CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
29 October 2013
Implementation Investments
Daikin Applied Achieves Multimillion Dollar Performance Gains on New HVAC Compressor Designs via 3D Inverse Design
Advanced Design Technology (ADT) today announced that its customer, Daikin Applied of Minneapolis, Minn., a Fortune 1000 company and one of the largest heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), and refrigeration companies in the world, is developing a new, ultra-efficient compressor design—potentially capable of achieving multimillion dollar performance gains—by using TURBOdesign Suite. Turbomachinery design engineers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) working to achieve higher performance levels to meet new U.S. and international efficiency standards can take advantage of the first commercially available 3D inverse design software system, TURBOdesign Suite.
“In general, one point of efficiency gain equates to about $1 million (U.S.) of profit,” says Guy Phuong, Development Engineer at Daikin Applied. “Daikin Applied’s target performance gain for this project using the TURBOdesign Suite software is 2.5 points of efficiency gain. We already have achieved more than a two-point compressor efficiency improvement.”
As any building operations manager knows, the HVAC system represents a large percentage of a building’s energy use. Since the 1980s, manufacturers of HVAC equipment like Daikin Applied have worked to make their systems more efficient. This was originally driven by rising energy costs and therefore customer demand. More recently, it was mandated by governmental standards like those set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Engine Testing Regulations and Europe’s Ecodesign Directive.
There are several methods for making HVAC systems that meet or exceed new standards, including making individual components such as air conditioning system compressors more efficient.
“Our 3D inverse design optimization technology provides innovative solutions while reducing development time and costs,” said Professor Mehrdad Zangeneh, founder and managing director of ADT. “By using the TURBOdesign Suite, Daikin Applied engineers were able to apply the 3D inverse design approach to directly use knowledge of detailed fluid dynamics, as provided by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and detailed measurements, to arrive at a breakthrough solution that met efficiency goals.”
In the 3D inverse design approach enabled by the TURBOdesign Suite, the blade geometry is computed for a given pressure or loading distribution. Since 3D pressure distribution controls the viscous behavior of the flow, by controlling the 3D pressure field, it is possible to directly use the detailed information provided by CFD solutions to arrive at a choice of optimum loading and control particular sources of performance loss in turbomachines.
Become a member of the CIMdata PLM Community to receive your daily PLM news and much more.
Tell us what you think of the CIMdata Newsletter. Send your feedback.
CIMdata is committed to your privacy. Your personal information will never be sold or shared outside of CIMdata without your express permission.