Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24D—DOMESTIC- OR SPACE-HEATING SYSTEMS, e.g. CENTRAL HEATING SYSTEMS; DOMESTIC HOT-WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; ELEMENTS OR COMPONENTS THEREFOR
  • F24D19/00—Details
  • F24D19/10—Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices
  • F24D19/1006—Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices for water heating systems
  • F24D19/1009—Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices for water heating systems for central heating
  • F24D19/1015—Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices for water heating systems for central heating using a valve or valves

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for commissioning and balancing a wet central heating system and in particular to a method and apparatus to reduce the amount of labour currently involved with commissioning and balancing wet central heating systems.
• a plumber and an assistant install a wet central heating system including fuel burner and pump, domestic hot water cylinder, radiators and pipe work over the course of a day, depending on the size of the property.
• the fundamental principle behind the balancing/commissioning of the central heating system is to obtain an 11 ° C drop between flow and return pipe work of the system, the temperature drop being a differential setting.
• a perfectly balanced system will have an 11 °C temperature differential between flow and return pipe work and an equal temperature through all radiators.
• the plumber and his assistant have completely installed the central heating system, one of them starts the system from cold ensuring that the system is completely flushed and clear of air.
• the plumber must then establish the order in which the radiators are served which is done by noting the order in which they heat up.
• the system is allowed to stabilise and at the closest point to the boiler, the plumber measures the flow and return temperatures with the aim of achieving a drop of 11 ° C. If the temperature drop exceeds 11 ° C, then the pump setting is too low and if the temperature drop is less than 11 ° C then the pump setting is too high.
• the plumber adjusts the pump speed until a flow and return temperature differential of 11 ° C is achieved.
• the radiator which is furtherest away from the pump with the most bends, tees, known as the index radiator, is identified and the valves on this radiator are left fully open.
• the plumber or his assistant returns to the first radiator on the circuit and initially closes the L.S.V. and starting from the closed position, opens the L. S. V a % turn.
• the plumber allows the system to stabilise and checks the flow and return pipes of the radiator for a temperature differential of eleven degrees. When this is successfully achieved, the plumber moves on to the next radiator right through the system until they reach the index radiator. It is this part of the commissioning process that requires considerable time and patience because the L.S.V's. often require a number of turns to achieve the required 1 1 ° C drop. Furthermore, as adjustments are made, previously adjusted radiators need to be rechecked for possible temperature fluctuations caused by these subsequent adjustments.
• the commissioning and/or balancing process outlined above is an onerous task at the end of an already long days work for the plumber and his assistant especially considering that the workers also need to pack up the tools and tidy up the work area before leaving the site.
• the reality of the situation is that in many installations the commissioning process is not carried out at all or if the process is attempted, it is not carried out properly. This can have very negative consequences on the efficiency of the central heating system which is now a considerable issue in view of the current pressure on all Governments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve energy efficiency before preset deadlines.
• the present invention provides an apparatus for commissioning and balancing a central heating system of the type having a boiler for heating water and a pump for pumping the water through a plurality of radiators interconnected by pipes, the apparatus comprising a plurality of pairs of temperature probes with a first probe of each pair mountable on a flow and a second probe of each pair mountable on the return of a plurality of radiators, a control unit for receiving and outputting temperature information from the temperature probes and means for transmitting the temperature information recorded by each probe to the control unit to allow an operator to monitor the temperature drop across each pair of temperature probes.
• the temperature probes are removably mountable on the radiators.
• control unit has a visual display unit.
• visual display unit displays the temperature differential across each pair of temperature probes mounted on each radiator.
• control unit is a portable computer.
• the apparatus further has a means for adjusting each lock shield valve.
• the means for adjusting each lock shield valve comprises a plurality of system nodes containing motorised units, one system node being mountable on the lock shield valve of each radiator.
• the system nodes are removably mountable on the lock shield valves.
• the system nodes are operable remotely by the control unit.
• the means for transmitting the temperature information recorded by each probe to the control unit preferably comprises a plurality of system nodes, each system node being a power supply unit being electrically coupled to a pair of temperature probes and having a motorised drive coupling to a particular radiator.
• the means for transmitting the temperature information recorded by each probe to the control unit further desirably comprises the system node and the control unit having means for wirelessly communicating with each other.
• each system node has a power supply unit which beneficially is pluggable into the mains electricity supply of the building and delivers an electrical supply to the system node.
• each system node preferably provides power for an electric motor.
• each system node desirably provides a means of connection to the temperature probes.
• each system node preferably has means for receiving and storing temperature information from the pair of probes.
• each system node beneficially has a microcontroller.
