Applied Thermal Engineering 178 (2020) 115555

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Ventilation and air conditioning system of deep-buried subway station in T

sub-tropical climates: Energy-saving strategies
⁎
Hua Yina,b, Caiyun Yanga,b, Linzi Yia,b, Junyan Yuc, Yingfeng Wud, Yujiao Denge, Zhihua Tanga,b,
a
Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PR China
b
Guangdong Key Laboratory of New and Renewable Energy Research and Development, No. 2 Nengyuan Road, Wushan, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510640, PR China
c
Guangzhou Metro Group Co., Ltd., Tower A, Wansheng Square, No. 1238 Xingang East Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510330, PR China
d
Guangzhou Nikey Electric Co., Ltd., Innovative Building C1, 182 Science Avenue, Science City, Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, Guangzhou 510665, PR China
e
Guangdong Ecological Meteorology Center, No. 312 Dongguanzhuang Road, Wushan, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510640, PR China

H I GH L IG H T S

• Concluded three aspects characteristics of the VAC system in the subway station.
• Analyzed the problems existing in the operation of the subway station’s VAC system.
• Proposed seven energy-saving strategies for the VAC system in the subway station.
• After optimization, the VAC system can save energy more than 30%.

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Subway systems are rapidly developing, and their energy consumption is considerably growing. The ventilation
Energy consumption and air conditioning system in the subway station is the key energy-consuming system. It consumes a large
Energy audit amount of energy every day to provide a comfortable environment for passengers, and it has therefore received
Energy-saving potential increasingly more attention from researchers worldwide. In this work, the variation law of the ventilation and air
VAC system
conditioning system of a subway station is analyzed from three aspects (energy consumption, load, and tem-
Subway station
perature) based on field test data, and the problems existing in the operation and management of the system are
analyzed. For example, the results show that the total load of fresh air in the station was as high as 34–37%, and
about 30 min was required to adjust the indoor temperature to a stable state. In addition, three general models
and seven energy-saving strategies are put forward, and their energy saving potentials are estimated. After
optimization, the ventilation and air conditioning system is found to reduce energy consumption by more than
30%. Not only are common problems that exist in the actual operation of the subway station ventilation and air
conditioning system found in this research, but valuable measured data is also provided for the theoretical
research of the thermal environment of the subway and the design of environmental control systems.

1. Introduction backbone of urban public transportation, subway systems provide

Transportation accounts for 30% of the nationwide energy con-
sumption in China [1]. With China’s recent economic growth and ur-
banization development, the urban transportation sector has grown
faster under extremely high pressure, which has led to higher energy
consumption and corresponding environmental challenges [2]. There-
fore, energy conservation in urban transportation is an important factor
that China must address for low-carbon, eco-city construction, and it
determines the sustainable development of Chinese cities [3]. As the
convenient and efficient transit in modern cities. However, a subway
network is a complex system and a large energy consumer. For ex-
ample, Chinese Urban Rail Transit, with a route length of more than
5500 km, was reported to have consumed an electricity power of 7.23
billion kWh in 2018, accounting for 1.06% of the total Chinese elec-
tricity consumption [4,5]. Moreover, the power consumed by the ven-
tilation and air conditioning (VAC) systems in subway stations ac-
counted for approximately 31% of the total energy consumption,
ranking second to locomotive electric traction systems [6]. Therefore, it

⁎
Corresponding author at: Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, PR China.
E-mail address: tangzh@ms.giec.ac.cn (Z. Tang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2020.115555
Received 24 November 2019; Received in revised form 25 May 2020; Accepted 1 June 2020
Available online 08 June 2020
1359-4311/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
H. Yin, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 178 (2020) 115555

Nomenclature ψ passenger flow clustering coefficient

Latin symbols Superscripts and subscripts

A convective heat transfer area (m2) equi equipment

C cooling load coefficient fre mechanical fresh air
d humidity ratio of air (kg/kg) int interior wall
E electricity consumption (kWh/d) or (kWh/h) lig lighting
Gr Grashov number plat platform
h specific enthalpy of air (kJ/kg) sta station
H length (m) sup supply air
l geometric feature length of heat transfer surface (m) tun tunnel
L height (m) unor unorganized air in entrances
m train departure density (trains/h)
n hourly passenger flow (person) Abbreviations
N power required for lighting (kW)
Nu Nusselt number BCR brake control room
P atmospheric pressure (Pa) CCER civil communication equipment room
Ps saturated vapor pressure of vapor (Pa) CRHVS control room for high voltage substation
Pr Prandtl number DCSR direct current switchgear room
qS sensible heat dissipation of the human body (kW/ ECR environmental control room
[person]) ERPSD equipment room for platform screen door
ql latent heat dissipation of the human body (kW/[person]) EPSSR electric power storage switching room
Q heat dissipation (kW) FS following substation
QC cooling load (kW) GER general equipment room
Re Reynolds coefficient GEPR general equipment power room
t temperature (°C) GTM gate and ticket machine
T thermodynamic temperature (K) ICR integrated control room
V air volume (m3/h) MAPE mean absolute percentage error
PCER police communication equipment room
Greek symbols PHE permeation heat of entrances
PIDS passenger information display system
α convective heat transfer coefficient (kW/[m2·°C]) PSD platform screen door
δ thickness (m) RMSE root-mean-square error
ε surface emissivity RR rectiformer room
λ heat conductivity coefficient (kW/[m·°C]) SCR station control room
ρ density (kg/m3) SEQR signal equipment room
σ blackbody radiation constant, 5.67 × 10−11 (kW/ SPR signal power room
[m2∙K4]) SR switchgear room
τ duration of stay (hour) SSE self-service equipment
φ relative humidity (%)

is very significant to analyze the energy consumption and load char-
acteristics of the VAC systems in subway stations, and to propose en-
ergy saving suggestions.
Many studies have been conducted to reduce the energy consump-
tion of subway systems and provide passengers with a comfortable and
healthy environment. Energy consumption trends and energy units for
subway stations have been investigated in South Korean cities and
Barcelona [7,8]. Based on survey data and Energy Plus software si-
mulation output data, a statistical model was proposed for developing
the Energy Use Intensity benchmark for subway stations [9]. An in-
teresting approach was developed to predict the energy consumption of
railway stations, wherein a multilayered perceptron method was
adopted to mimic the nonlinear correlation between energy consump-
tion, the spatial design of the station, and meteorological factors [10].
The electricity consumption of subway stations in different climate
zones in China was revealed to provide references for understanding the
energy consumption level, as well as for establishing energy con-
sumption standards for subway stations [11]. However, none of these
studies have specifically analyzed the energy consumption of the VAC
system in subway stations. A modular structured simulation model was
presented for computing the energy consumption of the VAC system of
a light rail vehicle [12]. A robust evolutionary algorithm was used to
optimize a VAC energy management system by minimizing its monthly
energy consumption [13]. The energy consumption of air conditioning
systems in Beijing subway stations has been explored; however, only
the COP, SCOP, and EER of the VAC systems in ten subway stations
were analyzed, and the reason for the high energy consumption of the
VAC system was not pointed out by the researchers [14]. Energy con-
sumption signatures of the VAC system in Beijing were investigated by
deploying environment monitoring sensors and smart meters [15];
however, the load of the VAC system was defined only as the quantity of
heat imported from outdoor environments and passengers into the
subway station in one time unit. Such an estimate is not sufficiently
accurate, and it is therefore difficult to be used to determine the reasons
for the high energy consumption of the VAC system. The energy con-
sumption and load characteristics of the VAC system in the public area
of a subway station have been investigated, but the study regarded the
hourly equipment load as stable, and did not measure or calculate the
complex load of the equipment area [16]. It is therefore evident that a
thorough investigation of the VAC systems of subway stations remains
lacking.
Furthermore, energy demand and energy-saving strategies in un-
derground stations are directly influenced by climatic characteristics
[8]. VAC systems account for the largest proportion of the energy

2
H. Yin, et al.
consumed in subway stations in China [17], whereas lighting sub-
systems were revealed to be a significant energy consumer in a subway
station in Barcelona, responsible for 37% of the total consumption
[8,18]. In temperate climate regions, such as Beijing, piston wind is a
good means of reducing air conditioning use, but it is limited in hot
climate zones, especially in areas with high passenger flow [19]. The
heat of the train brake can be used to improve the station temperature
in severely cold northern regions [20], but it has a pernicious effect on
the thermal comfort of stations in hot climate zones, and accordingly
increases the energy consumption of VAC systems [19]. Humid sub-
tropical regions have humid and hot weather, and the energy con-
sumption in subway stations in such areas is considerably higher than
those in northern China [11]. Furthermore, the energy-saving poten-
tials and strategies differ substantially from those in other climatic re-
gions.
Detailed field studies, environmental monitoring, heat dissipation
detection, and power log processing were conducted in this work to
investigate the characteristics of power consumption, load and tem-
perature in subway VAC systems, and energy-saving strategies are ac-
cordingly identified. Guangzhou, which is in southern China, has humid
and hot weather, and a long air conditioner refrigeration time.
Therefore, one typical station in the Guangzhou Metro was selected as
the research object in the present study.
In this work, the characteristics of the VAC system in a subway
station were analyzed from three aspects: researching the monthly/
daily/hourly energy consumption of the VAC system and the proportion
of the subsystems’ energy consumption, and then analyzing the change
trend of the VAC system’s energy consumption; analyzing the propor-
tion of various loads and their changing rules; studying the hysteresis of
the VAC system in the subway station via temperature monitoring, and
researching the influence of the outdoor temperature on the indoor
temperature of the subway station. Finally, this research indicates the
problems existing in the operation and management of the VAC systems
of subway stations, and proposes seven energy-saving strategies.
Compared to the existing work, this study presents not only a
comprehensive field study of subway station VAC power consumption,
load signatures and temperature characteristics, but also actual opera-
tion problems and corresponding energy-saving recommendations.
Additionally, valuable measurement data for the theoretical study of
the thermal environment of the subway and the design of the en-
vironmental control system have been accumulated. Furthermore, this
paper addresses a very important topic of metro energy-saving in
humid, subtropical climates, and provides a significant reference for the
development of future metropolitan cities in Malaysia, India, the
Philippines, and others.
2. Methodologies
2.1. Selection of the case study
Guangzhou is located in the subtropical zone, and its weather is
both humid and hot. The Guangzhou Metro is the third-largest urban
rail transit system in mainland China, and is one of the 14 members of
the Community of Metros. Its total mileage is 391.6 km with 206 sta-
tions. Since July 24, 2018, the daily average passenger flow has been
predicted to be 8,200,000, with a daily maximum passenger flow of
10,025,700 [21]. One typical station in the Guangzhou Metro was se-
lected as the research object in this study. The representative station,
which opened in 2005, is on the Guangzhou Metro Line 4. An analysis
of the number of annual passengers and the main physical character-
ization parameters was conducted. The analysis revealed a station with
typical values, which are listed in Table 1.
2.2. Space structure of the study object
It has an island-type platform with 4 entrances. The ground floor is
3
Applied Thermal Engineering 178 (2020) 115555
the station hall, and the underground second floor is the platform. The
main building area of the station is 7918 m2, the area of the access
passages is 2260 m2, and the area of the air passage and the wind pa-
vilion is 1405 m2. Thus, the total covered area is 11,583 m2.
Furthermore, the area that requires refrigeration by the VAC system is
3855 m2. As shown in Fig. 1, the station is divided into the equipment
management room (EMR) and public place (PS). The A and B terminals
of the PS (including station hall and platform) are the EMRs. There are
3 access passages in the station, two of which are respectively con-
nected to the east and west sides of the station hall. Each access passage
has two entrances. The third access passage, which is arranged at the A
terminal of the station hall, is an emergency entrance. Additionally,
four groups of wind pavilions are respectively set at the A and B
terminals of the station hall.
The EMR is composed of a strong electricity room (SER), weak
electricity room (WER), comprehensive management room (CMR), and
other electromechanical room (OER). The equipment in the SER in-
cludes switch cabinets, transformers, and switch boxes, etc. The
equipment in WER includes electrical control systems for the VAC
system, communication devices, signaling appliances, and civil com-
munication devices, etc. The CMR is composed of a comprehensive/
station control, the station master’s office, platform operation, lockers,
and meeting rooms, etc. The OER includes a wastewater pump, gas
cylinder, ventilation equipment, and fire pump rooms, etc. The electric
equipment in the PS includes advertising boards, elevators, lamps, gate
machines, ticket-selling machines, self-service equipment, and pas-
senger information display systems, etc.
Temperature and humidity sensors were installed about 1 m away
from the fresh air inlets to measure the outdoor temperatures and hu-
midity, respectively. Illustrations of the temperature and humidity
sensors installed in the hall and the platform are presented in Fig. 1, and
the data was recorded once every 5 or 6 s. Wind speed sensors were
arranged in each entrance of the station to obtain the air rate in the
entrances. The sensors were installed in the relatively flat part of the
passageways, located in the middle of the channel section and about
20 cm from the ceiling of the passageway, and the data was recorded
once every second. According to the field test of a European subway
station, no significant variation in air speed exists at different positions
of a cross-section; thus, any measurement across the section could be
considered as representative of the cross-sectional average air speed
along the corridor [22]. The power consumption of different compo-
nents of the VAC system and other equipment in the station was mea-
sured in real time by embedded power meters, and the data was re-
corded once every 15 min. The temperature and humidity of fresh air
and the supply/return air were recorded using an automatic tempera-
ture and humidity recorder. The measuring points were located at the
fresh air inlets, supply air inlets, and return air outlets in each area, and
the data was recorded once every minute. An intelligent wind speed
recorder was used to measure the fresh air and return air volume in
each area. Data was recorded once every minute and continuously for
3 days. The surface temperature of each room and the equipment in the
EMR was measured using a thermal imager. It was measured once every
2 h and continuously for 2 days. The inner surface of the enclosure
structure and the surface area of the equipment were measured. The
details of the measurement techniques and instruments are exhibited in
Table 2.
Table 1
Selection of a typical station (underground non-transfer station).
Mean Lower quartile Upper quartile Station
4
Daily passengers (10 ) 3.27 1.13 8.42 3.61
Hall floor area (m2) 1450 1230 2304 1400
Platform floor area (m2) 750 620 1480 690
Number of layers 2 2 2 2
Number of entrances 4 2 5 4
H. Yin, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 178 (2020) 115555

