Digital Twin Chiller Control Using Passenger Throughput Load Forecasts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern infrastructure faces challenges in anticipating and managing disruptions caused by complex and interconnected systems, particularly due to unpredictable threats like human pathogens and extreme weather events, which traditional risk assessment methods struggle to address effectively.
Innovation Solution
A digital twin-based system that estimates cooling load values in climate-controlled buildings based on passenger throughput data to control the ON/OFF state of chillers, providing a resilience matrix for analyzing physical systems and predicting system behavior under various stressors, enabling airports to adapt and recover from disruptions while maintaining operational efficiency and sustainability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional risk assessment methods are used to manage infrastructure disruptions, then the approach is simple and straightforward, but it fails to effectively anticipate unpredictable threats like human pathogens and extreme weather events
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital twin (a virtual copy) of the physical infrastructure system that mirrors its behavior and responses to various stressors. This digital replica allows for testing and evaluation of system resilience without affecting the actual infrastructure, enabling anticipation of disruptions from unpredictable threats while maintaining manageable complexity through simulation rather than direct observation
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary stress testing by exposing the digital twin to various hypothetical stressors (pathogens, extreme weather, etc.) before these actual threats occur. This allows infrastructure operators to identify vulnerabilities and implement mitigations in advance, improving the ability to anticipate disruptions while using a structured framework that prevents analysis paralysis
2Temperature
If chillers operate continuously to maintain indoor temperature, then temperature control is reliable, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic chiller control that adjusts operation based on real-time conditions including passenger throughput data, outdoor temperature, and building occupancy. The system transitions from static continuous operation to dynamic adaptive operation, maintaining temperature stability while reducing energy consumption during periods of low demand by optimizing chiller cycling and load distribution
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback loops that continuously monitor indoor temperature, passenger throughput, and chiller performance to adjust operating parameters in real-time. This closed-loop control ensures temperature stability is maintained while automatically optimizing energy consumption based on actual building conditions and thermal load variations
3Reliability
If infrastructure systems operate at full capacity to meet service requirements, then service delivery is reliable, but vulnerability to cascading failures increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements resilience buffering by identifying critical thresholds and capacity margins in the infrastructure system through digital twin simulation. The system prepares cushioning capacities in advance (such as backup systems, alternative pathways, or excess capacity) that can be activated when stressors approach critical levels, allowing full operational capacity to be maintained while having pre-positioned protections against cascading failures
Data Source
AI summary
A method for digital twin-based operational control of a physical system is implemented by at least one processor. The method includes receiving passenger throughput data corresponding to a building that is climate controlled by at least one chiller. The method includes estimating a cooling load value as a function of time to maintain a specified indoor air temperature of the building, based on the passenger throughput data. The method includes controlling an ON/OFF state of the at least one chiller based on the cooling load value.