Digital twin of an absorption chiller for solar cooling

The aim of this study is to create a digital twin of a commercial absorption chiller for control and optimization purposes. The chiller is a complex system that is affected by solar intermittency and non-linearities. The authors use Adaptive Neuro-fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) to model the chiller’s behavior during transients and part-load events. The chiller is divided into four sub-models, each modeled by ANFIS, and trained and validated using data from 15 days of operation. The ANFIS models are precise, accurate, and fast, with a worst-case Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) of 3.30% and reduced error dispersion (σE=0.88) and Standard Error (SE=0.01). The models outperformed literature models in terms of MAPE, with MAPEs of 1.12%, 2.21%, and 3.24% for the High Temperature Generator (HTG), absorber + condenser, and evaporator outlet temperatures, respectively. The computational execution time of the model is also a valuable asset, with an average simulation step taking less than 0.20 ms and a total simulation time of 8.9 s for three days of operation. The resulting digital twin is suitable for Model Predictive Control applications and fast what-if analysis and optimization due to its gray-box representation and computational speed.