Renewable Energy 39 (2012) 471e482

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Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Technical note

Inverse neural network based control strategy for absorption chillers

J. Labusa, J.A. Hernndezb, J.C. Brunoa, *, A. Coronasa
a

Universitat Rovira i Virgili, CREVER, Av. Pasos Catalans 26, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Centro de Investigacin en Ingeniera y Ciencias Aplicadas (CIICAp), Universidad Autnoma del Estado de Morelos (UAEM), Av. Universidad No. 1001 Col. Chamilpa, C.P. 62209,
Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
b

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 27 January 2011
Accepted 21 August 2011
Available online 16 September 2011

This paper proposes a novel, model-based control strategy for absorption cooling systems. First, a smallscale absorption chiller was modelled using articial neural networks (ANNs). This model takes into
account inlet and outlet temperatures as well as the ow rates of the external water circuits. The
conguration 9e6e2 (9 inputs, 6 hidden and 2 output neurons) showed excellent agreement between
the prediction and the experimental data (R2 > 0.99 and RMSE < 0.05%). This type of ANN model is used
to explain the behaviour of the system when operating conditions are measured and these measurements are available. A control strategy was also developed by using the inverse articial neural network
(ANNi) method. For a particular output (cooling load) the ANNi calculates the optimal unknown
parameter(s) (controlling temperatures and ow rates). An optimization method was used to t the
unknown parameters of the ANNi method. The very low percentage of error and short computing time
make this methodology suitable for the on-line control of absorption cooling systems.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Neural networks
Optimal performance
On-line estimation
Steady state
Absorption chiller

1. Introduction
1.1. Scope and aims
Climate change and growing primary energy consumption have
promoted solar assisted air conditioning as a highly promising,
renewable alternative to conventional air-conditioning systems [1].
Of the various sorption technologies suitable for solar cooling,
absorption cooling systems have attracted increasing interest in the
last decade. This progress is especially evident in small-scale
absorption systems. In the past, these systems were not available
but now there are several units on the market, various prototypes
and some ongoing research projects. These solar air-conditioning
systems can cover the cooling demand in the residential and ofce
building sector, and produce domestic hot water with a signicant
reduction in power consumption. This, together with the fact that
they use working uids that do not harm the environment, means
that they are compatible with energy saving and CO2 reduction
policies [2]. Small-scale absorption units, then, are of particular
interest because they are one of the alternatives to electrical airconditioning units.
It is also of interest to improve the energy performance of
compression or absorption chillers because of the high amount of
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: juancarlos.bruno@urv.cat (J.C. Bruno).
0960-1481/$ e see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.renene.2011.08.036

energy that can be saved in air-conditioning systems in buildings.

Therefore, operation in optimal conditions and a suitable control
strategy can be key factors for improving the overall building
energy performance. Several authors have addressed this kind of
problem.
Kaynakli and Kilic [3] investigated the effect of internal operating conditions on the performance of a water/LiBr absorption
refrigeration system. As expected, the conclusion was that performance increases with increasing evaporator and generator
temperature but decreases with increasing condenser and absorber
temperatures. The importance of choosing the appropriate control
strategy for external temperatures in the generator and condenser
circuit as well as for the mass ow rate in the cooling-water circuit
was reported by Eicker and Pietruschka [4] in their study on the
performance of solar powered absorption cooling systems. Significant savings can be made in this way from the thermo-economic
point of view.
In the parametric study made by Khn et al. [5] TRNSYS simulations were carried out to compare control strategies for the
absorption chiller. Conventional control by hot-water adjustment
was compared with a new method by cooling-water adjustment.
The results showed that the new strategy provides a stable chilledwater outlet temperature and also decreases parasitic electricity
consumption of auxiliary equipment with respect to the conventional strategy. A more sophisticated control strategy from an
overall point of view was developed by Chow et al. [6]. They used

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J. Labus et al. / Renewable Energy 39 (2012) 471e482

a neural network and genetic algorithm to optimize the use of fuel

and electricity in a direct red absorption chiller system. Palau et al.
[7] used a neural network to control the chilling stages in a gas/
solid sorption chilling machine. The expert system with neural
networks was used to predict the end time of each stage so it could
decide when to operate a set of control valves.
An Articial Neural Network (ANN) method was used again by
Hernndez et al. [8]. They presented the inverted model of a neural
network in an absorption heat transformer with energy recycling to
predict the input parameter that needs to be controlled in order to
nd the ideal COP value.
Consequently, the main aim of this paper is to develop a methodology to select the parameters for the optimal performance of
the absorption chiller and achieve the required cooling capacity.
The novelty of this methodology lies in the fact that it can be used
to control commercial absorption units by controlling several input
parameters from the external water side. To achieve this objective,
an absorption chiller identication model was developed on the
basis of experimental data in various steady-state regimes. Finally,
the sensitivity analysis was performed to determine which
parameters have the greatest inuence on chiller thermal loads and
to optimize them by means of neural network inverse (ANNi).
1.2. Articial neural networks
Since their origins in the 1940s [9] and the rst Perceptron
model developed by Rosenblatt, articial neural networks (ANNs)
have gone from almost being abandoned to a highly promising
technology. In the last two decades ANNs are experiencing a huge
expansion and are now recognized as a good tool for modelling,
identication and control in steady-state and dynamic systems
[10,11]. These models have several advantages: there is no need to
make assumptions about the nature of underlying structures, to
take into account the non-linearity of the system, and correlations
between variables. Because of their simplicity to solve non-linearity
and complicated problems in complex systems in a straightforward
fashion they have been used in a variety of renewable energy
system applications [12]: from solar radiation, wind speed prediction and the modelling of solar steam generators, through photovoltaic systems to energy optimization and the prediction of the
energy consumption of a passive solar building.
ANNs were inspired by the human brain as the centre of the
human nervous system. The brain is principally composed of a very
large number of neurons, which are massively interconnected.
When a neuron is activated, it res a signal along the axon. This

