Optimization of Vapor Compression Cycle Based on

Genetic Algorithm

Lei Zhao, Wenjian Cai* Xudong Ding

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, School of Information and Electrical Engineering
Nanyang Technological University Shandong Jianzhu University
Singapore 639798, Singapore Jinan 250101, China

Abstract—This paper presents a model-based optimization Normally, electricity usage for running air-conditioning system
strategy for vapor compression refrigeration cycle. The accounts for more than 52% of total electricity generation in
optimization problem is formulated as minimizing the total tropical country such as Singapore, according to Green Mark
operating cost of all energy consuming devices with mechanical program[3]. As a result, raising energy efficiency is a
limitations, component interactions, environment conditions and significant task. Compared with its significance is the difficulty,
cooling load demands as constraints. Genetic algorithm is utilized the system must meet cooling demand of user as well as
to calculate optimal set point under different operating minimize the energy consumption of active components.
conditions. The simulation results comparison between the However, the components are all coupled, which means that to
proposed algorithm and traditional on-off control verifies the
optimize the energy consumption, all the interaction between
energy saving effect of the proposed method.
components have to be considered to ensure its feasibility.
Keywords- Vapor Compression Cycle; Genetic Algorithm; To optimize system, the first step is to decide mathematical
Model Based Optimization model of each component. Condenser and evaporator modeling
are critical in optimization because they directly decide the
I. NOMENCLATURES complexity and accuracy of algorithm for solving the problem.
For static optimization, the model can be classified into three
Av EEV opening percentage
types: theoretical[4], empirical[5, 6] and hybrid models[7-10].
eev electronic expansion valve
Theoretical model is the most complex among these three types,
H enthalpy it suits theoretical tasks such as heat exchanger design and
m mass flow rate analysis. However, the precision for component feature
n polytropic exponent measuring constraints its application. Empirical model uses
P pressure/power measured data to construct the heat exchanger model, it is easy
Q heat exchange rate to utilize but quite sensitive to system performance, to obtain a
T temperature proper model for wide range, a large amount of data is
 efficiency of electricity energy transfer into heat necessary. Hybrid model was deducted according to physical
 compressor rotation speed (r/s) principle, the coefficient relevant to component features are
 inlet refrigerant density obtained by system identification techniques instead of direct
measure.
Subscripts
a air The following two figures show a typical vapor
c condenser compression cycle and the refrigerant condition for one typical
e evaporator cycle. The four controllable variables are air flow rates of
k compressor condenser and evaporator fans, compressor frequency and
m mass flow rate opening percentage of expansion valve.
q heat exchange rate
 enthalpy delivery efficiency
fg latent enthalpy of vaporation
g gas state
f fan
norm nominal
req required
sat saturated
II. INTRODUCTION Figure 1. Vapor compression cycle
Vapor compression cycle is the most widely used
techniques in air conditioning system presently[1, 2].

978-1-4673-4584-2/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE 492 IPEC 2012

 cc ,1mr e ,4 (Tc , r , sat − Tc , a ,i ) + cc ,2 mr (Tc , r ,i − Tc , r , sat ) + H c , r , fg mr
c

Qc = ce ,4
§ m ·
1 + cc ,3 ¨¨ r ¸¸
© mc , a ¹

ss sion
Qc = mr ( H c , r ,i − H c , r , o )

pre pres
expansion

ion
omic com
Qe =
(H e , g , sat − H e , r ,i ) mr + ce ,1mr e ,3 (Te , a ,i − Te , r , sat )
c

c p
ntro
ce ,3
§ m ·

Ise
1 + ce ,2 ¨¨ r ¸¸
© m e , a ¹
Qe = m r ( H e , r , o − H e , r ,i )
§ § P ·ck ,q ,2 ·
Figure 2. P-h Chart of VCC
Qk = ck , q ,1ω Pe ¨ ¨ c ¸ − 1¸
¨ © Pe ¹ ¸
© ¹
III. PROBLEM FORMULATION
Qk = Qc − Qe
In vapor compression cycle, the optimization task is to ck ,m ,3
minimize the energy consumption while meet the cooling § §P · ·
load. The optimization problem for vapor compression cycle m r = ¨ ck , m,1 − ck , m ,2 ¨ c ¸ ¸ω
¨ © Pe ¹ ¸
can be formulated as © ¹

min Ptotal = Pk + Pc, f + Pe, f m r = (ceev ,1 + ceev ,2 Av ) ρ ( Pc − Pe )

