- Curriculum Vitae
- amber1@illinois.edu
- Masters Candidate (Expected Graduation – Dec 2014)
- B.S. – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013
- Research Interests: Dynamic modeling, game theory, control theory
Heating and air conditioning systems make up a large part of a building’s energy consumption. It is therefore desirable to optimize control of these systems. Energy can be saved by minimizing waste heating and cooling caused by non-optimal control methods. However, it can difficult to correctly model the characteristics of a building’s HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) system.
In thermodynamics, the heating or cooling portion of an HVAC system is called a heat pump (since it ‘pumps’ heat from a cooler region to a warmer region). Our research group has developed a Matlab toolbox – Thermosys – which can model various AC&R (Air Conditioning and Refrigeration) components. However, Thermosys does not yet contain a stand-alone heat pump model. Such a model would assist developers in designing an appropriate control method for their HVAC system.
The project will produce two generalized heat pump models: an air-to-coolant system (such as a house’s air conditioning) and a geo-thermal system. Users will be able to input the characteristics of their components (e.g. the condenser) and modify the provided control method to best suit the user’s needs.
