Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Fred L. Hasler / This paper discusses the advantages of applying a utility centralized chilled water system as the district cooling choice for facilities in the high-density urban areas of China and how it will influence China’s development in the next decades. Presently, the Chinese government is trying to contribute to the world’s energy-saving goals as well as determine its sustainable development framework. As air pollution has become one of the main problems in China, indoor air quality (IAQ) is likely to gain priority as a building design consideration in the future. Consistent with this fact, this paper proposes an optimum HVAC system for cooling purposes to the Chinese government. Compared to unitary HVAC systems, the centralized HVAC system has significant advantages in system efficiency, energy reduction and cost savings and can, therefore, be a better choice. Furthermore, the paper will focus on the centralized chilled water system and demonstrate why they better match the development model in China. The application of the system in high-density urban areas will also be discussed. Due to a lack of understanding that the energy consumption of unitary systems, the first comparison presented is between unitary HVAC systems and centralized HVAC systems in individual buildings. The comparison presented will focus on the energy-saving benefits of the centralized HVAC system in individual buildings and its contribution to sustainable development. Consequently, prescribing a centralized chilled water system as a utility district cooling system and applying a centralized chilled water system to each individual building in the highdensity urban areas will be compared. Cost savings, including initial cost and life cycle cost, are the metrics used in this comparison. Additionally, energy consumption and system reliability will be explored in determining which model will be more appropriate for China's development. The paper concludes that the centralized chilled water system should become the mainstream in the high-density urban area in China. Several recommendations are also made to the Chinese government on setting up utility centralized chilled water systems.

District Cooling Systems (DCS) have been widely applied in large institutions such as universities, government facilities, commercial districts, airports, etc. The hydraulic system of a large DCS can be complicated. They often stem from an original design that has had extensive additions and deletions over time. Expanding or retrofitting such a system involves large capital investment. Consideration of future expansion is often required. Therefore, a thorough study of the whole system at the planning phase is crucial. An effective hydraulic model for the existing DCS will become a powerful analysis tool for this purpose. Engineers can use the model to explore alternative system configurations to find an optimal way of accommodating the DCS hydraulic system to the planned future unit. This thesis presents the first complete procedure for the use of commercial simulation software to construct the hydraulic model for a large District Cooling System (DCS). A model for one of the largest DCS hydraulic systems in the United States has been developed based on this procedure and has been successfully utilized to assist its master planning study.

Com o constante desenvolvimento das áreas urbanas e aumento do consumo energético destinado a conforto térmico, um estudo foi realizado para formulação de uma metodologia de análise termoeconômica de sistemas distritais de resfriamento. O objetivo principal é descrever uma metodologia referente à implantação de sistemas distritais no Brasil, por sua vez, o objetivo secundário é aplicar a metodologia no estado de São Paulo, analisando as premissas utilizadas na metodologia. Primeiramente, apresentou-se uma visão geral e revisão de literatura dos sistemas de aquecimento e resfriamento distrital, indicando suas vantagens e desvantagens, bem como as diversas aplicações e desafios para sua implantação. Aplicações no cenário mundial foram expostas e analisadas, demonstrando que sua utilização em diversos países se estende por décadas. As principais vantagens observadas nas aplicações existentes estão relacionadas a maior eficiência energética e exergética global, redução das emissões de gases poluentes e confiabilidade do sistema. Por fim, a metodologia aplicada está apresentada em cinco etapas, de forma ordenada, baseando-se nas etapas de um projeto de sistemas distritais. Seu resultado é baseado em rotinas, simulações de processos e procedimentos de otimização, bem como aplicação de indicadores energéticos. Ao final das etapas e seu desenvolvimento matemático obtém-se um estudo preliminar de viabilidade da implantação de um sistema distrital. O estudo de caso apresentado aplica a metodologia para a cidade de São Paulo buscando descrever com detalhamento as premissas e etapas descritas. / The constant development of urban areas and increased energy consumption for thermal comfort encourage studies that formulate a methodology for thermoeconomic analysis of district cooling systems. The main objective is to describe a thermoeconomic methodology related to the implementation of district systems in Brazil. The secondary objective is to apply the methodology in the state of São Paulo, analyzing the premises used in the methodology. At first, an overview and literature review of district heating and cooling systems was presented, indicating their advantages and disadvantages, just as the various applications and challenges for their implementation. Applications on the world stage have been introduced and analyzed, demonstrating that their use in several countries extends for decades. The main advantages observed in the existing applications are related to global energy and exergy efficiency, reduction in greenhouse gases and reliability of the systems. Finally, the applied methodology is presented in five steps in an orderly manner based on the steps of a district system project. Its result is based on routines, process simulations and optimization procedures, as well as application of energy indicators. At the end of the steps and their mathematical development a preliminary study of the feasibility of the implantation of a district system is obtained. The present case study applies the methodology for the city of São Paulo and describe in detail the premises and steps.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The internal and external interactions between the complex structural and behavioral characteristics of the system of interest and the surrounding environment result in unpredictable emergent behaviors. These emergent behaviors are not well understood, especially when modeled using the traditional top-down systems engineering approach. The intrinsic nature of current complex systems has called for an elegant solution that provides an integrated framework in Model-Based Systems Engineering. A considerable gap exists to integrate system engineering activities and engineering analysis, which results in high risk and cost. This thesis presents a framework that incorporates indefinite and definite modeling aspects that are developed to determine the complexity that arises during the development phases of the system. This framework provides a workflow for modeling complex systems using Systems Modeling Language (SysML) that captures the system’s requirements, behavior, structure, and analytical aspects at both problem definition and solution levels. This research introduces a new level/dimension to the framework to support engineering analysis integrated with the system architecture model using FMI standards. A workflow is provided that provides the enabling methodological capabilities. It starts with a statement of need and ends with system requirement verification. Detailed traceability is established that glues system engineering and engineering analysis together. Besides, a method is proposed for predicting the system’s complexity by calculating the complexity index that can be used to assess the complexity of the existing system and guide the design and development of a new system. To test and demonstrate this framework, a case study consisting of a complex district cooling system is implemented. The case study shows the framework’s capabilities in enabling the successful modeling of a complex district cooling system. The system architecture model was developed using SysML and the engineering analysis model using Modelica. The proposed framework supports system requirements verification activity. The analysis results show that the district chiller model developed using Modelica produces chilled water below 6.6 degrees Celsius, which satisfies the system requirement for the district chiller system captured in the SysML tool. Similarly, many such requirement verification capabilities using dynamic simulation integration with the high-level model provides the ability to perform continuous analysis and simulation during the system development process. The systems architecture complexity index is measured for the district cooling case study from the black-box and white box-perspective. The measured complexity index showed that the system architecture’s behavioral aspect increases exponentially compared to the structural aspect. The systems architecture’s complexity index at black-box and white-box was 4.998 and 67.3927, respectively.