ENERGY CONSUMPTION REDUCTION OF A MULTI-CIRCUIT CENTRALIZED AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM USING PID CONTROL

Authors

  • Ibrahim Oleolo School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • Hayati Abdullah School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • Maziah Mohamad School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • Samuel Moveh Transport and Telecommunication Institute, LV-1019 Riga, Latvia
  • Emmanuel Alejandro Merchán-Cruz Transport and Telecommunication Institute, LV-1019 Riga, Latvia
  • Abiodun Emmanuel Abioye Electrical Engineering, Reedley College, California, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11113/jurnalteknologi.v88.24529

Keywords:

Air conditioning, control, energy, multi-circuit

Abstract

The increased use of air conditioning systems have a great effect on a building's overall energy consumption. An energy reduction plan that can at the same time guarantee thermal comfort is necessary for efficient energy management in air conditioning systems. The centralized type air conditioning systems are mostly used in commercial buildings. Most of them have constant speed compressors installed, which consume about 90% of the energy used by the air conditioning system. Therefore, reducing the energy consumption of the compressor is a practical way to regulate the energy of the air conditioning systems. Very few studies were carried out involving operational centralized multi-circuit air conditioning system, and those that have been conducted are restricted to water-cooled package units. This paper presents a study on the application of PID control system utilizing variable frequency drive technology on an installed and operational multi-circuit centralized air cooled air-conditioning system. The PID implementation was compared with the On/Off control's baseline energy usage. The results obtained showed that the PID was able to save 35.7%, 38.8% and 40.3% of energy consumption at temperature setpoints of 23oC, 24oC, 25oC respectively. This study has contributed towards the development of an advanced control strategy that has resulted in the reduction of energy consumption and improvement in the performance of an operational multi-circuit centralized air conditioning system.

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Published

2026-02-27

Issue

Vol. 88 No. 2: March 2026

Section

Science and Engineering

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