EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON A MARINE VARIABLE-AIR-VOLUME (VAV) AIR-CONDITIONING (A/C) SYSTEM WITH CONSTANT SUPPLY AIR STATIC-PRESSURE CONTROL

Marine air-conditioning (A/C) is one of the major energy consumption devices on ships and consumes about 20% of the ship's total electric energy. Traditional marine A/C usually uses constant-air-volume (CAV) air-distribution system, which usually operates in part-load condition with low energy efficiency. Variable-air-volume (VAV) A/C system can significantly reduce energy consumption. In order to study the operating characteristics of a marine VAV A/C system new-developed and its supply air control strategy, an experimental rig for marine VAV A/C was built. Experimental studies were carried out for the system under two different supply air static-pressure control strategies. Experimental results showed that both strategies can achieve high-quality control for cabin air temperature and desirable independent zoning control. It was found from these experimental studies that the application of VAV A/C system on ships should be feasible.