signal crosses to other neurons, which may in turn re if the total

signal received exceeds the ring threshold.
Like the human brain, a neural network is an adaptive system
which can be trained to perform a particular function or behaviour
on the basis of input and output information that ows through the
network. The connections (weights) between the elements can be
adjusted to model complex relationships between inputs and
outputs or to nd patterns in data.
The most common network structure is the multiple layer
perceptron (or feed-forward network) with back-propagation. In
feed-forward networks, signals ow forward from inputs, through
one or more hidden layers of sigmoid neurons before reaching the
output layer of linear neurons. Back-propagation is a gradient
descent algorithm. The difference between the network output
obtained and the desired output (target) is compared and iterated
again until the output reaches the prescribed tolerance value.
In the last few years, feed-forward neural networks with backpropagation have found their place in the eld of absorption
systems and their applications. As a result, ANNs were used for the
thermodynamic analysis and modelling of the performance
parameters of a solar driven ejector-absorption cycle [13,14].
Sencan et al. [15] used ANN models to predict the enthalpy of
both LiBrewater and LiClewater working pairs with a coefcient of
multiple determination equal to 0.999. The same author [16] used
ANN to develop a model for predicting the performance of
ammoniaewater refrigeration systems on the basis of data taken
from the literature. Manohar et al. [17] described a step-by-step
procedure for modelling a steam-red double-effect vapour
absorption chiller. The ANN model with two neurons in the hidden
layer can predict the performance of the absorption chiller with an
error lower than 1.3% on the basis of chilled and cooling-water
temperatures and steam pressure. One of the last studies reported
by Rosiek and Batlles [18] uses ANN to derive the model for predicting the performance of both the absorption chiller and whole
solar assisted air-conditioning system (Fig. 1).
2. System description
2.1. Absorption chiller
In absorption chiller technology, the mechanical compressor in
a conventional vapour compression chiller is replaced by a thermal
compressor consisting of a generator, an absorber, a solution pump
and a throttling device. This permits the absorption chiller to use
heat instead of mechanical energy to provide cooling. The

Fig. 1. Neural network model.

J. Labus et al. / Renewable Energy 39 (2012) 471e482

absorption unit used in experiments was a Rotartica Solar 045

chiller (Fig. 2). It is a single-effect hot water-red absorption chiller
which uses LiBreH2O as the working uid. The main technical
information is shown in Table 1. The unit was designed both for wet
and dry dissipation since it has an additional dry cooling unit which
permits heat rejection directly into the environment. The technological core of the chiller is a rotary unit in which all heat
exchangers are located inside a hermetically sealed drum. Rotational forces are used to form thin lms for improved heat and mass
transfer rates inside the unit [19]. An experimental study conducted
by Zaltash et al. [20] on a different model (Rotartica 045v) with an
integrated air-cooler resulted in a performance map of the Rotartica
absorption chiller. The results showed that the experimental data
were in close agreement with those published by the manufacturer
with some general conclusions for air-cooled absorption chillers:
an absorption chiller is less efcient in warmer environments since
the coefcient of performance (COP) decreases as ambient
temperature increases and the performance can be improved by
increasing the temperature of the water supplied to the chiller or by
increasing air ow. However, in the present paper, the focus is on
the real performance of this chiller when it operates in watercooled mode.
2.2. Experimental set up
The multifunctional test bench at the laboratories of the Rovira i
Virgili University serves as a test stand for the scientic investigation of different solar cooling and thermally driven technologies.
Fig. 3 illustrates one of the possible alignments of the test bench,
where an absorption chiller is tested in water-cooled operating
mode. Driving heat for the chiller is provided by a thermal uid
heater and this heat is supplied to the hot-water circuit of the
absorption chiller through an oil/water heat exchanger. In the
chilled-water circuit, water leaving the absorption chiller passes
through the chilled-water heat exchanger where necessary heat
(cooling load) is added to feed the evaporator. Similarly, in the
cooling-water circuit, heat released by the absorber and condenser
is removed by means of a cooling-water circuit. Flow rates in each
circuit are controlled by means of variable speed pumps controlled
directly by the main control desk. The temperatures of the hotwater inlet, chilled-water outlet and cooling-water inlet are

473

Table 1
Technical data for Rotartica Solar 045.

