Energy consumption analysis and reconstruction of subway platform screen doors in northern cities for energy saving

To analyze the influence of the platform screen doors (PSD) on energy consumption of subway environmental control systems in northern cities and to make good use of piston wind, EnergyPlus, an energy analysis and thermal load simulation program, is used to evaluate such systems in northern cities. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is made to model the velocity and temperature field of a subway station and to predict the effect on PSD reconstruction using Airpak. Compared to a system with automatic platform gates, a PSD system has 2% lower energy consumption. Thus, PSDs are inefficient for saving energy in northern cities. Because electricity consumption by ventilation equipment increases notably when PSDs are used, particularly by under platform exhaust fans, little difference exists in the overall energy consumption with or without PSD. More thoroughly using piston wind in transition seasons and the winter is the key to solving the high energy consumption problem. The energy analysis and CFD simulation results show that the adjustable vents in PSD can use the piston process to introduce outside air, thereby reducing ventilation energy consumption notably. Because the vents can be closed, PSDs also can save energy in the summer. Using these recommendations can reduced annual energy consumption 30%.