Incorporating a load change penalty in central plant optimization
First Claim
1. An optimization and control system for a central plant configured to serve building energy loads, the optimization and control system comprising:
- a central plant controller configured to receive utility rate data indicating a price of one or more resources consumed by central plant equipment of the central plant to serve the building energy loads at each of a plurality of time steps in an optimization period, the central plant controller comprising;
a load/rate prediction module configured to use feedback from a building automation system to predict the building energy loads for the plurality of time steps in the optimization period, the feedback from the building automation system comprising input from one or more sensors configured to monitor conditions within a controlled building;
a high level optimization module configured to generate an objective function that expresses a total monetary cost of operating the central plant over the optimization period as a function of the utility rate data and an amount of the one or more resources consumed by multiple groups of the central plant equipment at each of the plurality of time steps;
wherein the high level optimization module is configured to optimize the objective function over the optimization period subject to a set of constraints to determine an optimal amount of the predicted building energy loads assigned to each of the groups of the central plant equipment at each of the plurality of time steps, wherein the set of constraints ensure that the optimal distribution satisfies the predicted building energy loads at each of the plurality of time steps; and
a load change penalty module configured to modify the objective function to account for a load change penalty resulting from a change in the amount of the building energy loads assigned to one or more of the groups of the central plant equipment, wherein the load change penalty module is configured to calculate and apply the load change penalty at each time step k of the optimization period for each group of the central plant equipment as a function of and proportional to the change in the amount of the building energy loads assigned to the group of the central plant equipment at time step k relative to the amount of the building energy loads assigned to the same group of the central plant equipment at a previous time step k−
1 consecutive with time step k;
wherein the central plant controller is configured to control the central plant equipment such that the central plant equipment operate to achieve the optimal distribution of the building energy loads at each of the plurality of time steps.
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Abstract
An optimization system for a central plant includes a processing circuit configured to receive load prediction data indicating building energy loads and utility rate data indicating a price of one or more resources consumed by equipment of the central plant to serve the building energy loads. The optimization system includes a high level optimization module configured to generate an objective function that expresses a total monetary cost of operating the central plant over the optimization period as a function of the utility rate data and an amount of the one or more resources consumed by multiple groups of the central plant equipment. The optimization system includes a load change penalty module configured to modify the objective function to account for a load change penalty resulting from a change in an amount of the building energy loads assigned to one or more of the groups of central plant equipment.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An optimization and control system for a central plant configured to serve building energy loads, the optimization and control system comprising:
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a central plant controller configured to receive utility rate data indicating a price of one or more resources consumed by central plant equipment of the central plant to serve the building energy loads at each of a plurality of time steps in an optimization period, the central plant controller comprising; a load/rate prediction module configured to use feedback from a building automation system to predict the building energy loads for the plurality of time steps in the optimization period, the feedback from the building automation system comprising input from one or more sensors configured to monitor conditions within a controlled building; a high level optimization module configured to generate an objective function that expresses a total monetary cost of operating the central plant over the optimization period as a function of the utility rate data and an amount of the one or more resources consumed by multiple groups of the central plant equipment at each of the plurality of time steps; wherein the high level optimization module is configured to optimize the objective function over the optimization period subject to a set of constraints to determine an optimal amount of the predicted building energy loads assigned to each of the groups of the central plant equipment at each of the plurality of time steps, wherein the set of constraints ensure that the optimal distribution satisfies the predicted building energy loads at each of the plurality of time steps; and a load change penalty module configured to modify the objective function to account for a load change penalty resulting from a change in the amount of the building energy loads assigned to one or more of the groups of the central plant equipment, wherein the load change penalty module is configured to calculate and apply the load change penalty at each time step k of the optimization period for each group of the central plant equipment as a function of and proportional to the change in the amount of the building energy loads assigned to the group of the central plant equipment at time step k relative to the amount of the building energy loads assigned to the same group of the central plant equipment at a previous time step k−
1 consecutive with time step k;wherein the central plant controller is configured to control the central plant equipment such that the central plant equipment operate to achieve the optimal distribution of the building energy loads at each of the plurality of time steps. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for incorporating a load change penalty in an optimization process for a central plant, the method comprising:
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using feedback from a building automation system to predict building energy loads for a plurality of time steps in an optimization period, the feedback from the building automation system comprising input from one or more sensors configured to monitor conditions within a controlled building; receiving, at a central plant controller, utility rate data indicating a price of one or more resources consumed by central plant equipment of the central plant to serve the building energy loads at each of the plurality of time steps; generating, by a high level optimization module of the central plant controller, an objective function that expresses a total monetary cost of operating the central plant over the optimization period as a function of the utility rate data and an amount of the one or more resources consumed by multiple groups of the central plant equipment at each of the plurality of time steps; optimizing, by the high level optimization module, the objective function over the optimization period subject to a set of constraints to determine an optimal amount of the predicted building energy loads assigned to each of the groups of the central plant equipment at each of the plurality of time steps, wherein the set of constraints ensure that the optimal amount satisfies the predicted building energy loads at each of the plurality of time steps; modifying, by a load change penalty module of the central plant controller, the objective function to account for a load change penalty resulting from a change in the amount of the building energy loads assigned to one or more of the groups of the central plant equipment, wherein the load change penalty is calculated and applied at each time step k of the optimization period for each group of the central plant equipment as a function of and proportional to the change in the amount of the building energy loads assigned to the group of the central plant equipment at time step k relative to the amount of the building energy loads assigned to the same group of the central plant equipment at a previous time step k−
1 consecutive with time step k; andcontrolling, by the central plant controller, the central plant equipment such that the central plant equipment operate to achieve the optimal amount of the building energy loads at each of the plurality of time steps. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification