Research Activities

Wenjian’s current research is focus on process instrumentation, control and optimization with applications to energy and environmental areas:

Ejector based air-conditioner: Development of high efficiency air-conditioning system using low temperature heat source and ejector-compressor cycle for automobile and food processing industries. The R&D topics includes: mechanical design, modelling and control system development and performance test. He is collaborating with Professors Zhiyuan Liu of Harbin Institute of Technology, Yanzhong Li of Xi’an Jiaotong University and Xiaowei Fan of Pingyuan Institute of Technology of China on this project.

Wind Turbine Control: Development of variable speed wind turbine control system using multi-model supervisory control technology previously developed for HVAC control systems. The R&D topics includes: modelling, parameter identification, control system development and performance test.

Energy management, optimization and control system: Integrated Energy Management, Control and Optimization system (EMOCS) for building HVAC processes. This project is to improve the system already developed under industry funded project of “Development of Optimization Technologies for Building HVAC Systems”. He is collaborating with Centre for Energy Efficiency of Shandong University of China on this project.

Portable COD meter: Portable real-time Chemical Oxygen demand sensor by electrochemical analysis method. This is a cooperative project with Purechem Onyx Pte Ltd which including: methodology study, software and hardware design, interface and communication protocol development.

Process auto-tuning software package: For all industry control schemes including: identification (single open-loop/closed-loop, multivariable open-loop/closed loop), PID parameter tuning (single loop, large time delay, inverse response, open loop unstable, cascade, feedback/feedforward, multiloop), and effective control loop configuration method for decentralized control. He is collaborating with Professors Shaoyuan Li and Weidong Zhang of Shanghai Jiaotong University of China on this project.

Hand held PID auto-tuner: A field control engineer tool for on-site tuning PID parameters without interference with the normal process operation. The third prototype is currently been fabricated to make the instrument more powerful.