Empowering Qinhuangdao Bovi Fortune Center Centralized Control Strategy and Practice for Water Thermal Storage Air-Conditioning Plant Based on Peak and Valley Electricity Pricing

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Project Overview

Qinhuangdao Bovi Fortune Center, with a total construction area of 53,862 square meters, is a large-scale urban complex integrating a high-end hotel, boutique retail spaces, and office buildings. Its HVAC cooling and heating source system adopts an economical and energy-efficient water thermal storage technology, consisting of chillers, electric boilers, thermal storage tanks, and large-scale storage reservoirs converted from fire protection water tanks.

 

Such a large-scale thermal storage plant room faces three core challenges:

 

Strategy Complexity and System Reliability

How to accurately and reliably switch automatically between multiple cooling and heating operating modes while coordinating the operation of chillers, boilers, cooling towers, and up to seven categories of water pumps, avoiding hydraulic imbalance or equipment damage caused by operational errors.

 

Refined Energy Management

How to meet the different supply water temperature requirements of hotels, commercial areas, and office buildings, enabling zoned temperature control and on-demand energy supply.

 

Energy Efficiency Optimization and Cost Control

How to maximize the utilization of off-peak electricity for thermal storage while maintaining occupant comfort, reducing peak electricity loads, and minimizing overall operating costs.
 
 

HaiLin Controls Building Automation System Solution

      To address the above challenges, HaiLin Controls provided a complete Building Automation System (BAS) solution integrating both hardware and software.

      The system architecture consists of a central management station, network controllers, on-site IoT-DDC controllers, various sensors, and actuators, enabling comprehensive monitoring and control of the entire cooling and heating plant equipment chain.

      The BAS system includes approximately 3,500 control points, achieving intelligent dual-mode management for both cooling and heating thermal storage operations based on peak and valley electricity pricing.

Core Functions of the System

»Peak-Valley Electricity-Based Thermal Storage Dispatch and Economic Operation Strategy

 

The HaiLin HBAS Building Automation System provides integrated control of chillers, boilers, cooling towers, cooling water circulation pumps, primary and secondary chilled water pumps, cooling storage/release pumps, heating storage/release pumps, and motorized valves through IoT-DDC controllers. The system features built-in adaptive dual-mode switching logic for both cooling and heating operations based on peak-valley electricity pricing and operational scheduling calendars.

· Summer Cooling Operation :During off-peak electricity periods, the system automatically switches to the “Chiller Thermal Storage” mode. Chillers are scheduled to efficiently produce 4°C chilled water, which is stored in the thermal storage tank.During normal and peak electricity periods, the system prioritizes the “Thermal Storage Cooling Release” mode, where only the cooling release pumps and secondary pumps are activated. Cooling is delivered indirectly through plate heat exchangers while the chillers remain in standby mode.

When the cooling load exceeds the storage capacity, the system seamlessly switches to direct chiller cooling or combined cooling operation. Meanwhile, valve openings are dynamically adjusted to maintain stable supply water temperatures, such as 7°C. 

 

·Winter Heating OperationThe winter heating strategy follows the same operational logic. During off-peak electricity periods, electric boilers and thermal storage pumps operate in “Boiler Thermal Storage” mode, storing high-temperature hot water in the thermal storage tank.During non-off-peak periods, the system prioritizes the “Thermal Storage Heat Release” mode. When stored thermal energy becomes insufficient, the system intelligently switches to direct boiler heating or combined heating operation to ensure stable indoor heating performance.According to operational calculations, compared with conventional HVAC systems without thermal storage, this strategy can reduce summer cooling operating costs by more than 30%.

»Zoned Supply Water Temperature Optimization:

The system dynamically adjusts supply water temperature based on real-time outdoor enthalpy values. The hotel area adopts supply water temperature settings ranging from 10°C to 7°C according to different enthalpy intervals, while the commercial and office areas are independently configured with a positive deviation of +1°C to +2°C to avoid excessive cooling.

 

»Equipment Safety Interlock

The DDC controllers execute strict start-stop sequences and valve interlock logic to prevent pressure interference between high- and low-pressure loops, while also providing pressure-loss alarm and protection functions.

 

»Comprehensive Energy Efficiency Monitoring and Analysis

The system integrates data from chillers, power meters, thermal energy meters, and other equipment to calculate regional cooling capacity, power consumption, and itemized energy usage in real time, providing chart-based reports for energy efficiency analysis and optimization.

 

This project was implemented and deployed by Hebei HaiLin Automation Technology Co., Ltd., an authorized distributor of HaiLin Controls. The project has completed commissioning and acceptance, finished system operation training, and entered normal operation.

The successful application of the HaiLin Controls system at Qinhuangdao Bovi Fortune Center fully demonstrates the technical strength and engineering implementation capability of Chinese building automation brands in addressing ultra-large-scale energy station systems with complex operating conditions and dual cooling-heating thermal storage requirements.With peak-valley electricity price utilization as the core control logic, the system achieves integrated full-chain control of chillers, boilers, cooling towers, multiple circulation pumps, and valve systems. Through the “off-peak energy storage and peak-period energy release” strategy, the system not only realizes fully automated intelligent HVAC plant operation, but also significantly reduces operating costs while ensuring energy performance and system safety for different building applications.This project is another benchmark case for HaiLin Controls in the field of building energy efficiency, and its control strategy provides important reference value for the industry.

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