A functional test procedure for the improved commissioning of a VAV system

In the context of the IEA40 research project, a specification of a “Functional Test Procedure”
was progressively developed using the CA-MET building in Namur as real size test bench for
the application and validation of the procedure. The target system is a typical VAV system
devoted to the ventilation, cooling and air conditioning functions.
The procedure consists in a series of operations to be applied to the system, considered as a
set of connected components and taking into account the following constraints:
- time availability
- intrinsic limitations of the system
- reference performances
The proposed procedure is divided in two sets of actions:
- a number of preliminary actions allowing to take the best benefit of the subsequent
phases:
o identification of available measurement points
o identification of actuators characteristics
o identification of control strategies
o aeraulic network calculations
o selection of measurement techniques and experimental design
- the verification tasks themselves:
The philosophy of the verification process is to bring the system into a number of states
whoch allowed each specific checks to be carried out. The organisation of the procedure tries
to optimize the time spent for commissioning by logically sequencing the operations
according to the following order:
- test in manual operation
- test in manual stop
- test in normal operation
- test at maximum flowrate
- test at minimum flowrate
- test in automatic stop
The paper will provide the specific operations to be carried out at each step and will illustrate
the whole process with the prototyping work performed on the CA-MET building in Namur.