Hot-water circuit
Chilled-water circuit
Cooling-water circuit
Electric consumption

Power
[kW]

Temperature [ C]

Min

Max

Nominal

Min

Nominal

7.2
4.5
11.7
0.4

80
e
e
e

108
e
e
e

90 (inlet)
12 (outlet)
40 (outlet)
e

0.6
1.2
1.5
e

0.9
1.56
1.98
e

Volumetric
ow rate
[m3/h]

controlled by three-port valves and PID controllers. A wide range of

water temperatures and ow rates can be achieved in this way.
Finally, by using the heat dissipation circuit, heat removed from the
cooling-water circuit is rejected to the ambient air by means of
a dry cooler located on the buildings roof.
2.3. Measuring equipment
The experimental variables measured in the tests were inlet and
outlet temperatures and ow rates in the hot-water, chilled-water
and cooling-water circuits. Resistance temperature detectors (T)
were used to register the temperature at the points shown in Fig. 3.
Water ow rates were measured by using the electromagnetic
owmeter (F) Optiux 1300. The electricity required to rotate the
drum was measured by a portable power analyser AR5. The accuracy of each instrument is shown in Table 2.
2.4. Experimental procedure
The rst step is to tune the set point temperature of the
thermal oil heater to the desired value. The ow rates of the
external water circuits are adjusted using the pump frequency
control. The hot-water inlet temperature, chilled-water outlet
temperature and cooling-water inlet temperature are set to the
desired values. Next, when all the parameters are set and
controlled from the computer board via SCADA software the
absorption chiller is powered on. It takes approximately 60 min
from the moment the oil heater is ignited to the moment when
the drum starts to rotate. Then, 20 or 30 min will elapse before
the unit reaches steady-state conditions. After reaching steady
state, the data are collected for a period of 30 min in ve-second
intervals. If any of the input parameters are changed, the system
would need approximately 20e30 min to reach new steady-state
conditions. The data are then exported into an Excel spreadsheet
le for data reduction and further analysis.
2.5. Data reduction
The thermal loads of the evaporator and generator were calculated by using equations (1) and (2):


Q_ eva rchw V_ chw Cpchw Tchw;in  Tchw;out

(1)


Q_ gen rhw V_ hw Cphw Thw;in  Thw;out

(2)

The rejected heat, which comes from the absorber and condenser,
was calculated through a water side circuit by equation (3):


Q_ ac Q_ abs Q_ con rcw V_ cw Cpcw Tcw;out  Tcw;in
Fig. 2. Rotartica Solar 045.

(3)

Finally, the energy balance was closed so that the heat losses within
the system could be estimated:

474

J. Labus et al. / Renewable Energy 39 (2012) 471e482

Fig. 3. Absorption chiller experimental set up.

W
Q_ ac Q_ loss
Q_ eva Q_ gen

(4)

The thermal coefcient of performance (COP) of the absorption

chiller was then calculated as:

Q_
COP eva
Q_

(5)

gen

The experimental uncertainty was also evaluated. Type B evaluation of standard uncertainty was based on judgement of the
information available on the possible variability of input quantities [21]. When all uncertainty sources for each input quantity had
been determined, they were multiplied by their probability
distribution and summed to calculate the uncertainty contribution. Afterwards, using the law of propagation of uncertainty the
combined standard uncertainty was calculated. The last step was
to calculate expanded uncertainty by multiplying the standard
uncertainty by a coverage factor k 2, which for a normal distribution is a coverage probability of approximately 95%. The results
of the analysis showed that all of the measured and calculated
quantities fall within the estimated uncertainty range. The
uncertainty in the case of the cooling capacity was in a range
between 0.31 and 0.54 kW and in the case of heat supply
between 0.54 and 0.84 kW.

The experimental database was obtained by measuring the

performance of the absorption chiller in the following conditions:
Table 2
Measuring instrumentation.
Name

Instrument

Variable measured

Range

Accuracy

T
F

PT100
Volumetric
owmeter
Power analyser

Temperature
Volumetric ow rate

50:200  C
25:220  C

0.1  C
0.5% of
ow rate
1% of MV

El. consumption

Hot-water inlet temperature: 80, 90 and 100  C.

Chilled-water outlet temperature: 7, 12 and 15  C.
Cooling-water inlet temperature: 25, 30, 35 and 40  C.
Hot-water ow rate: 0.9, 1.2, 1.4 m3/h.
Chilled-water ow rate: 1.2, 1.6, 2.0 m3/h.
Cooling-water ow rate: 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 m3/h.

Half-hour intervals of 114 different steady-state operating

conditions were obtained with uctuations lower than 3% for each
measured variable. Forty readings from each steady-state interval
were selected to create a database with 4560 patterns. Table 3
shows the input variables and their ranges, which is the base
point for our steady-state model.

3. Development of the neural network model

The model was developed in the Matlab environment using the
NN Toolbox [22]. Fig. 4 illustrates the architecture of the model.
Since there is no explicit rule to determine either the number of
neurons in the hidden layer or the number of hidden layers, the
trial and error method was applied to nd the best solution
(minimizing RMSE, see Eq. (7)). The ANN model proposed for the

Table 3
Experimental operation range conditions.

