Optimal control of building HVAC&R systems using complete simulation-based sequential quadratic programming (CSB-SQP)

This paper presents a general and systematic methodology, termed complete simulation-based sequential quadratic programming (CSB-SQP), for determining the optimal control of building HVAC&R systems. This approach allows the coupling of a detailed simulation program with an efficient optimization method, namely the sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm. This approach allows the use of accurate component models of the system as against empirical models as currently used, while providing efficient optimal solutions to be determined. We develop the mathematical basis of the methodology and apply it to a simple cooling plant system to illustrate the accuracy, efficiency and robustness of this method. The issue of implementing such an optimization under real-time control is also discussed. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.