(1)
subject to Qe = Qreq (5)

The power consumptions of compressor, condenser and The constraint equation group consists of the following 20
evaporator fans are calculated as following: variables:
mr , Tc , r , sat , Tc , a ,i , Tc , r ,i , H c , r , fg , H c , r , o , H eg , H e , r ,i , Te , a ,i ,
Qk (6)
Pk = c
(2) Te , r , sat , mc , a , me , a , H e , r ,o , ω , Pc , Pe , Qc , Qe , Qk , Av
ck ,η ,1 + ck ,η ,2 ( Pc / Pe ) k ,η ,3
There are 20 variables, but some states are bijective to the
§ § mc , a · others, so they can be eliminated, which results in the
Pc , f = Pc , f , nom ¨ cc , f ,0 + cc , f ,1 ¨ ¸¸ following list:
¨ ¨m
© © c , a , nom ¹
2 3
· (3) m r , Tc , a ,i , Tc , r ,i , H c , r ,o , Te , a ,i , mc , a ,
§ mc , a · § mc , a · (7)
+cc , f ,2 ¨ ¸¸ + cc , f ,3 ¨¨ ¸¸ ¸ me , a , H e , r , o , ω , Pc , Pe , Q c , Q e , Q k , Av
¨m ¸
© c , a , nom ¹ © mc , a , nom ¹ ¹ These variables can be classified into three groups:
§ a) Uncontrollable variables: Qe, Tc,a,i, Te,a,i.
§ me , a ·
Pe , f = Pe , f , nom ¨ ce , f ,0 + ce , f ,1 ¨ ¸¸ These three variables are determined by user demand and
¨ ¨m
© © e , a , nom ¹ atmosphere. During optimization, these variables are fixed in
2 3
· (4) certain condition and not changeable. In practice, the
§ me , a · § me , a ·
+ce , f ,2 ¨ ¸¸ + ce , f ,3 ¨¨ ¸¸ ¸ temperature of outside air is the most critical data, Tc,a,i equals
¨m ¸
© e , a , nom ¹ © me , a , nom ¹ ¹ to it, and Qe is linearly related to its value (neglect the
influence of humidity).
As the states in different parts correlate to each other, their b) Independent variables
value can be obtained through solving these correlation These variables can be chosen randomly in the operating
functions. Their values the process of optimization to ensure range, their values directly determine other variables. In this
their value is available instead of beyond the working range or system, the four controllable variables are ω , Av, mc , a , me , a
contradicts the equations listed below:
because these four variables can be controlled directly by
compressor, EEV, condenser and evaporator fans.
c) Dependent variables
The eight left variables are classified as dependent
variables, which are
m r , Tc , r ,i , Te , r , o , Pc , Pe , Qc , Qk , Tc , r ,o (8)

493
 IV. SOLUTION PROCEDURE
Genetic algorithm is a powerful tool for solving the
constrained optimization problem, The algorithm can be
divided into four parts: encoding, construction of fitness
function, evolution and termination[8].
The four controllable variables ,Av, mc,a,me,a of the problem
are converted into binary strings. They together form a
chromosome. To assign value to these binary strings, it is
noticeable that the maximum and minimum values of strings
are determined by its own permissible working range and
influence of other states. For instance, the constraint of
superheat always put limits on the opening percentage of EEV.
The maximum opening percentage of EEV can be calculated
by setting the superheat to its minimal value, so that the
system works at the critical point above hunting state. In
addition, the length of string decides the accuracy of
optimization. There is a trade-off between precision and
computation time as long string results in high precision but
low speed. After setting the random variables, other states are
obtained through solving the constraint equation group (5)
with Levenberg-Marquart algorithm[11, 12] as in Appendix A.
For fitness function, there are several choice, one widely used
format is[9]
1
fitness = (9)
energy consumption
step5: Calculate the dependent variables according to the
chromosomes which have evolved in the step 4, if its value
surpasses practical range, drop the solution, reducing the range
of independent range gradually to limit the dependent
variables.
step6: Check whether the termination criterion is satisfied if
not, repeating steps 4 and 5.
step7: Optimize the system for all the temperature condition
during the whole day. As the temperature normally changes
gradually, the working condition in different working period
can be considered as static.
step8: Form an optimal working schedule corresponding to
different temperature for vapor compression cycle to follow.
This schedule can be considered as optimal set point schedule
for the specific vapor compression cycle.
The following is the flow chart of the proposed algorithm:
start
determine component model parameters
measure air temperature and calculate cooling load
initialize genetic algorithm parameters