2.6. Experimental database

5:50  C

Variables

Range

Chilled-water inlet temperature, Tchw;in [ C]

Chilled-water outlet temperature, Tchw;out [ C]
Chilled-water ow rate, V_ chw [m3/h]
Cooling-water inlet temperature, Tcw;in [ C]
Cooling-water outlet temperature, Tcw;out [ C]
Cooling-water ow rate, V_ cw [m3/h]
Hot-water inlet temperature, Thw;in [ C]
Hot-water outlet temperature, Thw;out [ C]
Hot-water ow rate, V_ hw [m3/h]
Chilling load, Q_ eva [kW]
Heat input, Q_ gen [kW]
Electricity consumption, W [We]

7.1e19.2
6.6e15.2
1.2e2.0
24.7e40.2
31.9e44.7
1.5e2.5
79.9e100.2
73.5e95.1
0.9e1.4
0.2e9.1
3.3e11.1
300e340

J. Labus et al. / Renewable Energy 39 (2012) 471e482

475

Fig. 4. Neural network architecture for the small-scale absorption chiller analysed.

small-scale absorption chiller studied consists of one input layer

with nine variables, one hidden layer with six neurons and one
output layer with two outputs: a generator and evaporator load
(9e6e2). To test the robustness and predict the ability of the
models, the experimental database was split randomly. A total of
70% was used for training, 20% for validation and 10% for testing.
For the purpose of this model, a hyperbolic tangent sigmoid
function (tansig) was used in the hidden layer and the linear
transfer function (purelin) was used in the output layer.
The input parameters were normalized in the (0,0.9) range by
using the following equation:

fn

1:2$maxf

(6)

where f is the input variable, and fn the normalized input variable.

Although the common normalization range for tansig function is
(1,1), in this particular case the normalization range (0,0.9) presented slightly better prediction results than the other ranges
observed. This fact is in agreement with the ndings reported by
several authors [23e25]. ANN model of absorption heat transformer with tansig function and normalization range of (0,0.9)
showed higher accuracy than the models with others normalization ranges. This can be conrmed by comparing relative standard
deviation of the predicted performance for different normalization
ranges. In our case, as already mentioned, the (0,0.9) range showed
the lowest percentage of error.
Two outputs (generator and evaporator load) were compared
with targets that were calculated by simple heat balance equations
from experimental data. In order to minimize the error, the LevenbergeMarquardt algorithm of optimization was proved to be
the optimum solution [26]. The error was calculated as the
difference between the target output (t) and the network output
(net) for N data, minimizing a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) in
the following way:

v
u N
u1 X
RMSE t
ti  neti2
N i1

(7)

The ANN absorption chiller model for calculating thermal loads is

given by the generalized equation:

2
Q_ k

B
6
B
6OWk;j B
4
@

13

j 6
X

b2k

2
1exp 2

Pr

1 IWj;r INr b1j

C7
7
!! 1C
C7
A5
8

where IN is the input, r is the number of the inputs (r 9), b1 is bias

in the hidden layer, b2 is bias in the output layer, j is the number of
neurons in the hidden layer (j 6), k is the output neuron number
(k 2) and IW and OW are the weights in the input and output
hidden layer, respectively. Table 4 shows the statistical parameters
of the absorption chiller model obtained by ANN.
Fig. 5a and b compares the experimental and predicted values
for cooling capacity and heat supply to the generator. The whole
experimental database was included in this validation. The high
values of the correlation coefcient (R2 > 0.9999 for both outputs)
and an RMSE less than 0.05% conrmed that the agreement
between experiments and simulation was very good.
To ensure that the ANN model was satisfactory another statistical test was performed. The thermal loads obtained experimentally were compared with the loads obtained in the simulations by
means of a linear regression model:
,
Q_ ANN a bQ_ exp

(9)

According to Verma et al. [27,28], to satisfy the statistical test for

intercept and slope, the interval between the highest and lowest

476

J. Labus et al. / Renewable Energy 39 (2012) 471e482

Table 4
Weights and bias for the proposed model with r 9, j 6, k 2.
Weights of the input hidden layer, IW(j,r)
0.0064
0.004352
0.0057
0.016579
0.01261
0.007075
3.239106
2.20621
5.737676
1.846984
1.45231
1.81928
4.124845
4.49706
5.181373
1.754949
1.40703
1.47286

0.004281
0.00412
0.11383
0.01016
1.345071
0.013212

0.00228
0.00845
1.08865
0.05387
2.18444
0.039813

0.00806
0.019167
0.27128
0.00024
1.37703
0.01

Weights of the output layer, OW(k,j)

0.40365
0.145078
26.82156
18.5747

14.7111
0.00925

1.95333
2.99943

20.12905
0.02442

0.53482
0.013318

4.825101
5.582352
1.840712
0.199805
2.25086
0.0917

4.63211
5.22043
2.16045
0.21318
10.67348
0.105671

1.272438
1.51138
1.97999
0.00419
1.56406
0.04113

Biases of the hidden layer, b1(j,1)

1.57964
1.524765
1.54429
1.61771
2.22751
1.631914
Biases of the output layer, b2(k,1)
3.80765
10.72677

values of the intercept must contain a zero and the interval

between highest and lowest values of the slope must contain a 1.
Table 5 shows the limits for test indicators, with the slope containing the one and the intercept containing the zero.

Consequently, the proposed model passed the test in both cases

(Q_ eva and Q_ gen ) with a 99% condence level. This test together with
information above guarantees that the ANN model proposed shows
a satisfactory level of condence.