• the control unit preferably has a signal generator and a control unit antenna and each system node has a transceiver and antenna for wirelessly transmitting temperature information recorded by each temperature probe to the control unit.
• control unit ideally has a control program executable thereon for receiving temperature information from each system node and in response to this information generating and transmitting signals regarding LSV position to each system node.
• control program is based on an algorithm which takes in temperature values from system nodes coupled to a number of radiators in a system and generates values corresponding to the degree of rotation required to be applied to one or more L.S.V's.
• control program transmits these values to the microcontroller of the system node which applies them via the motorised units to the L.S.V's. to obtain the optimum 11 0 C temperature differential on the flow and return pipework of the central heating system.
• low power radio frequency techniques are ideally used for communicating between the control unit and the system nodes.
• the means for transmitting the temperature information recorded by each temperature probe to the control unit preferably comprises the temperature probes and the control unit having means for wirelessly communicating with each other.
• system nodes and the control unit preferably have means for wirelessly communicating with each other.
• system nodes preferably have their own power supply.
• the system nodes power supply is ideally a battery.
• control unit preferably has a signal generator and a control unit antenna and the temperature probe has a temperature probe antenna coupled to a temperature sensor for wirelessly transmitting temperature information recorded by each probe to the control unit.
• control unit beneficially has a control program thereon and being executable for receiving information from the probes and in response to this information generating and transmitting signals to the system nodes.
• control program is ideally based on an algorithm which takes in temperature values from a number of radiators in a system and generates values corresponding to the degree of rotation required to be applied to one or more L.S.V's. via the system nodes to obtain the optimum 11 C temperature differential.
• control program desirably transmits these values to the system nodes for their motorised units to rotate the L.S.V's. to obtain the optimum 11 °C temperature differential on the flow and return pipework of the central heating system.
• low power radio frequency techniques ideally are used for communicating between the control unit and the motorised units.
• low power radio frequency techniques desirably are used for communicating between the temperature probes and the control unit.
• the temperature probes beneficially comprise RFID'S (Radio Frequency Identification Devices) integrated with temperature sensors.
• RFID'S Radio Frequency Identification Devices
• These temperature probes mountable on the flow and return of radiators are capable of receiving radio frequency signals from the control unit, measuring temperatures and transmitting measured temperature and probe id information back to the control unit using passive power supplied by the RF energy transmission.
• a method of commissioning and/or balancing a wet central heating system comprising the steps of mounting temperature probes to the flow and return of a plurality of radiators on the central heating system and collating all of the temperature readings from the probes on a control unit which is capable of displaying the readings to an operator. This allows the operator to easily see the impact adjusting a lock shield valve of one radiator has on the temperature differential of every other radiator being monitored in the system and removes the need for continuously returning to other radiators in the system to check their temperatures after each lock shield valve adjustment.
• the method further comprising the step of mounting rotation means on the lock shield valves, the rotation means being remotely operable by the control unit.
• the method further comprising the step of remotely controlling the rotation of the rotation means by the control unit in response to temperature values recorded from the temperature probes.
• Figure 1 is a schematic drawing of a prior art central heating system
• Figure 2 is a schematic drawing of part of an apparatus for commissioning and balancing a wet central heating system
• Figure 3 is a block diagram of the circuit of the apparatus.
• each radiator 21 has a thermostatic radiator valve TRV 2 and a lock shield valve LSV 3.
• Each radiator 21 also has a pair of temperature probes 9, 10 with a first probe 9 of each pair being mounted on a flow pipe 24 and a second probe 10 of each pair being mounted on the return pipe 25 of the radiator 21.
• a control unit (Fig.
• the temperature probes 9, 10 are removably mounted on the radiator 21.
• the control unit is typically a portable PC with an integrated visual display unit which displays the temperature differential across each pair of temperature probes 9, 10 mounted on each radiator 21.
• the apparatus also has a system node indicated generally by the reference numeral 8 for adjusting the lock shield valve 3.
• the system node 8 for adjusting the lock shield valve 3 comprises a motorised unit 32 having a geared motor 33 and a valve coupling adapter 34 for engaging the lock shield valve head.
• the system node 8 is removably mounted on the lock shield valve 3 and is operable remotely by the control unit.
• the system node contains the RF interface, microcontroller and motor interface electronics.
• the arrangement 31 for transmitting the temperature information recorded by each probe 9, 10 to the control unit comprises a power supply unit 11 feeding a system node 8 being electrically coupled to the pair of temperature probes 9, 10 and containing the motorised unit 32.
