Comparison between variable and constant refrigerant flow air conditioning systems in arid climate: Life cycle cost analysis and energy savings
Author | Atallah, Georges; Tarlochan, Faris |
Available date | 2023-01-26T07:03:28Z |
Publication Date | 2021 |
Publication Name | Sustainability (Switzerland) |
Resource | Scopus |
Abstract | All over the world, there is a call to encourage sustainable energy thinking and implementation. There is an urgent need to consider sustainable solutions in any design projects that are able to reduce energy consumption. In the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning field, the rise of the variable refrigerant flow systems has made big progress. This study presents a life cycle cost analysis to evaluate the economic feasibility of constant refrigerant flow (CRF), and in particular, the conventional ducted unit air conditioning system and the variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system by using detailed cooling load profiles, as well as initial, operating, and maintenance costs. Two operating hours scenarios are utilized 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 by 23%, the present worth cost of the VRF system is much lower than that of the CRF system at the end of the lifetime due to lower operating costs. There is also a significant energy saving of 27% by using VRF compared to the CRF. The implementation of these results on a national scale will promote the use of sustainable energy technologies such as the VRF system. 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. |
Sponsor | Acknowledgments: The authors would like to acknowledge Al Muftah Contracting Company W.L.L. company (Doha, Qatar) for assisting this research in terms of providing useful field data and the usage of the transfer function method (TFM) through the software Hourly Analysis Program (HAP) by Carrier. The authors would also like to thank Qatar National Research Foundation (QNRF) (Doha, Qatar) for funding the open access fees for the publication of this manuscript. |
Language | en |
Publisher | MDPI |
Subject | Building energy Energy efficiency indicators Energy savings HVAC systems Life cycle cost |
Type | Article |
Issue Number | 18 |
Volume Number | 13 |
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Mechanical & Industrial Engineering [1339 items ]