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EnergyPlus Surface Temperature

asked 2016-07-22 16:07:12 -0600

updated 2016-10-20 19:58:54 -0600

I am using an EnergyPlus v8.3 file generated from CBECCcom v3d. On running the Propsed model I am getting the following error:

** Severe  ** Temperature (high) out of bounds (14545.06] for zone="THERMAL ZONE: LVL04-NW-4037-STORAGE", for surface="LVL04-NW-4037-STORAGE - WALL 302:A"
**   ~~~   **  During Warmup, Environment=JACK-NORTHROP-FLD-H ANN CLG 0.4% CONDNS DB=>MCWB, at Simulation time=08/21 00:15 - 00:30
**   ~~~   ** Zone="THERMAL ZONE: LVL04-NW-4037-STORAGE", Diagnostic Details:
**   ~~~   ** ...Internal Heat Gain [8.611] W/m2
**   ~~~   ** ...Infiltration/Ventilation [1.709E-002] m3/s
**   ~~~   ** ...Mixing/Cross Mixing [0.000] m3/s
**   ~~~   ** ...Zone is part of HVAC controlled system.
**  Fatal  ** CalcHeatBalanceInsideSurf: Program terminates due to preceding conditions.

Ok, my surface is at 14,505C. That's a problem.

In checking against the baseline model, I am not getting this error. My interior loads match between the two models and are not extreme (~8.6 W/m2 or 0.8 W/ft2; for plug and lights, total). Being that the baseline isn't generating an error, I wouldn't suspect an issue with weather/exterior conditions (and the wall construction is used on many other walls, w/o error).

Now, this is an exterior wall, so I tested deleting this wall from the model; see if this 'fixes the glitch'. Simulation still crashes, but now the error (appears) to have moved to the next surface in the idf file (an interior Ceiling). If this surface is moved within the idf, the error persists. though, the surface temperature is no 21,664C....even hotter. This makes me go back to thinking is an interior load issue....

So, Any ideas or theories on what could be causing a surface to get into this quandary? Or how this error could 'migrate' to the next surface? Any and all ideas welcome...

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Comments

Does the zone have a floor, and does that floor have some mass to it? If it doesn't try adding one to see if it alleviates the issue.

DavidReddy's avatar DavidReddy  ( 2016-07-22 16:29:47 -0600 )edit

Can you describe how many surfaces are in the zone and the construction of those surfaces.

pflaumingo's avatar pflaumingo  ( 2016-07-22 18:52:39 -0600 )edit

is the zone well-formed with surfaces more or less enclosing the space?

Archmage's avatar Archmage  ( 2016-07-23 08:56:59 -0600 )edit

What about the constructions for various surfaces (the one that caused the temperature out of bounds error and also any others in the zone)? Something very lightweight/thin could cause a problem like this.

RKStrand's avatar RKStrand  ( 2016-07-25 07:55:02 -0600 )edit

The surface that the error moved to is an interior ceiling, made of metal deck and concrete (storage roof, no finished ceiling). The floor in the space is of similar/same construction. So there is some thermal mass in the space & surface in question. In reviewing the remainder of the surfaces, in total, there are 1 roof (internal), 1 floor (interior), 2 exterior walls, and 1 interior wall. The 'offender' surface was an exterior wall. it was removed (deleted) and the error moved to the interior ceiling....hummm

dradair's avatar dradair  ( 2016-07-25 13:18:20 -0600 )edit

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answered 2016-07-27 07:05:23 -0600

Archmage's avatar

A good place to start to diagnose what is going wrong with the zone heat balance is to examine the time series results for the output variables that are called "Zone Air Heat Balance xxx." These roll up the heat balance terms for each zone and when compared to each other can often help reveal where things are going wrong. Since this is halting before warmup is complete you would need to turn on reporting during warmup using (Output:Diagnostics with ReportDuringWarmup).

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Asked: 2016-07-22 16:07:12 -0600

Seen: 2,086 times

Last updated: Jul 27 '16