A C

A/B/C Entrance
D Emergency Entrance
SEM
Air distribution
Wind speed sensors
Temperature and humidity sensors

Fig. 1. The space structure model of the station.

2.3. Design parameters of VAC system Table 3

Design parameters of the air conditioning system.
The ventilation/air conditioning time (ACT) for the EMRs is 24 h Area Designed temperature (°C) Relative humidity (%)
per day, and the ventilation/ACT for the PS is 18 h per day (from 6:00
to 23:00). Station hall 29 45–70
The ACTs are from the middle of April to early November, whereas Platform 27 45–70
CMR 27 40–60
the non-air conditioning times (NACTs) are from January to the middle WER 27 30–60
of April, and from early November to December. SER 36 ＜95
The design parameters of the air conditioning system for the station
are exhibited in Table 3. The areas that require refrigeration include the
SER, WER, CMR, station hall, and platform. Furthermore, the OER re- QC, lig = n1 n2 NClig , where n1 is 1.0 and n2 is 0.7, (7)
quires intermittent ventilation 4–6 times/h.
2HPSD LPSD (ttun − tplat )
QC, PSD = 1 δPSD 1
[16]
2.4. Calculation equations of subway station design + +
αtun λPSD αplat (8)

The calculation equations of subway station design mainly includes QC, equi = Cequi Qequi (9)
enthalpy equation and energy equation. The equations are expressed as
QC, fan = Cequi Qfan (10)
follows [23,24]:
h = 1.01tair + d (2500 + 1.84tair ) [23] (1) QC, others
= Vsup ρair (hindoor , air − h sup) − (QC, fre + QC, PHE + QC, person + QC, lig
QC, sta
+ QC, equi + QC, PSD + QC, fans ) (11)
= QC, fre + QC , PHE + QC , person + QC , lig + QC, equi + QC, PSD + QC, fans
+ QC, others λair Nu
(2) Qequi,1 = Aequi (tequi − tindoor , air )
lequi (12)
d = 0.622φPs /(P − φPs ) (3)
Qequi,2 = α int Aint (tint − tair ) (13)
QC, fre = ρair Vfre (houtdoor , air − hindoor , air ) (4) 4 4
Aequi (εequi σTequi − εint σTint )
Qequi,3 = A
QC, PHE = ρair Vunor , inlet (houtdoor , air − hindoor , air ) (5) 1 equi 1
+ A ( ε − 1)
εequi int int (14)
QC, person = (Cperson qs + ql ) nψτ /60 [24] (6) where Eq. (1) is the enthalpy conservation equation, and Eq. (2) is the

Table 2
Details of the measurement techniques and instruments.
Item Analytical methods and instruments

Air temperature and humidity sensors SHT-30; measurement range of humidity: 0–100% RH; measurement range of temperature: −40–125 °C; precision:
temperature ± 0.3 °C, humidity ± 3%.
Power consumption sensors NEMU-QR-4001 electrical information acquisition unit; precision: ± 0.5%.
Surface temperature sensors AR862A+; measurement range: −50–900 °C; precision: ± 1.5 °C.
Wind speed sensors in entrances NZ100SX anemometer; measurement range: 0–30 m/s; precision: ± 3%.
Wind speed sensors for fresh air and return air VS110 anemometer; measurement range: 0.5–50 m/s; precision: ± 0.5%.

