Thermal Zones in Series
OpenStudio allows input of thermal zones in series on the demand side of an air loop. Does this actually work to transfer air between the zones, or is this a flaw in the programming?:
First time here? Check out the Help page!
OpenStudio allows input of thermal zones in series on the demand side of an air loop. Does this actually work to transfer air between the zones, or is this a flaw in the programming?:
This appears to be a flaw in OpenStudio. If you try to assign a second thermal zone "downstream" after a thermal zone in one of the horizontal lines on the demand side, OpenStudio will do one of two things.
First, the correct thing it should do -- give a warning that this isn't allowed and prevent the user from making that mistake (see below).
Second, the wrong thing it does in your case -- connect the second thermal zone downstream (see below).
If you eventually try to simulate with an HVAC system like this, you will get a severe error that stops the simulation (see below).
I haven't done enough testing to know when OpenStudio works correctly vs. incorrectly, but this may be worth reporting as a bug/issue on their Github repository. It does not appear that a similar issue already exists.
I believe the only way that you can have two zones in series on the demand side of an air loop is if one of them is a plenum zone. Two conditioned zones cannot be in series with each other for OpenStudio/EnergyPlus.
I investigated the issue and confirmed it's still present today. Added a bug as NREL/OpenStudio#3917
Please start posting anonymously - your entry will be published after you log in or create a new account.
Asked: 2020-03-15 15:45:26 -0600
Seen: 204 times
Last updated: Mar 16 '20