Cross-validation of sliding mode control strategies for radiant floor temperature control

The dynamic model of thermal zones has nonlinear characteristics, large inertia and time variability. Dominating these difficulties in order to increase overall energy efficiency in buildings and improve the comfort level of building occupants is a controversial issue nowadays. Although there are several traditional, simple and effective control strategies such as thermostatic valves on radiators (TVR) or PID controllers to cope with these difficulties, some alternative solutions may be more efficient. In this study, the dynamic model of a single zone including hydronic system will be formulated according to the energy balance equation of the wall, pavement, zone and pipelines. This model can be easily extended to large thermal zones for instance for commercial buildings. Then, the suboptimal second order Sliding Mode Control (SMC) will be implemented on the simplified dynamic model. Besides, first order SMC will be analyzed for comparison and cross-validation of the suboptimal method. At the end the application of sliding mode approach will be analyzed for a radiant floor model including mixing valve and return water as an uncertainty resource. The main purpose of this study is to formulate a reliable dynamic model for thermal zones and make a cross-validation on the implemented first order SMC and suboptimal second order SMC.