4
H. Yin, et al.
energy conservation equation. Eqs. (4)–(17) are the calculation equa-
tions of heat sources in the station. d is the humidity ratio of air, φ is the
relative humidity of the environment, P is the atmospheric pressure
(Pa), Ps is the saturated vapor pressure of vapor (Pa); QC,fre is the
cooling load formed by mechanical fresh air; QC,PHE is the cooling load
formed by the permeation of heat due to the inlet air of the entrances;
QC,person is the cooling load formed by the heat dissipation of the human
body; QC,lig is the cooling load formed by the heat dissipation of the
lighting; QC,PSD is the cooling load formed by heat transfer of the
platform screen door; QC,equi is the cooling load formed by the heat
dissipation of the device; QC,fan is the cooling load formed by the heat
dissipation of the fans; QC,otheris the cooling load due to the heat pe-
netrating from the tunnel into the platform, the heat transfer of the
enclosure structure, and other unknown heat sources, it can be de-
termined from the difference between the supply load of the air con-
ditioner and the aforementioned loads. The heat dissipation of eleva-
tors, escalators, brakes, and fans is the difference between their actual
power consumption and effective work [25]. The heat dissipation of
billboards, passenger information display system (PIDS), shops, self-
service equipment, data center communication equipment, etc. is esti-
mated according to the actual power consumption [16,25].The heat
dissipation of indoor equipment is mainly formed by the following
three processes: first, convective heat exchange between the equipment
and indoor air is Qequi,1 , second, radiation heat exchange between the
equipment and the enclosure structure is Qequi,3, third, convection heat
transfer between the inner surface of the enclosure structure and the air
is Qequi,2 [26]. Therefore, the distribution room, switch cabinet room,
high-voltage control room, rectifier transformer room, follow-up sub-
station, and other rooms obtain the heat dissipation of the equipment
through the test method. The heat of convection heat transfer between
the equipment and air is calculated by the Eq. (12), in natural con-
vection, Nussle number (Nu) = Cn (Ge · Pr) n,where Cn and n are
constant [27].In forced convection, the wall temperature is assumed to
be isothermal [28], than the Nu is calculated according to different
values of Reynolds number Re and Prandtl number Pr, When the
Re < 5 × 105and 0.5 < Pr < 15, Nu = 0.664Re1/2Pr1/3, When the
5 × 105 < Re < 107and 0.6 < Pr < 60, Nu=(0.037Re0.8-871) Pr1/
3
,The convective heat exchange between the inner surface of the en-
closure and the air is calculated by the Eq. (13). where the value of αint
is 3.9 × 10−3 kW/(m2∙°C) [29]. The amount of radiant heat exchange
between the equipment and the inner surface of the enclosure is cal-
culated is calculated by the Eq. (14) [30], where the values of εequi and
εint are 0.65 and 0.85, respectively.
2.5. Evaluation indices
To assess the accuracy of models, statistical analysis measures,
namely, the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and root-mean-
square error (RMSE), are used.
1 N
RMSE =
N
∑i =1 (yi − ypi )2 , (18)
MAPE =
1
∑i =1
N ⎛⎜ |ypi − yi | × 100 ⎞⎟,
N ⎝ yi ⎠ (19)
where yi is the observed value, and ypi is the estimated value.
3. Results and discussion
The energy consumption, load and temperature characteristics, and
energy-saving potentials for the VAC system in the station were in-
vestigated.
5
Applied Thermal Engineering 178 (2020) 115555
250000 30
Electricity consumption
Temperature (oC)
200000 25
150000
(kWh)
20
100000
50000 15
0 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Months
HVAC Outdoor temperature
Fig. 2. Influences of monthly passenger flow on monthly electricity consump-
tion of the station.
3.1. Energy consumption in the VAC system
The monthly electricity consumption of the VAC system increased
with the increase of outdoor temperature (Fig. 2). According to the
Spearman’s correlation coefficient (rho) [31], which was calculated by
Stata/MP software (version 14.0, StataCorp, College Station, TX), the
monthly electricity consumption had a very strong correlation with the
outdoor temperature (rho = 0.9632). The unit area electricity con-
sumption of the VAC system in the air conditioning area was 370.23
kWh/(m2·year) (51.68 and 318.55 kWh during the NACTs and ACTs,
respectively). The unit area electricity consumption of the VAC system
in the covered area ranged from 3.2 to 20.3 kW/(m2·month), which was
2.5–7.0 kW/(m2·month) greater for humid and hot weather than that
determined in a previous study [11]. The electricity consumption of the
VAC system in July was the highest, and was approximately 6.4 times
greater than that in February.
During NACTs, the major electricity consumption included that by
the air handling units (AHUs) in the PS and EMR, and that by the fans in
the PS and EMR. As presented in Fig. 3, the daily electricity con-
sumption of the VAC system during the NACTs was nearly uniformly
distributed (approximately 1286–1438 kWh/day). The electricity con-
sumption of the AHUs and fans in the EMR were not volatile throughout
the day, but the electricity consumption of the AHUs and fans in the PS
presented significant peak and valley fluctuations during the operation
and outage periods. The error bars are the standard deviations of ten
discontinuous weeks, which were between 0 and 8.96 kWh. Further-
more, the average standard deviation of the fans’ electricity consump-
tion in the PS was 0.35 kWh, that of the AHUs’ electricity consumption
in the PS was 0.75 kWh, that of the AHUs’ electricity consumption in
the EMR was 0.54 kWh, and that of the fans’ electricity consumption in
the EMR was 0.36 kWh. As shown in Table 4, the electricity con-
sumption of the AHUs in the PS was the maximum, accounting for 36%
of the total electricity consumption, followed by that of the AHUs in the
EMR (31%), fans in the PS (18%), and fans in the EMR (15%).
According to the daily electricity consumption data of the VAC
system during the ACTs (Fig. 4), the daily electricity consumed by the
ventilation subsystem fluctuated slightly (1187–1619 kWh/day).
However, the daily electricity consumed by the water subsystem in-
creased with the outdoor temperature. This was due to the following.
30
Electricity consumption (kWh)
25
20
15
10
5
0
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Hours
Fans in PS AHUs in PS AHUs in EMR Fans in EMR
Fig. 3. Electricity consumption of the VAC system during the NACTs.
H. Yin, et al.
Table 4
Proportion of the electricity consumption during NATCs and ATCs.
Items During NATCs (air subsystem)
AHUs in PS AHUs in EMR Fans in PS
Proportion (%) 36 31 18
6000
Electricity consumption
5000
4000
(kWh)
3000
2000
1000
0 15
1-Apr 16-Apr 1-May 16-May 31-May 15-Jun 30-Jun
Days
Water subsystem Ventilation subsystem Outdoor temperature
Fig. 4. Influence of the daily outdoor temperature on the daily electricity
consumption of the VAC system (the measurement error of the power was ±
0.5%).
First, the mechanical fresh air loads and the permeation heat of en-
trances (PHE) increased with the outdoor temperature. Second, as the
outdoor temperature increased, the air conditioning areas in the EMRs
were broadened. From the data in Fig. 5, it can be seen that the air
conditioning system in the SER was also sometimes running when the
outdoor temperature was low, and that the refrigeration in the SER
exhibited strong subjectivity. The Spearman’s correlation coefficient
between the electricity consumption of the water subsystem and the
outdoor temperature was only 0.8518.
The electricity consumption of the chiller pumps, cooling pumps,
and cooling tower varied with the change of the chillers’ consumption
(Fig. 5). The relational expression between the chiller’s electricity
consumption x and the water subsystem’s electricity consumption y was
fitted with the use of Curve Expert 1.3 software [32]. Because the
standard deviation (S) [33] and correlation coefficient (r) [34] of the
binomial fitting (S = 3.69; r = 0.9988) were close to those of the tri-
nomial and four-term fittings (S is 3.63 and 3.57; r is 0.9989 and
0.9989), binomial fitting was adopted in this paper (Eq. (20)). As shown
in Table 4, the electricity consumption of the chillers was the max-
imum, accounting for 77% of that of the water system, followed by that
of the chiller pumps (11%), cooling pumps (9%), and cooling towers
(3%). Thus, improving the energy efficiency of the chiller is significant
to the reduction of the electricity consumption of AVC systems. The
portion of electricity consumed by the pumps was 15% lower than that
found in a previous study [15]. The reason for this was that the pumps
were jointly shut down when the refrigerator was turned off.
y = - 3.6082 + 6.9351 × 10 - 1x + 3.0673 × 10 - 4x2
3.2. Load characteristics in the station
For the calculated cooling load, the power consumption, tempera-
ture, humidity, passenger flow, superficial area, and air volume were all
measured, and the heat transfer coefficient, surface emissivity, power
coefficient, etc., were estimated from the heat transfer theory or em-
pirical values.
As presented in Fig. 6, the total cooling load of the station was quite
different during the operation and outage periods; the average load
during the operation period was 737 kW, and that of the outage period
was 287 kW. Thus, the average load of the operation period was 2.57
times that of the outage period. In addition, there was a large fluctua-
tion in the station load between 6:00–8:00 and 18:00–23:00, and the
Applied Thermal Engineering 178 (2020) 115555
During ATCs (water subsystem)
Fans in EMR Chillers Chiller pumps Cooling pumps Cooling tower
15 77 11 9 3
Outdoor temperature (oC)
load differences between the two periods were 287 kW and 356 kW,
30 respectively. However, the station load was relatively stable between
8:00 and 18:00 (the maximum load was 855 kW, the minimum load was
25 769 kW, and the difference is 86 kW). According to the data in Fig. 7,
the cooling load of the subway station equipment accounted for the
20 largest proportion (34% in the operation period, 37% in the whole day),
followed by the fresh air load (22% in the operation period, 21% in the
whole day) and PHE load (15% in the operation period, 13% in the
whole day). Other loads accounted for 11%, and the lighting load ac-
counted for 10%. Because this station is a non-conversion station, the
proportion of personnel load was very small, only accounting for 3%.
Although the cooling load of the equipment was very large, it was
difficult to change the heat dissipation of the equipment. Therefore, it is
recommended to reduce the air conditioning load from the mechanical
fresh air load, PHE, lighting load, and other loads.
As shown in Fig. 8, the cold load of the equipment fluctuated sig-
nificantly during the operation and outage periods (the data indicates
that the outage period was only 67.6% of the operating period).
However, the equipment load fluctuated little between 0:00–5:00 and
7:00–22:00, from 163 to 167 kW and from 246 to 281 kW, respectively.
There are two reasons for the change of equipment load: (1) the ele-
vator, automatic ticket machine, and other equipment in the PS were
closed or stopped during the outage period; (2) in the operation and
outage periods, the thermal load of the power supply rooms in the
station with hybrid traction and a step-down substation presented ob-
vious fluctuation, and the average heat load during the outage period
was only 38.9% that of the operation period (Fig. 9). Therefore, a VAC
system with variable frequency is recommended for use in the PS and
power supply rooms. However, the thermal load fluctuation of the
communication and signal rooms was relatively stable (Figs. 9 and 10);
this was considered as a stable load, and a VAC system with constant
frequency can be employed.
The minimum mechanical fresh air volume in the PS of the station
was determined according to the average air leakage of the PSD, and
the minimum mechanical fresh air volume in the EMR was about 10%
of the air supply volume. Therefore, the minimum fresh air volume
presented obvious peak and valley changes from the outage period to
the operation period, but was basically stable during either period
(Table 5). The mechanical fresh air load mainly changed with the
change of temperature and humidity outside of the station (Fig. 11).
Although it is the goal to maintain “positive pressure” in the station by
keeping the mechanical fresh air equal to the air leakage of the PSD,
(20) according to the test, the instantaneous air leakage of the PSD was very
large when the train stops, and there was inevitably a “negative
cooling tower, chiller pump
Electricity consumption of
Electricity consumption of
40 300
and cooling pump (kWh)
250
30
chiller (kWh)
200
20 150
100
10
50
0 0
0:00 8:00 16:00 0:00 8:00 16:00 0:00 8:00 16:00
Hours
Chiller Cooling tower Chiller pump Cooling pump
Fig. 5. Electricity consumption of the water subsystem (the measurement error
of the power was ± 0.5%).
6
H. Yin, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 178 (2020) 115555