gen>max gen?
In vapor compression cycle, the specific format is
Y
1 N
fitness = (10)
( Pk + Pe , fan + Pc , fan ) gen=gen+1

The essential part of genetic algorithm is evolution. It

consists of four major steps: selection, crossover, mutation, calculate dependent variables
reinsertion. Selection is based on roulette wheel method
(RWS). Single point crossover and mutation operators are
calcuate fitness
used.
The genetic algorithm will terminate if one of the following
criterion is satisfied: evolution and store the best one
1 predetermined maximal generation number is reached
2 the optimal fitness of group does not change much over
several steps, the criterion of its value changes too much is termination criterion satisfied?
N
predetermined according to experience.
3 All chromosomes converge to nearly the same fitness Y
groups. find indiviual with largest fitness among all generations
The detailed procedure:
step1: Calculating model coefficient through fitting measured
calculate power consumption of optimal set point
data.
step2: Measuring the indoor and outdoor temperature and
humidity, and calculate the cooling demand according to end
indoor and outdoor condition.
step3: Determining the group size, maximal generation, Figure 3. Flow chart of the algorithm
crossover and mutation probabilities and generation gap V. SIMULATION RESULTS
according to accuracy and computation complexity demand.
step4: Determine whether the maximum generation has been
achieved, if not, the previous generation will evolve according In this part the simulation results of new optimization will
to the evolution principle. be compared with traditional on-off control to analyze the
energy saving effect. According to the average temperature of

494
one typical day, the cooling load of one day per cubic meter is concentrate on improving the speed of the optimization method
as following: and reducing the error for solving the nonlinear constraint
equation group.
7.5

7
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
6.5

6
The work was funded by National Research Foundation of
Singapore under the grant NRF2008EWT-CERP002-010.
5.5

5
APPENDIX
4.5
In Levenberg-Marquart method, the downhill iteration
4 direction can be obtained by solving:
T T

3.5
( J ( k ) (c ) J ( k ) ( c ) + λ ( k ) I ) P ( k ) ( c ) = − J ( k ) ( c ) r ( k ) ( c ) (11)
T
r (c) = ª¬ r1 (c) r2 (c) " rN (c)º¼
3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Figure 4. Cooling load of one typical day The addition of (k)I is to ensure the left matrix is positive
The following figure shows the simulation results of system definite and reduce singularity effect. J(k)T represents Jacobian
during working hours one day, the indoor air temperature is matrix which can be calculated as
set to 25ºC. When cooling load doesn’t achieve its limit, the ª ∂r1 ∂r1 ∂r1 º
model based optimization algorithm effectively improves COP. « ∂c ∂c " ∂c »
Through calculation The energy saved during day time « 1 2 n »

« ∂r2 ∂r2 ∂r »
through calculation is about 14% compared with traditional « " 2 »
on-off control, thus proves the energy saving effect of J = « ∂c1 ∂c2 ∂cn »
proposed method. «# # # »
« »
« ∂rN ∂rN " ∂rN »
« ∂c ∂c ∂cn »¼
2.5

¬ 1 2

2
After obtaining the downhill iteration direction, coefficients
are updated by
c ( k +1) = c ( k ) + P ( k ) (12)
1.5

The iteration continues until |c(k+1)-c(k)|<μ, where μ is a

predefined positive number(1×10-7)
1

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0.5

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0
0 5 10
Figure 5. Energy consumption of VCC
VI.
In this paper, the optimization task of vapor compression
cycle is formulated, the energy consumption model and
interaction of components in vapor compression cycle are
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mathematical optimization problem with constraints. To solve
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simulation results of energy consumption of this control
strategy for one day was provided and compared with that of
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