4. Sensitivity analysis
A complete parametric analysis of the inuence of the external
temperatures and ow rates on the performance of the absorption
chiller has been reported previously [29]. All the observed trends
were coherent and logical: performance improves when the hotwater inlet temperature and the chilled-water outlet temperature
increase but gets worse when the cooling-water inlet temperature
increases [30]. In view of the fact that the main aim of this paper is
to nd the optimum input of the manipulable parameters by using
an innovative control strategy, the focus here is only on those input
parameters which have the most inuence. Since the chilled-water
output temperature almost always has a xed value in air conditioning (fan-coils, ceilings), the controlling parameters must be the
other two external temperatures because they have the greatest
inuence on the chiller performance.
Of the external ow rates, Fig. 6a and b indicates that the
cooling-water ow rate has the highest impact on performance by
increasing both chilling capacity and heat supply. On the other
hand, chilling capacity shows a moderate increase with increased
hot-water ow rate, while the generator load increases until certain
point and then has a small drop. The chilled-water ow rate has
almost no inuence on performance.
Analyses similar to this one were the base point for several
control strategies developed in the past. One of these, a conventional strategy based on controlling the hot-water temperature was
presented in the studies by Kohlenbach [31] and Lecuona et al. [32].

Table 5
Intercept and slope statistical test.
Q_ gen

Q_ eva

Fig. 5. Comparison of experimental and ANN-predicted values for (a) Q_ eva and (b) Q_ gen .

alower
0.00004501

aupper
0.00005198

alower
0.00007060

aupper
0.00007349

blower
0.99998798

bupper
1.00000892

blower
0.99998951

bupper
1.00000993

J. Labus et al. / Renewable Energy 39 (2012) 471e482

Qeva [kW]

Qgen [kW]

5.0
4.8
hw
chw
cw
4.6
4.4
4.2
4.0
3.8
3.6
3.4
3.2
3.0
0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6

V [m3 /h]
7.5
7.3
7.1
6.9
6.7
6.5
6.3
6.1
5.9
5.7
5.5

hw

chw

cw

477

temperature is not high enough for a given chilling load, the

cooling-water temperature is lowered and vice versa. When the
driving temperature is high, the cooling-water temperature is
increased.
The new control strategy which is proposed here is based on the
ANN model of the absorption chiller described above. The main
idea is to use the neural network model by coupling it with the
optimization algorithm to nd the adequate value of a selected
input parameter to obtain the desired output. The term inverse
indicates that the direction of the ANN/optimization algorithm
combination is opposite: from required output to the optimized
parameters. The required output is the chilling capacity and the
optimal operating parameters to be found are: the hot-water inlet
temperature, the cooling-water inlet temperature and the coolingwater ow rate. These are the three variables that the control
system should manipulate to achieve the required chilling capacity.

5. Optimal performance using inverse neural network (ANNi)

0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6

V [m3 /h]
Fig. 6. Inuence of external ow rate on (a) Q_ eva and (b) Q_ gen .

In this strategy, the inlet hot-water temperature can be reduced by

mixing with the outlet hot-water temperature using a three-port
valve. This decreases the chilling capacity. The second strategy is
based on the characteristic equation model that determines the
required cooling-water temperature [33]. If the hot-water

To obtain the desired output from the absorption chiller it is

essential to choose the adequate value of the manipulable variables
from the external circuits. ANNi can be considered to be a modelbased method of supervisory control, in which the values of the
manipulable variables are obtained by solving an on-line optimization problem to obtain the desired output [34,35]. A step-by-step
procedure for ANNi is presented below in order to avoid any
ambiguity.
Starting from Equation (8), if the desired output is in this case
Q_ eva with k eva (see Fig. 7), the function can be transformed:

2
Q_ k b2k 

j
X
1

j
X
6
6
OWk;j
4

1e

Fig. 7. ANNi application in the absorption chiller model with one unknown parameter (Case 1).

2

2OWk;j

Pr
1

IWj;r INr b1j

7
 7
5
(10)

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J. Labus et al. / Renewable Energy 39 (2012) 471e482

The next step is to select the input(s) IN(rx) to be estimated for the
required output Q(k):

Q_ k b2k 
2

j
X

j
X
1

OWk;j

6
6
4

3


2

1e

2OWk;j
Pr

IWj;x INx

IWj;rsx INrsx b1j

7
 7
5

(11)

Finally, the function which has to be minimized to zero to nd the

optimal input parameter(s) IN(rx) is obtained in Equation (12):
j


X
fun INx b2k 
OWk;j  Q_ k

2
j
X
6
6

3


1e


2

2OWk;j
Pr

IWj;x INx

IWj;rsx INrsx b1j

7
 7
5
(12)

The input parameter(s) can be on-line optimized by using the

NeldereMead simplex algorithm for unconstrained optimization of
non-linear functions [36]. The NeldereMead method attempts to
minimize a multivariable objective non-linear function using only
function values, without any derivative information (f:Rn / R). It is,
therefore, one of the general classes of direct search methods that
do not use numerical or analytic gradients.
The term neural network inverse can be misleading sometimes,
indicating that required output is back propagated through the
network, which is not the case; here the simplex algorithm tries to
nd the correct input values of the ANN model based on the
required chilling capacity. However, the term ANNi was adopted
since several authors have used this terminology in their works in
the past [24,34,37].

