Design of a Smart Control System for electrophysical dehumidification devices: preliminary results

Abstract

The control of indoor climate is a complex problem which involves environmental, social and technical aspects. The relevance of such topic increases when the building and/or the objects inside constitute an historical- cultural heritage, because ancient structures are more vulnerable to climatic agents than modern buildings. In particular, the presence of rising damp is a critical problem because it can originate the development of moulds, and pests thus becoming a substantial source of decay. In addition, rising damp is traditionally considered a structural problem that can be solved only by means of invasive interventions. Recently, the spread of electrokinetic dehumidification devices has opened new opportunities in the field of non-invasive damp remediation, thus extending the scope of smart building technologies. Electrokinetic dehumidification devices however generally lack the possibility of interacting with the surrounding environment and with other smart building technologies. In such context this research addresses the development of a control system for an electrokinetic dehumidification device, based on smart sensing and advanced data analysis promoted by Industry 4.0 smart building technologies. This paper in particular reports the details of a stochastic control system for the operational parameters an electrokinetic dehumidification device based on the assessment of the rising height through the measurement of the impedance on the wall surface