40 transfer of the PSD and other cooling loads, presented obvious peak and

Outdoor temperature (oC)

750
Total cold load (kW)

valley changes during operation and outage. In addition, the cooling

600 30 load formed by human body heat dissipation also presented a peak-
450 valley variation in the morning and evening rush hours.
20
300
10 3.3. The characteristics of station temperature
150
0 0 As presented in Fig. 14, about 30 min was required to adjust the
0:00 3:00 6:00 9:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
indoor temperature to a stable state after the VAC system turned on,
Hours
which demonstrates that the VAC system in the subway station was
Fig. 6. The trend chart of the total hourly cooling load in the subway station. obviously hysteretic. The indoor temperature change was 20 min
slower than that found in a previous study [15].
Others Mechanical Fig. 15 presents the hourly temperatures of the station hall and
Heat transfer of PSD platform. During the ACTs, the temperature fluctuations of the station
11% fresh air
2%
load hall and platform were obvious; the highest hourly temperature of the
22% station hall attained 27.4 °C, and the lowest hourly temperature was
Cooling
22.6 °C; the highest hourly temperature of the platform attained
load of fans
27.0 °C, and the lowest hourly temperature was 23.0 °C. The maximum
3%
Personal designed air conditioning temperatures in the station hall and platform
PHE load were 29 °C and 27 °C, respectively. Thus, the hourly temperature was
15% 3% lower than the design temperature. However, it has been found that the
cooling load will increase by about 7% when the temperature in the
station is reduced by 1 °C [35]. Therefore, control of the hourly tem-
Lighting Equipment perature of the station can effectively reduce the energy consumption of
load load the VAC system.
10% 34%
As presented in Fig. 16, during the NACTs, although the average
(a) temperatures of the station hall and the platform increased with the
outside temperature, the average temperatures remained relatively
Cooling Others Mechanical stable. When the outdoor temperature increased from 10 °C to 29 °C,
load of fans 11% fresh air the average indoor temperature increased from 21.1 °C to 27.6 °C. The
Heat 3% load
transfer of 21%
reason for this phenomenon may be that the heat load of equipment
PSD accounts for a large proportion of the total heat load of the station, and
2% Personal the heat load of the equipment was relatively stable.

