The electrical load diversity factor (DF) is a ratio used to estimate the peak demand in a building by considering the simultaneous use of different electrical loads. It helps in sizing electrical systems and determining the total electrical load required for a building. In an office building, different electrical appliances, equipment, and systems are used simultaneously, but not all of them reach their peak loads at the same time. The diversity factor takes this into account to avoid overestimating the total electrical capacity needed.
To calculate the electrical load diversity factor in an office building, follow these steps:
Identify all the electrical loads: Make a list of all the electrical appliances, equipment, and systems in the office building that consume electricity, such as lighting, computers, air conditioning, printers, elevators, etc.
Obtain the peak loads: Determine the maximum electrical power (in kilowatts or kW) consumed by each electrical load during its operation. This information is usually available from equipment specifications or manuals. If not available, you may use estimates based on industry standards or previous data.
Determine the total peak load: Add up all the individual peak loads to calculate the total peak load for the office building.
Record the connected loads: Identify the electrical loads that are expected to be operating simultaneously. These are loads that are likely to be in use during normal building operation hours.
Calculate the diversity factor: Divide the total peak load (obtained in step 3) by the sum of the connected loads (obtained in step 4).
Diversity Factor (DF) = Total Peak Load / Sum of Connected Loads
For example, let's say the office building has the following peak loads:
Lighting: 30 kW
Computers: 50 kW
Air conditioning: 100 kW
Other loads: 70 kW
The total peak load = 30 kW + 50 kW + 100 kW + 70 kW = 250 kW
Now, assume that during normal operating hours, all loads (lighting, computers, air conditioning, and other loads) are expected to be running simultaneously.
Sum of connected loads = 30 kW + 50 kW + 100 kW + 70 kW = 250 kW
Diversity Factor (DF) = 250 kW / 250 kW = 1
In this example, the diversity factor is 1, which means that all the connected loads are operating simultaneously at their peak loads.
It's worth noting that the diversity factor is usually less than 1 in real-world scenarios because not all loads reach their peak at the same time. However, this example assumes a simplified scenario for illustrative purposes. In practice, the diversity factor would be calculated using data specific to the actual operation of the building and its electrical systems.