Three different cases are studied here to show the applicability

of the method. The desired output to be optimized in all the case
studies presented below is the chilling capacity while the input
operating parameters to be calculated differs. The global optimality
is not the main concern in our case. The idea behind the proposed
control strategy is that the user needs to cover a certain chilling
demand. The question is at which values have to be set the
manipulable input variables to obtain this desired output capacity
at the current ambient and working conditions. Another degree of
freedom is the selection of the manipulable input variables. The
input parameters are constrained within a given operation range
(see Table 3) and also they have to obey the optimality criterion
dened by Eq. (13). Simulation outcomes are then compared with
experimental data in order to check the accuracy of the ANNi
method. The error is given by:

error 100

jQ_ eva;exp  Q_ eva;sim j

Q_

(13)

eva;exp

In Case 1 the hot-water inlet temperature is the only manipulable

input variable which is calculated to obtain the desired chilling
capacity (Fig. 7). In Case 2 the chilling capacity is controlled by two
manipulable input variables from the cooling-water circuit: the inlet
temperature and the ow rate (Fig. 8). In Case 3 there are also two
manipulable input variables, but in two different circuits: the inlet
hot-water temperature and the cooling-water ow rate (Fig. 8).
5.1. Case 1
In this case, as mentioned above, the desired output is to control
cooling capacity with the hot-water inlet temperature as the
unknown parameter (manipulable variable). Fig. 7 shows a possible
strategy for implementing the ANNi method in the on-line control
of the absorption chiller.
Equation (12) for Case I with one unknown parameter takes the
following form:

Fig. 8. ANNi application in the absorption chiller model with two unknown parameters (Cases 2 and 3).

J. Labus et al. / Renewable Energy 39 (2012) 471e482


Fun Thw;in C0

2OW1;1
2OW1;2

C1 9:6502Thw;in

1e
1 e C2 11:1647Thw;in
2OW1;3
2OW1;4

C3 3:6814Thw;in

1e
1 e C4 0:3996Thw;in

2OW1;5
2OW1;6

C5 4:5017Thw;in

1e
1 e C6 0:1834Thw;in
(14)

where

C0 b21 OW1;1  OW1;2  OW1;3  OW1;4  OW1;5

 OW1;6  Q_ eva
(15)

C1 2 IW1;1 Tchw;in IW1;2 Tchw;out IW1;3 V_ chw
IW1;4 Tcw;in IW1;5 Tcw;out IW1;6 V_ cw

IW1;8 Thw;out IW1;9 V_ hw b11;1

479


C6 2 I6;1 Tchw;in IW6;2 Tchw;out IW6;3 V_ chw
IW6;4 Tcw;in IW6;5 Tcw;out IW6;6 V_ cw

IW6;8 Thw;out IW6;9 V_ hw b16;1

(21)

In order to test the ANNi strategy, the experimental data set is used
to nd the correct values for the hot-water inlet temperature. Then,
with these data, the cooling capacity obtained with the inverse
neural network method Q_ eva;ANNi (data in bold) was compared with
the chilling capacity Q_ eva;exp obtained in the experiments. Table 6
shows the comparison between the measured parameters and
the parameters estimated by ANNi from nine randomly chosen sets.
Mathematical validation shows that the comparison between
the model-based control and experimental data had a discrepancy
that was lower than 0.05% in the worst case, so it can be neglected.
This very small error in conjunction with a computing time of less
than 10 s indicates that this strategy can be used with a high level of
condence for the on-line control of the absorption system.

(16)
5.2. Case 2


C2 2 IW2;1 Tchw;in IW2;2 Tchw;out IW2;3 V_ chw
IW2;4 Tcw;in IW2;5 Tcw;out IW2;6 V_ cw

IW2;8 Thw;out IW2;9 V_ hw b12;1

(17)


C3 2 IW3;1 Tchw;in IW3;2 Tchw;out IW3;3 V_ chw
IW3;4 Tcw;in IW3;5 Tcw;out IW3;6 V_ cw

IW3;8 Thw;out IW3;9 V_ hw b13;1

The difference between Case 2 and Case 1 is that the desired

chilling load is controlled by two parameters of the cooling-water
circuit: the cooling-water ow rate and the cooling-water inlet
temperature. Fig. 8 shows the ANNi strategy for the required
cooling load when two unknown parameters are estimated.
Here, Equation (12) for the two parameters takes a slightly
different form:


Fun Tcw;in ; Vcw;in C0
(18)


C4 2 I4;1 Tchw;in IW4;2 Tchw;out IW4;3 V_ chw
IW4;4 Tcw;in IW4;5 Tcw;out IW4;6 V_ cw

IW4;8 Thw;out IW4;9 V_ hw b14;1

2OW1;3
C3 0:2277Tcw;in 3:6814Thw;in

1e
2OW1;4

C4 0:0203Tcw;in 0:3996Thw;in

1e

(19)


C5 2 I5;1 Tchw;in IW5;2 Tchw;out IW5;3 V_ chw
IW5;4 Tcw;in IW5;5 Tcw;out IW5;6 V_ cw

IW5;8 Thw;out IW5;9 V_ hw b15;1

2OW1;1

1 eC1 0:0086Tcw;in 9:6502Thw;in

2OW1;2

C2 0:0082Tcw;in 11:1647Thw;in

1e

2OW1;5
C5 2:6901Tcw;in 4:5017Thw;in

1e
2OW1;6

C6 0:0264Tcw;in 0:1834Thw;in

1e

(20)

(22)

Table 6
Comparison of ANNi vs. exp.
Test No.

