A model predictive control (MPC) system with an adaptive building model based on thermal-electrical analogy for the hybrid air conditioning system using the radiant floor and all-air system for heating is proposed in this paper to solve the heating supply control difficulties of the railway station on Tibetan Plateau. The MPC controller applies an off-line method of updating the building model to improve the accuracy of predicting indoor conditions. The control performance of the adaptive MPC is compared with the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control, as well as an MPC without adaptive model through simulation constructed based on a TRNSYS-MATLAB co-simulation testbed. The results show that the implementation of the adaptive MPC can improve indoor thermal comfort and reduce 22.2% energy consumption compared to the PID control. Compared to the MPC without adaptive model, the adaptive MPC achieves fewer violations of constraints and reduces energy consumption by 11.5% through periodic model updating. This study focuses on the design of a control system to maintain indoor thermal comfort and improve system efficiency. The proposed method could also be applied in other public buildings.

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In cold regions, radiant floor heating systems are commonly used in public buildings due to better thermal comfort and lower energy consumption. However, in transportation buildings with many transparent envelopes such as railway stations on Tibetan Plateau, the strong solar radiation entering into the station may cause local overheating, which has a great effect on the radiant floor heating system. In this paper, a railway station on Tibetan Plateau is simulated to investigate the influence of uneven solar radiation distribution on the radiant floor heating system. Results show that due to the strong solar radiation, the floor surface temperature and indoor operative temperature in some parts of the waiting hall can reach up to 30 °C and 26 °C, respectively. The temperature difference of the floor surface can even exceed 5 °C occasionally during the heating period. According to the results, it can be found that the method of reducing the heating in the area with strong solar radiation and making full use of solar radiation for heating is an effective way to improve the indoor thermal comfort and reduce the heating energy consumption of heating system.

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