PHE load
13% 3% 3.4. Establishment of general models

3.4.1. Estimation of hourly average air leakage volume

Lighting The inlet air of the entrances is affected by complex factors, among
load which the main factors are the tunnel length, train departure density,
10% Equipment
gap area of the PSDs, and arrival time interval between two-way trains
load
37% [36]. The tunnel length and gap area of the PSDs are invariant with
(b) time. The arrival time interval between two-way trains and the train
departure density are affected by train schedules. In addition, it has
Fig. 7. The proportion graphs of the cooling load distribution in the subway
station (a) during the operation period and (b) all day.
been found that passenger flow also has a certain impact on the air
leakage volume of the entrances. Therefore, in this paper, the binary
nonlinear fitting regression of the hourly average air leakage volume of
300 the entrances was implemented by using 1stOpt 15 software. The
250
Cold load (kW)

hourly average air leakage volume was fitted with the hourly passenger
200 flow and train departure density, and the fitting relationship is given by
150 Eq. (21). Table 6 lists the coefficients of the fitting relationships. Fig. 17
demonstrates that the nonlinear fitting effect of the hourly average air
100
leakage volume of the entrances is relatively good (RMSE = 1225.86,
50 MAPE = 5.22%, maximum relative error = 14.79%).
0
0:00 3:00 6:00 9:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00 (p1 + p2 ∗ n + p3 ∗ n2 + p4 ∗ n3 + p5 ∗ m + p6 ∗ m2)
Vunor , inlet =
Hours (1 + p7 ∗ n + p8 ∗ m + p9 ∗ m2)
Equipment load
(21)
Fig. 8. The trend chart of the equipment’s hourly cooling load in the subway
station.
3.4.2. Prediction of the daily electricity consumption of the VAC system
pressure” in the station. Thus, a large amount of fresh air entered the Subway stations have the same rules of passenger flow on working
station through the entrances (Fig. 12), which increased the fresh air days and rest days, as well as similar characteristics of the daily average
load (PHE, as shown in Fig. 11). air leakage volume of the screen door and the mechanical fresh air
Fig. 13 shows that the cooling loads formed by lighting heat dis- volume and load (except for the mechanical fresh air load and exit-
sipation, fan cooling, and body heat dissipation, as well as the heat entrance infiltration load). The daily power consumption of air con-
ditioning can be predicted according to the daily temperatures inside

7
H. Yin, et al.
Heat load (kW)
25
20
15
10
5
0
Fig. 9. Comparison of the equipment thermal load during the outage and operation periods in the subway station.
7 3.5. Energy-saving strategies
6
Heat load (kW)
5 According to the analysis in Sections 3.1–3.3, although the thermal
4
3
2 also relatively obvious between 6:00–8:00 and 18:00–23:00. This led to
1 the indoor temperature being unstable, and to the actual temperature
0 being lower than the design temperature. In addition, the VAC system
0:00 2:30 5:00 7:30 10:00 12:30 15:00 17:30 20:00 22:30
Minutes
Fig. 10. Hourly change curve of thermal load in the communication equipment
room.
and outside the station. It can be seen from Fig. 4 that the power
consumption of the VAC system changes greatly with the refrigeration
or ventilation of the SER. Therefore, when predicting the power con-
sumption of a VAC system, it is necessary to classify the SER re-
frigeration or ventilation. Due to the limited data, this paper only
forecasts the daily VAC system power consumption in the SER venti-
lation mode. The daily electricity consumption of the air conditioning
system was fitted with the daily indoor and outdoor temperatures, and
the fitting relationship is given by Eq. (22). Table 6 lists the coefficients
of the fitting relationships. Fig. 18 shows that the nonlinear fitting ef-
fect of the daily electricity consumption of the VAC system is relatively
good (RMSE = 911.90, MAPE = 5.02%, maximum relative
error = 11.93%).
2
Eair − condition = p1 + p2 ∗ toutdoor + p3 ∗ toutdoor + p4 ∗ t3outdoor + p5
4
∗ toutdoor +
p6 ∗ t5outdoor + p7 ∗ tindoor + p8 ∗ t indoor
2
+ p9 ∗ t 3indoor + p10 ∗ t indoor
4
3.4.3. Prediction of indoor temperature during NACTs
It can be seen from Fig. 16 that although the temperature in the
subway station changes little with the temperature outside the station,
it still shows a certain rule. Therefore, the temperature in the station
can be predicted by the power consumption of the ventilation system
and the temperature outside the station. In this paper, the hourly
temperature in PS was fitted with the outdoor temperature and hourly
electricity consumption of AHUs and fans in PS. The fitting relationship
is shown in Eq. (23). Table 6 lists the coefficients of the fitting re-
lationships. Fig. 19 shows that the nonlinear fitting effect of indoor
temperature during NACTs is relatively good (RMSE = 0.66,
MAPE = 2.06%, and the maximum relative error = 6.78%)
2 3 4
t indoot = p1 + p2 ∗ EPS + p3 ∗ EPS + p4 ∗ EPS + p5 ∗ EPS + p6
5
∗ EPS + p7 ∗ Ln(t outdoor) + p8 ∗ (Ln(t outdoor ))2 + p9 ∗ (Ln(t outdoor ))3
+ p10 ∗ (Ln(t outdoor )) 4 + p11*(Ln(t outdoor ))5
Applied Thermal Engineering 178 (2020) 115555
Night Day
load of the subway station was relatively stable from 8:00 to 18:00,
there were obvious peak and valley changes during the operation and
the outage period, and the thermal load fluctuation of the station was
in the subway station was obviously hysteretic, and it required about
30 min for the temperature to adjust to a stable state. Therefore, it is
necessary to predict the load of the subway station or the power con-
sumption of the VAC system to achieve the balance of the cooling
supply and terminal load demand of the VAC system. Based on this, the
VAC system can be optimized as follows.
3.5.1. Prediction of load or energy consumption
Based on the similar characteristics of the subway station passenger
flow on working days, rest days, and holidays, it is suggested to use
mathematical methods such as the Gauss function to predict passenger
flow. The load of the station or power consumption of the VAC system
can also be predicted according to the meteorological data outside the
subway station collected by sensors or a meteorological station, com-
bined with the designed indoor temperature and humidity, train sche-
dule, passenger flow, fresh air volume, and refrigeration area (whether
the SER is cooled or not). It is unreasonable to set the temperatures of
the station hall and platform according only to the maximum designed
air conditioning temperatures [37,38], as both energy conservation and
passenger comfort should be taken into consideration; thus, the energy-
saving potential of this station in May was analyzed by referring to the
target temperature control table of the Hong Kong Subway, which is
also located in a hot and humid area [39]. It is evident from Fig. 20
(22) that, under most circumstances, the temperatures of both the station
hall and the platform were lower than their respective target tem-
peratures. The average difference between the observed temperature
and target temperature of the station hall was −1.78 °C, and that be-
tween the observed temperature and target temperature of the station
platform was −0.93 °C. According to previous study [35], via the
prediction of load, the power consumption of the station hall can be
reduced by about 12.46%, and that of the station platform can be re-
duced by about 6.51%.
3.5.2. Optimization of operating parameters
Based on the above forecasting, it is suggested to obtain the optimal
chilled water supply temperature, the AHU supply air temperature, and
the difference between the cooling water supply temperature and the
ambient wet bulb temperature via optimization. This will ensure that
the VAC system is in its best energy-saving state under various load
conditions. According to Yang et al. [40], the typical daily energy
consumption in the summer can be reduced by about 9.4% by opti-
mizing the parameters of the VAC system in the subway station.
(23)
3.5.3. Decrease of the minimum fresh air in PS
The minimum mechanical fresh air volume in the PS is determined
8
H. Yin, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 178 (2020) 115555

