A Distributed Architecture for HVAC Sensor Fault Detection and Isolation

This paper presents a design and analysis methodology for detecting and isolating multiple sensor faults in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. The proposed methodology is developed in a distributed framework, considering a multizone HVAC system as a set of interconnected nonlinear subsystems. A dedicated local sensor fault diagnosis (LSFD) agent is designed for each subsystem, while it may exchange information with other LSFD agents. Distributed sensor fault detection is conducted using robust analytical redundancy relations of estimation-based residuals and adaptive thresholds. The distributed sensor fault isolation procedure is carried out by combining the decisions of the LSFD agents and applying a reasoning-based decision logic. The performance of the proposed methodology is analyzed with respect to robustness, sensor fault detectability, and isolability. Simulation results are used for illustrating the effectiveness of the proposed methodology applied to an eight-zone HVAC system.