Tchw;in [ C]
Tchw;out [ C]
V_ chw [m3/h]
Tcw;in [ C]
Tcw;out [ C]
V_ cw [m3/h]
Thw;out [ C]
V_ hw [m3/h]
Q_ eva;exp [kW]
Thw;in [ C]
Q_ eva;ANNi [kW]
error [%]
telap [s]

16.9
11.8
1.2
25.0
32.0
2.0
73.6
1.2
7.1
80.0
7.1
0.00
7.3

11.7
6.7
1.2
25.0
32.2
2.0
83.3
1.2
7.1
90.0
7.1
0.01
6.7

12.7
10.1
1.2
35.0
39.3
2.0
85.3
1.2
3.6
89.8
3.6
0.01
6.4

7.6
7.4
1.2
40.0
41.7
2.0
87.5
1.2
0.3
90.0
0.3
0.03
7.3

17.1
15.0
1.2
40.1
43.8
2.0
86.0
1.2
2.9
89.6
2.9
0.01
6.4

14.0
12.0
1.6
35.0
40.6
1.5
83.8
0.9
3.7
89.9
3.7
0.01
7.5

14.4
12.0
1.6
35.0
39.1
2.5
83.2
0.9
4.5
90.6
4.5
0.00
6.7

14.9
12.0
1.2
35.0
39.7
2.0
83.5
0.9
4.0
89.8
4.0
0.04
7.2

13.8
12.1
2.0
34.9
39.7
2.0
83.4
0.9
4.1
89.9
4.1
0.00
6.4

480

J. Labus et al. / Renewable Energy 39 (2012) 471e482


C5 2 I5;1 Tchw;in IW5;2 Tchw;out IW5;3 V_ chw

Table 7
Comparison of ANNi vs. exp.
Test No.
[ C]

16.9
11.8
1.2
chw
32.0
Tcw;out [ C]
79.9
Thw;in [ C]
Thw;out [ C]
73.6
V_ hw [m3/h]
1.2
Q_ eva;exp [kW]
7.1

25.2
Tcw;in [ C]
3
V_ cw [m /h]
2.0
Q_ eva;ANNi [kW] 7.1
error [%]
0.00
24.2
telap [s]
Tchw;in
Tchw;out [ C]
V_
[m3/h]

11.7
6.7
1.2
32.2
89.9
83.3
1.2
7.1
24.3
2.0
7.1
0.01
23.0

12.7
10.1
1.2
39.3
89.9
85.3
1.2
3.6
35.8
2.0
3.6
0.00
19.9

7.6
7.4
1.2
41.7
90.0
87.5
1.2
0.3
40.1
2.0
0.3
0.03
22.8

17.1
15.0
1.2
43.8
89.8
86.0
1.2
2.9
39.8
2.0
2.9
0.01
20.6

14.0
12.0
1.6
40.6
90.0
83.8
0.9
3.7
35.0
1.5
3.7
0.01
19.4

14.4
12.0
1.6
39.1
90.0
83.2
0.9
4.5
35.0
2.5
4.5
0.00
19.8

14.9
12.0
1.2
39.7
89.8
83.5
0.9
4.0
35.1
2.0
4.0
0.04
24.0

13.8
12.1
2.0
39.7
89.9
83.4
0.9
4.1
34.9
2.0
4.1
0.00
21.6

where:

C0 b21 OW1;1  OW1;2  OW1;3  OW1;4  OW1;5

 OW1;6  Q_ eva
(23)

C1 2 IW1;1 Tchw;in IW1;2 Tchw;out IW1;3 V_ chw
IW1;5 Tcw;out IW1;6 V_ cw IW1;8 Thw;out

IW1;9 V_ hw b11;1

(24)


C2 2 IW2;1 Tchw;in IW2;2 Tchw;out IW2;3 V_ chw
IW2;5 Tcw;out IW2;6 V_ cw IW2;8 Thw;out

IW2;9 V_ hw b12;1

(25)


C3 2 IW3;1 Tchw;in IW3;2 Tchw;out IW3;3 V_ chw
IW3;5 Tcw;out IW3;6 V_ cw IW3;8 Thw;out

IW3;9 V_ hw b13;1

(26)


C4 2 I4;1 Tchw;in IW4;2 Tchw;out IW4;3 V_ chw
IW4;5 Tcw;out IW4;6 V_ cw IW4;8 Thw;out

IW4;9 V_ hw b14;1

(27)

IW5;5 Tcw;out IW5;6 V_ cw IW5;8 Thw;out


IW5;9 V_ hw b15;1

(28)


C6 2 I6;1 Tchw;in IW6;2 Tchw;out IW6;3 V_ chw
IW6;5 Tcw;out IW6;6 V_ cw IW6;8 Thw;out

IW6;9 V_ hw b16;1

(29)

