Abstract
Manufacturing facilities that produce high-precision electronics, solar panels, pharmaceuticals, and other critical products demand a controlled environment with minimal airflow velocities at high airflow volumes to prevent product contamination. Consequently, the energy consumption of these facilities’ heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems is substantial. This study focuses on assessing and enhancing the energy efficiency of HVAC systems in such high energy consuming manufacturing sites, aligning with ASHRAE guidelines using early fault prediction. The authors have developed a model of typical manufacturing site and have utilized pattern recognition approach to predict the faulty operation of the HVAC system in one type of such facilities that are generally referred to as clean space as soon as it happens. This will protect the system from lengthy and costly faulty operation, before it is recognized by the maintenance personnel, during pre-scheduled service plans. The findings of this research can significantly expedite the detection of HVAC system malfunctions when integrated into the manufacturing site’s automatic control system.
