Design of a nonlinear HVAC control system with thermal load estimation

This paper presents the design of a nonlinear disturbance rejection controller for a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system with thermal load estimation. The availability of the thermal loads estimate allows the controller to keep comfort regardless of the thermal loads affecting the thermal space being heated or cooled. Simulation results are used to demonstrate the potential of keeping comfort and save energy of this methodology on a variable-air-volume HVAC system