Again, the mathematical validation of the inverse neural network

strategy compared very satisfactorily with the experimental results
(Table 7). The maximum calculated error was, as in Case 1, less than
0.05%. As expected, this methodology took longer, but 25 s is still
sufcient to be implemented in on-line control.
5.3. Case 3
Case 3 also sought two parameters, but instead of the coolingwater inlet temperature, the optimum controlled parameter to be
calculated is the hot-water inlet temperature (Fig. 2). The reason for
this is that it is more straightforward to control the hot-water inlet
temperature in a real absorption application than the cooling-water
temperature which comes from a cooling tower or dry cooler.
Control using the cooling-water temperature is more suitable for
applications with very constant operating parameters (for instance,
with a constant hot-water source). The second controlled parameter is the cooling-water ow rate, which can be controlled by
using a variable speed pump. The ANNi methodology is the same as
in Case 2 with the only difference that now the hot-water
temperature is used instead of the inlet cooling-water temperature as well as the assigned weight and bias coefcients. The
comparison between the ANNi method and the experiments for
Case 3 is shown in Table 8.
As in the previous cases, the percentage of error compared to the
experimental data was less than 0.05%. To calculate two parameters, this methodology took around 20 s. Compared to the
20e30 min, which is the time it takes to make the absorption
system stable after any change in operating conditions, the process
can still be controlled in this time.
When comparing Cases 2 and 3, it is important to mention that
Tcw is quite difcult to control since it directly depends on ambient
temperature and humidity. The use of a variable frequency driver
for the cooling tower fan would be necessary for this control. But if
it is necessary to change the Tcw value, this parameter could reach
their practical limit of operation given for instance by the local wet

Table 8
Comparison of ANNi vs. exp.
Test No.

Tchw;in [ C]
Tchw;out [ C]
V_ chw [m3/h]
Tcw;in [ C]
Tcw;out [ C]
Thw;out [ C]
V_ hw [m3/h]
Q_ eva;exp [kW]
V_ cw [m3/h]
Thw;in [ C]
Q_ eva;ANNi [kW]
error [%]
telap [s]

16.9
11.8
1.2
25.0
32.0
73.6
1.2
7.1
2.0
80.0
7.1
0.00
17.4

11.7
6.7
1.2
25.0
32.2
83.3
1.2
7.1
2.0
89.5
7.1
0.01
20.2

12.7
10.1
1.2
35.0
39.3
85.3
1.2
3.6
2.1
91.2
3.6
0.01
18.0

7.6
7.4
1.2
40.0
41.7
87.5
1.2
0.3
2.1
88.1
0.3
0.03
18.7

17.1
15.0
1.2
40.1
43.8
86.0
1.2
2.9
2.0
89.8
2.9
0.01
17.9

14.0
12.0
1.6
35.0
40.6
83.8
0.9
3.7
1.5
90.1
3.7
0.01
19.7

14.4
12.0
1.6
35.0
39.1
83.2
0.9
4.5
2.6
88.9
4.5
0.00
19.9

14.9
12.0
1.2
35.0
39.7
83.5
0.9
4.0
2.0
89.5
4.0
0.04
15.4

13.8
12.1
2.0
34.9
39.7
83.4
0.9
4.1
2.0
90.1
4.1
0.00
18.5

J. Labus et al. / Renewable Energy 39 (2012) 471e482

bulb temperature. Therefore, the control strategy presented in Case

3 could be a more appropriate solution. All the facts mentioned
above, then, indicate that this methodology (inverse articial
neural network coupled with an optimization method, NealdereMead) can be successfully implemented in absorption chiller
systems as an on-line control strategy.
6. Conclusions
In this paper, an ANN model was developed for a small-scale
absorption chiller with a nominal cooling capacity of 4.5 kW. The
ANN model was trained with the experimental measurements
obtained in a test bench for a wide range of operating conditions.
The results obtained with the ANN model are in a good agreement
with experimental data. The RMSE value is lower than 0.05% with
a correlation coefcient close to one. The intercept and slope
statistical test conrmed that the level of condence for the ANN
model was very high (99%).
Moreover, on the basis of this model a control strategy was
developed by using an inverse articial neural network and the
NealdereMead simplex method of optimization was applied to nd
optimal input parameter(s) for the required cooling load. In the
three cases analysed, ANNi was used to estimate one and two
unknown input parameters. Sensitivity analysis and the research
results of other authors in the eld were used to select the
parameters to be estimated: hot-water inlet temperature, coolingwater inlet temperature and cooling-water ow rate. These variables were considered as manipulable variables to obtain the
desired output, the chiller cooling capacity.
The results show that the required output (in our case cooling
load) can be achieved with a very small error (less than 0.05%). Also,
the computing time taken by this methodology is less than 25 s
which is much less than the time needed to achieve steady operating conditions. All these facts make the proposed methodology
attractive for implementing in the on-line control system of
absorption chillers.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge nancial support of this
work which forms part of the CITYNET project funded via the Marie
Curie Research Training Network.
Nomenclature

a
b
b1, b2
COP
Cp
Cx
error
IN
IW, OW
j
k
V_
Q_
r
R2
RMSE
T

h
r

intercept
slope
bias
coefcient of performance [e]
specic heat at constant pressure [J kg1 K1]
coefcients in ANNi
relative error [%]
input parameter
matrix weight
number of neurons in the hidden layer
number of neurons in the output layer
volumetric ow rate [m3 h1]
heat ow [kW]
number of neurons in the input layer
correlation coefcient
root mean square error
temperature [ C]
overall generating efciency of the electricity system
density [kg m3]

481

Sub-index
ANN
articial neural networks
chw
chilled water through evaporator
cw
cooling water through absorber and condenser
exp
experimental
eva
evaporator
gen
generator
hw
hot water through generator
in
inlet
loss
heat losses
out
output
sim
simulation
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