Use of a predictive control to improve the energy efficiency in indoor swimming pools using solar thermal energy

Abstract Indoor swimming pools are high energy demand sport or leisure facilities and this fact puts at risk their financial viability. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that the use of predictive control can improve the energy efficiency of theses installations when using hybridised solar+boiler systems (eventually biomass-fired) for thermal supply. To do so, a new module performing a Model Predictive Control (MPC) based on an Early Switch-Off (ESO) strategy has been developed. The proposed control has been adjusted by using a dynamic simulation process in TRNSYS, implemented over the public indoor swimming pool in the municipality of Archena, Spain. Results indicate that ESO predictive controls can reduce a swimming pool’s energy demand by 18.76% using 42.64% less fuel compared to a Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) conventional control, while keeping the pool’s thermal conditions in line with national and international swimming standards. Thus, this kind of control can help to significantly improve the energy efficiency of these facilities reducing their financial risk.