IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i3p999-d1325436.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Simulation-Based Education Tool for Understanding Thermostatically Controlled Loads

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriel Gomez-Ruiz

    (Research Centre CITES, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain)

  • Reyes Sanchez-Herrera

    (Research Centre CITES, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain)

  • Jose M. Andujar

    (Research Centre CITES, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain)

  • Juan Luis Rubio Sanchez

    (School of Sciences and Engineering, Distance University of Madrid (UDIMA), 28400 Collado Villalba, Spain)

Abstract

Thermostatically controlled loads have great potential to make a significant contribution to improving energy efficiency in the building sector, which is responsible for 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. This, in addition to the environmental damage, represents a huge expense in terms of the electricity bill. Therefore, it is very important to train engineers on how to design energy management systems for TCLs. With this goal in mind, it would be very useful to have a simulation-based educational tool (SBET) to understand thermostatically controlled loads, their characteristics, and the possibilities in terms of energy efficiency. In addition, it would be very useful if this tool could be introduced in engineering curricula to help students become better trained and enter the labor market with more opportunities. Based on the shortcomings detected, this work develops an SBET specifically designed to teach on the subject of TCLs (SBET-TCLs), both about their intrinsic characteristics and their better management. To verify the developed SBET-TCLs, it was tested in a real scenario: a survey was carried out among the students of the subject ‘Alternative Energy Sources’ in the degrees of Industrial Engineering. The results show that the use of an SBET-TCLs has very positive effects on the learning process.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriel Gomez-Ruiz & Reyes Sanchez-Herrera & Jose M. Andujar & Juan Luis Rubio Sanchez, 2024. "Simulation-Based Education Tool for Understanding Thermostatically Controlled Loads," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-24, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:3:p:999-:d:1325436
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/3/999/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/3/999/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ramón Tirado-Morueta & Yolanda Ceada-Garrido & Antonio J. Barragán & Juan M. Enrique & José M. Andujar, 2022. "Factors explaining students’ engagement and self-reported outcomes in a project-based learning case," The Journal of Educational Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 115(6), pages 333-348, November.
    2. Blonsky, Michael & Maguire, Jeff & McKenna, Killian & Cutler, Dylan & Balamurugan, Sivasathya Pradha & Jin, Xin, 2021. "OCHRE: The Object-oriented, Controllable, High-resolution Residential Energy Model for Dynamic Integration Studies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    3. David Sotelo & José Carlos Vázquez-Parra & Marco Cruz-Sandoval & Carlos Sotelo, 2023. "Lab-Tec@Home: Technological Innovation in Control Engineering Education with Impact on Complex Thinking Competency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-16, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yamaguchi, Yohei & Shoda, Yuto & Yoshizawa, Shinya & Imai, Tatsuya & Perwez, Usama & Shimoda, Yoshiyuki & Hayashi, Yasuhiro, 2023. "Feasibility assessment of net zero-energy transformation of building stock using integrated synthetic population, building stock, and power distribution network framework," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    2. Earle, Lieko & Maguire, Jeff & Munankarmi, Prateek & Roberts, David, 2023. "The impact of energy-efficiency upgrades and other distributed energy resources on a residential neighborhood-scale electrification retrofit," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    3. Wang, Jing & Munankarmi, Prateek & Maguire, Jeff & Shi, Chengnan & Zuo, Wangda & Roberts, David & Jin, Xin, 2022. "Carbon emission responsive building control: A case study with an all-electric residential community in a cold climate," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    4. Adrian Suarez & Daniel García-Costa & Joaquin Perez & Emilia López-Iñesta & Francisco Grimaldo & Jose Torres, 2023. "Hands-on Learning: Assessing the Impact of a Mobile Robot Platform in Engineering Learning Environments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.
    5. Blonsky, Michael & McKenna, Killian & Maguire, Jeff & Vincent, Tyrone, 2022. "Home energy management under realistic and uncertain conditions: A comparison of heuristic, deterministic, and stochastic control methods," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    6. Munankarmi, Prateek & Maguire, Jeff & Balamurugan, Sivasathya Pradha & Blonsky, Michael & Roberts, David & Jin, Xin, 2021. "Community-scale interaction of energy efficiency and demand flexibility in residential buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    7. Amir Shahcheraghian & Hatef Madani & Adrian Ilinca, 2024. "From White to Black-Box Models: A Review of Simulation Tools for Building Energy Management and Their Application in Consulting Practices," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-45, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:3:p:999-:d:1325436. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.