250 36

25,435 ± 1013

Outdoor temperature (oC)

31,244 ± 350
34
200

Cold load (kW)

32
150
11:00

23:00 30
100 28
26
30,657 ± 319

30,608 ± 92

50
24
0 22
10:00

22:00

0:00 3:00 6:00 9:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00

Hours
Mechanical fresh air load PHE Temperature
31,971 ± 150

31,692 ± 345

Fig. 11. Hourly change trend of mechanical fresh air load and PHE.
21:00
9:00

according to the average air leakage of the PSD with the purpose of
maintaining “positive pressure” in the subway station. However, this is
30,693 ± 266

30,439 ± 250

not always the case. As presented in Fig. 12, when the PSD is open, a
large amount of fresh air enters the station through the entrances, thus
20:00

increasing the load of the VAC system. Therefore, it is recommended

8:00

not to determine the mechanical fresh air volume by the air leakage of
the PSD, but to adjust the frequency of the fresh air fans via CO2
31,913 ± 135

30,916 ± 387

monitoring to reduce the fresh air volume and the power consumption
of the VAC system. Li et al. pointed out that most subway stations in
19:00

China no longer require mechanical fresh air [41], and that the halt of
7:00

mechanical fresh air could increase the outdoor air intake through the
entrances by about 24–30% [42]; therefore, the penetrating heat load at
30,776 ± 356

31,844 ± 182

the entrances will increase by this amount. In terms of the case study
station, when the PS mechanical fresh air is turned off, the energy
consumption by the VAC system can be reduced by at least 9.0% per
18:00
6:00

day.
31,005 ± 399

3.5.4. Adjustment of supply air

7578 ± 81

The supply air in the subway station is constant. However, ac-

17:00

cording to the analysis in Section 3.2, the thermal loads of the SER
5:00

fluctuate, as does the load in the PS. Therefore, it is suggested that the
AHUs should be adjusted according to the conditions of minimum fresh
30,805 ± 329

air, full fresh air, and full ventilation. Under the condition of minimum
8774 ± 69

fresh air, when the return air temperature is lower than the set tem-
16:00

perature, the frequency of the AHUs should be reduced, and vice versa.
4:00

Under the full fresh air and full ventilation conditions, when the
average temperature in the WER, CMR, and PS is lower than the set
32,167 ± 331

temperature, the frequency of the AHUs should be reduced, and vice

8626 ± 57

versa. For the SER, it is suggested to adjust the frequency of the AHUs
by comparing the return air temperature with the set temperature. As
15:00
3:00

the target temperature of the PS changed with the temperature outside

the station after optimization, the optimization potential of the PS air
30,876 ± 91

supply system will not be analyzed due to the length restrictions of this
8883 ± 61

Notes: The errors are the standard deviations of three days.

Hourly change of the mechanical fresh air volume (m3/h).

paper. However, the target temperature of the SER was fixed, the heat
14:00

dissipation capacity of its equipment fluctuated substantially during the

2:00

outage and operating periods, and the average heat load during the
outage period was only 38.9% that during the operating period; thus,
30,888 ± 254
7808 ± 125

the energy-saving potential of the SER ventilation subsystem was fur-

ther analyzed. The present air supply of the SER was about 42,130 m3/
13:00

h, accounting for 52% of the total air supply of the EMR. The average
1:00

power consumptions of the AHUs and fans of the EMR were 18 kW and
8 kW, respectively. Assuming that the air supply of the SER relies on the
31,868 ± 200

heat dissipation capacity of the equipment from 0:00 to 5:00, then the
7396 ± 86

energy consumption of the SER system could be reduced by about

106 kW per day (as calculated via the theoretical formula of frequency
12:00
0:00

conversion technology; the temperature change outside the station was

not considered), and the energy consumption of the ventilation sub-
Fresh Volume

Fresh Volume

system could be reduced by 7.6%.

Table 5

Time

Time

3.5.5. Decrease of the minimum fresh air in SER and WER

Year-round, almost nobody was on duty in the SER and WER. The

9
H. Yin, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 178 (2020) 115555

60 27
Air volume (m3/s)

Temperature (oC)
40 26
25
20
24
0
23
19:00 19:04 19:08 19:12 19:16 19:20 19:25 19:29
-20 22
Seconds 1 31 61 91 121 151 181 211 241 271 301 331 361 391 421 451 481
Hours
Fig. 12. Curve of air intake at the entrances caused by air leakage from the Platform temperature Station hall temperature
platform to the tunnel (the measurement error of the air volume was ± 3%).
Fig. 15. Hourly temperature change curves of the platform and station hall (the
standard deviations of the 11 monitoring values in the station hall were be-
35

Outdoor temperature (oC)

100 tween 0 and 0.15 °C; the standard deviations of the 7 monitoring values in the
30 platform were between 0 and 0.12 °C).
80
Cold load (kW)

25
60 20 29.5
15

Temperature (oC)
40 24.5
10
20 5
19.5

0 0 14.5
0:00 3:00 6:00 9:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
Hours 9.5
Monday Thuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Lighting load Heat transfer of PSD Load of fans Hours
Others Personal load Temperature Outdoor temperature Indoor temperature

Fig. 13. Hourly trend chart of cooling load caused by lighting cooling, fan Fig. 16. Average temperature change curves of the station hall and platform in
cooling, and human body cooling, as well as the heat transfer of the PSD and the non-air conditioning season (the standard deviations of the 18 monitoring
other cooling loads. values in the PS were between 0 and 0.43 °C).

