Project

Optimal control of systems on twin timescales

The thermal energy of buildings exhibits the characteristics of systems on several time scales. The aim here is to resolve the optimal control of these complex systems more quickly numerically.

Context and objectives

New geothermal devices make it possible to stock and destock energy over at least several months. Moreover, in an average building, the storage time can be several weeks for heavy structures, and less than an hour for ambient air. These different timescales lengthen the duration of the calculations when developing optimal management strategies for these systems.

The postdoc internship consists in using averaging methods to calculate, in an approximate but faster way, the optimal control of systems with several characteristic times. The solution is then calculated by solving a simple differential equation. The applications envisaged relate to exchanges with the ground (via a heat pump), implemented, for example, in heat-producing road projects. This internship is led by Aradhana Nayak at MINES ParisTech under the supervision of François Chaplais and Delphine Bresch-Pietri (CAS – Automatic Control and Systems Centre – of MINES ParisTech) in collaboration with Bruno Peuportier and Patrick Schalbart.