VRF system is lower than that of the CRF system at the end of the lifetime due to lower operating costs. The implementation of these results on a national scale will promote the use of sustainable energy technologies such as the variable refrigerant flow system to reduce the energy consumption in Qatar and to improve the national power grid utilization, efficiency, and expansion in the coming years.