continuous supply of fresh air during the ACTs was thus unnecessary. Table 6
Fresh air may be made available, but only for a short time during staff Coefficients of the nonlinear fitting relations.
inspections. The average fresh air volume of the SER and WER was Equations 21 22 23
about 7040 m3/h; the fresh air volume from 0:00 to 5:00 accounted for
86% of the total fresh air volume, and that during the period of 6:00 to p1 104240.73 −140441428.70 11415.66
p2 9225.78 1354785.40 103.83
23:00 accounted for 22.8%. Therefore, the energy consumption by the
p3 3.23 −104322.28 −6.68
VAC system could be reduced by about 7.7% if the fresh air of the SER p4 0.00 3993.80 0.21
and WER was not made available. p5 −300771.04 −76.01 0.00
p6 −31568.32 0.58 0.00
p7 1.18 21470558.63 −21004.41
3.5.6. Regulation of the SER refrigeration conditions p8 −57.25 −1294509.77 14603.17
p9 −1.22 34664.55 −5052.67
The refrigeration in the SER was arbitrary. Sometimes, supplying
p10 – −347.86 870.21
the cooling capacity for the SER was unnecessary because the ventila- p11 – – −59.68
tion could maintain the temperature below 36 °C. The thermal load of
the equipment and lighting in the SER was 128 kW. Given that the SER
was unattended throughout the year, humidity load could be ignored. However, the actual refrigerating hours in the SER amounted to 108 h
The air supply for the SER was 42,130 m3/h, and the temperature and (Table 7). Thus, the SER could reduce thermal load by approximately
humidity in this room should be maintained below 36 °C and 60%, 6272 kW, and the energy consumption by the VAC system could be
respectively, i.e., the enthalpy value should be < 94.632 kJ/kg. Thus, reduced by 1.7%.
when the enthalpy value of the outdoor air was < 83.69 kJ/kg, the
temperature in the SER could reach control requirements through 3.5.7. Establishment of intelligent control platform
ventilation. The number of hours during which the outdoor air specific It is suggested to build an intelligent data platform to realize the
enthalpy value was greater than 83.69 kJ/kg in May was 59 h (Fig. 21). real-time analysis and dynamic adjustment control of VAC system

27.5
Temperature (oC)

26.5
25.5
24.5
23.5
5:36:14 5:44:46 5:53:19 6:01:51 6:10:24 6:18:56 6:27:29 6:36:01 6:44:33 6:53:06
Seconds
3-May 12-May 21-May
Fig. 14. Temperature change curve in the station hall (the standard deviations of the 11 monitoring values in the station hall were between 0.02 and 0.12 °C).

10
H. Yin, et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 178 (2020) 115555

25000 16 100
Hourly average air leakage

Specific enthalpy (kJ/kg)

14 80
20000 12
volume (m3/h)

MAPE (%)
15000 10 60
8
10000 40
6
5000 4 20
2
0
0 0 1 41 81 121 161 201 241 281 321 361 401 441 481 521
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17
Hours Hours
Specific enthalpy of outdoor air Designed specific enthalpy
Observed value Calculated value MAPE
Fig. 21. Hourly specific enthalpy in May.
Fig. 17. Observed and calculated values of the hourly average air leakage vo-
lume.
The strategies proposed in Sections 3.5.1, 3.5.2 and 3.5.7 must be
implemented based on the monitoring platform, so they may be im-
7000 14
Electricity consumption

plemented at a high cost. For practical purposes, for the non-transfer

6000 12 stations with small passenger flow, it is suggested to first adjust the
5000 10 fresh air volumes of the PS, SER, and WED. Then, the heat dissipation of

MAPE (%)
(kWh/d)

4000 8 the equipment in the SER should be detected and estimated, and its air
3000 6 supply and refrigeration conditions should be adjusted and regulated
2000 4 accordingly.
1000 2
0 0 4. Conclusions
1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49
Days
In this paper, the characteristics of a subway station ventilation and
Observed value Calculated value MAPE air conditioning system were analyzed based on field measurement data
from the three aspects of power consumption, load, and temperature.
Fig. 18. Observed and calculated values of the daily electricity consumption of
the air conditioning system.
Additionally, the problems existing in the operation and management
of a subway station ventilation and air conditioning system were ex-
amined. (1) The ventilation and air conditioning system used the
30 8
average air leakage of the platform screen door to determine the
Indoor temperature (oC)

7
25 6
minimum mechanical fresh air volume, which not only cannot maintain
the “positive pressure” in the station, but also greatly increases the fresh
MAPE (%)

5
20 4 air load and power consumption. It was found that the total load of
3 fresh air in the station was as high as 34–37% (operation period: fresh
15 2 air load 22%, permeation heat of entrances 15%; all-day: fresh air load
1 21%, permeation heat of entrances 13%). (2) The ventilation capacity
10 0 of the ventilation and air conditioning system in the subway station was
1 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 101 111 121
stable year-round, but it was found that the thermal load of some rooms
Hours exhibited obvious peak and valley variation during the operation and
Observed value Calculated value MAPE outage periods, and that the actual ventilation capacity and thermal
Fig. 19. Observed and calculated values of the indoor temperature during load were not matched. (3) The temperature in the subway station was
NACTs. generally lower than the design temperature, which can be controlled
by load or power consumption prediction and the frequency of the
28 adjustment of air handling units. (4) The ventilation and air con-
Temperature (oC)

27 ditioning system of the subway station had a certain hysteresis in

26 temperature control, about 30 min required to adjust the indoor tem-
25 perature to a stable state. (5) Some rooms in the equipment area were
24
unattended throughout the year, but fresh air was still supplied in an
23
amount of 10% of the air supply volume, which is too large. (6) The
22
May 1st May 6th May 11th May 15th May 19th May 23rd May 27th May 31st opening of the ventilation and air conditioning system in the strong
at 6:00 at 9:00 at 8:00 at 17:00 at 17:00 at 17:00 at 19:00 at 19:00 electricity rooms was too subjective, and sometimes the temperature
Hours was too low. In view of these problems, this paper put forward three
Observed temperature (station hall) Observed temperature (platform) general models and seven energy-saving strategies, and their energy-
Target temperature (station hall) Target temperature (platform)
saving potentials were estimated. After optimization, the ventilation
Fig. 20. Differences between the observed temperature and target temperature and air conditioning system can save energy more than 30%. The
in the station (the standard deviations of the 11 monitoring values in the station strategies proposed in this paper can also be used for reference in the
hall were between 0 and 0.14 °C; the standard deviations of the 7 monitoring design of new ventilation and air conditioning systems.
values in the platform were between 0 and 0.11 °C). This study is part of the energy-saving research project for ventila-
tion and air conditioning systems in subway stations, which aims to
status. This platform can adjust the control strategies and control narrow the gap between low energy efficiency and high energy-saving
parameters according to the acquired data to guide both operation and requirements. However, the implementation cost of each strategy was
maintenance, which will make the system run efficiently for a long not addressed in this paper resulting from the lack of a practical deci-
time. sion-making guide, and will instead be studied in the future as part of
the comprehensive evaluation of energy-saving benefits against their

11
H. Yin, et al.
Table 7
Refrigeration hours of the SER in May.
Date May 8 May 15 May 26 May 27
Time 13:00–21:00 12:00–21:00 7:00–22:00 8:00–21:00
conducting cost.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
ence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank the Guangdong Science and
Technology Department for their sponsorship (2017A020216006).
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