• the arrangement 31 for transmitting the temperature information recorded by each probe 9, 10 to the control unit further comprises the system node 8 having an antenna 41 and the control unit having an antenna with both antenna having associated signal generating and processing circuitry for wirelessly communicating with each other.
• the power supply unit 11 can be plugged into the mains electricity supply of the building and each power supply unit 11 provides power to a system node 8 containing an electric motor 32 coupled to a gearbox unit 33.
• Each system node 8 also provides for connection to the temperature probes 9, 10 and has a microcontroller with memory for receiving and storing temperature information from the pair of temperature probes 9, 10.
• the control unit has a signal generator and a control unit antenna and each system node contains an antenna 41 for wirelessly transmitting temperature information recorded by each temperature probe 9, 10 to the control unit.
• the control unit has a control program executable via the microcontroller interface for receiving temperature information from each system node 8 and in response to this information generating and transmitting signals regarding LSV position to each system node 8.
• the control program is based on an algorithm which takes in temperature values from system nodes 8 coupled to a number of radiators 21 in a system and generates values corresponding to the degree of rotation required to be applied to one or more L.S.V's 3.
• the control program transmits these values to the microcontrollers of the system nodes 8 which apply them via the motorised units 32 to the L.S.V's. 3 to obtain the optimum 11 0 C temperature differential on the flow and return pipework of the central heating system shown in Figure 1.
• Low power radio frequency techniques are used for communicating between the control unit and the system nodes 8.
• the present invention also envisages a second embodiment of apparatus not shown in the drawings having an arrangement for transmitting the temperature information recorded by each temperature probe directly to a control unit.
• the temperature probes and the control unit have equipment for wirelessly communicating with each other.
• the motorised units and the control unit also have equipment for wirelessly communicating with each other.
• the motorised units have their own power supply which can be provided by one or more batteries.
• the control unit has a signal generator and a control unit antenna and the temperature probe has a temperature probe antenna coupled to a temperature sensor for wirelessly transmitting temperature information recorded by each probe to the control unit.
• the control unit has a control program executing thereon for receiving information from the temperature probes and in response to this information generating and transmitting signals to the motorised units.
• the control program is based on an algorithm which takes in temperature values from a number of probes mounted on radiators in a heating system and generates values corresponding to the degree of rotation required to be applied to one or more L. S. Vs. via the motorised units to obtain the optimum 11 °C temperature differential.
• the control program transmits these values to the system nodes which rotate the L.S.V's. to obtain the optimum 1 1 0 C temperature differential on the flow and return pipework of the central heating system.
• Low power radio frequency techniques are used for communicating between the control unit and the motorised units and for communicating between the temperature probes and the control unit.
• the temperature probes comprise RFlD patches integrated with a temperature sensor. These temperature probes mountable on the flow and return of radiators are capable of receiving power via radio frequency signals from the control unit, measuring temperatures and transmitting measured temperature and probe id information back to the control unit.
• the control program wirelessly signals the system nodes 8 to initiate the temperature probes 9, 10 to measure the temperature of the flow and return pipes 24, 25 of the radiators.
• the system nodes 8 record and wirelessly signal the temperature information to the control unit.
• the control unit has a control program for receiving temperature information from each system node 8 and in response to this information generating and transmitting signals regarding LSV position to each system node 8.
• the control program is based on an algorithm which takes in temperature values from system nodes 8 coupled to a number of radiators 21 in a system and generates values corresponding to the degree of rotation required to be applied to one or more L.S.V's 3.
• the control program transmits these values to the microcontrollers of the system nodes 8 which apply them via the motorised units 32 to the L.S.V's. 3 to obtain the optimum 11 °C temperature differential on the flow and return pipework of the central heating system.
• the apparatus and method not only is for use in commissioning a new wet central heating system but also for balancing a wet central heating system already commissioned but incorrectly balanced at that commissioning procedure.
• control unit can therefore be configured to set underfloor circuits or radiator emitters to a single value or to adjust multiple zone (or circuit) groups to achieve different settings.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Thermal Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Steam Or Hot-Water Central Heating Systems (AREA)
• Control Of Temperature (AREA)

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• 2006
  • 2006-02-17 GB GBGB0603233.8A patent/GB0603233D0/en not_active Ceased
• 2007
  • 2007-02-19 UA UAA200811177A patent/UA91408C2/ru unknown
  • 2007-02-19 WO PCT/GB2007/000558 patent/WO2007093815A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2007-02-19 EA EA200801801A patent/EA012157B1/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2007-02-19 EP EP07712735A patent/EP1987293A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2007-02-19 US US12/278,928 patent/US20100276502A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2007-02-19 CN CN2007800058956A patent/CN101384857B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related

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