Comparison between Variable and Constant Refrigerant Flow Air Conditioning Systems in Arid Climate: Life Cycle Cost Analysis and Energy Savings

Abstract

All over the world, there is a call to encourage sustainable energy thinking and implementation. There is an urgent need to consider sustainable solutions in any design projects that are able to reduce energy consumption. In the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning field, the rise of the variable refrigerant flow systems has made big progress. This study presents a life cycle cost analysis to evaluate the economic feasibility of constant refrigerant flow (CRF), and in particular, the conventional ducted unit air conditioning system and the variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system by using detailed cooling load profiles, as well as initial, operating, and maintenance costs. Two operating hours scenarios are utilized and the present worth value technique for life cycle cost analysis is applied to an existing office building located in Qatar, which can be conditioned by CRF and VRF systems. The results indicate that, although the initial cost of the VRF system is higher than that of the CRF system by 23%, the present worth cost of the VRF system is much lower than that of the CRF system at the end of the lifetime due to lower operating costs. There is also a significant energy saving of 27% by using VRF compared to the CRF. The implementation of these results on a national scale will promote the use of sustainable energy technologies such as the VRF system.

The impact of the wall insulation material and variable refrigerant flow system on building energy consumption and cost

“…The simulation findings are compared with the trends of a few of the generated outcomes with the results that had already been published. Georges Atallah [22] estimated the economic feasibility of VRF cooling system and Huang H. et al [23] evaluated the energy saving potential of different insulation materials both found similar trends of energy saving, cost saving and payback periods.…”

“…Due to the VRF system's energy-saving potential, the expected payback period might be around 1.5 years. Georges Atallah [22] Lifecycle cost analysis was presented to assess the economic viability of CRF (constant refrigerant flow) and VRF (variable refrigerant flow) air conditioning systems. The findings demonstrated that although while the VRF system's initial cost was 23% more than the CRF system's initial cost, the VRF system's present worth cost at the end of its lifetime was significantly lower than the CRF system's due to lower operating costs.…”