GB2389187A - Monitoring and analysing the functioning of a water heating system - Google Patents

Abstract

A water heating system includes monitoring software that monitors the operating conditions of the system, and diagnostic software that analyses the functioning of the system and indicates any need for repair or servicing of the system in order to maintain efficient running. The diagnosis may be performed in a hand held unit to be plugged into the heating system, within the system itself or at a central controller at a remote location. When diagnosis is carried out remotely the central controller may also effect repair or servicing of the system (e.g. by automatic adjustment or instruction of a system engineer). Adjustment may be preemptive to prevent the occurrence of a system fault. The embodiment shows a domestic central heating system. A method of controlling a water heating system involving the monitoring and diagnosis of the system is also disclosed.

Description

l r l l ( 1 Network Control Systems 23891 87 This invention relates to

diagnostic control, and to diagnostic control of water heating and hot water supply systems, referred tO hereinafter as water heating systems. Also, the main type of water heating system to which the invention relates is a domestic water heating system, and in the interests of clarity of description,

reference to only such systems will be made hereinafter. However, the general application of the invention to water heating systems, commercial and domestic should not be forgotten. The context will generally be domestic water heating systems, but the reader will be aware were a different and more general context applies.

There are several water heating systems currently in use, including gravity feed systems, unvented pressure systems, thermal storage systems, and combi-boiler systems, and some systems which use in combination features from two or more of the above systems, but in all systems there is primary hot water, and secondary hot water. The primary hot water is circulated through radiators to provide the space heating, and the secondary hot water is the hot water which is delivered to consumption points, e.g. taps.

To provide an idea of the differences in the various systems, a short summary of each is given below.

The gravity feed system is the oldest type of system, and includes a hot water tank at atmospheric pressure, which is gravity fed from a storage tank. The water in the hot water tank is the secondary water and is heated by water heated by a boiler and circulated from the boiler through a heat exchange coil in the hot water tank. The water heated by the boiler is also the primary water.

l l :. r l Unvented systems are similar to the above, except that cold water is fed into the tank at mains pressure, and is maintained at that pressure, and the hot water in the tank is therefore at mains pressure. In thermal storage systems, the primary water is stored in a storage tank at atmospheric pressure, and is heated by circulating it through the boiler. The water in the tank, on demand, is circulated through I the radiators for space heating. The secondary water at mains pressure is passed through a heat exchanger to receive heat from the primary water, and then flows directly to the taps.

In combi-boiler systems, there is no storage tank, and when hot water is demanded, mains water passes directly through a burner to i be heated by burning fuel, and then to the taps. When space heating is required, the standing water in the system pipes and radiators is circulated through the burner to be heated thereby.

As can be appreciated all systems have their advantages and disadvantages, and various controls and modifications have been fitted and effected to improve the systems, so much so that the systems have become quite complicated in recent times. Regulations indeed demand that the water heating systems have to operate very close to maximum theoretical efficiencies under all operating conditions, and consequently many systems have digital controls and numerous sensors for monitoring.

One common difficulty which all the systems therefore have is one of repair and adjustment. Because of the complicated nature of the controls which have to be effected, it is very difficult for the consumer to effect a repair or adjustment when something goes wrong with the system. If there is a failure lo the extent that there is no hot water, or no heating, then as far as the consumer is

l 4; f 3 concerned, that is very serious as it affects immediately the consumer's comfort and well being. In the United Kingdom and the rest of the Western World, hot water and heat on demand is viewed as something which is an essential to the way of life, rather than a luxury. Suppliers of water heating systems are therefore faced with maintaining large highly skilled service and repair workforces, and these skilled service engineers are faced with having tO attend locations throughout the country at short notice. This represents a huge logistics and expense problem.

There is a demand for water heating systems which can be installed, commissioned (set up and started) and maintained by installers with minimum skill levels.

The present invention seeks to address this problem.

According to the invention there is provided a water heating system or a number of such systems located in respective locations, and the or each has a software sensing programme monitoring the functioning of the system coupled to or adapted to be coupled to diagnostic software capable of analysing the functioning of the system and tO indicate what is needed to be effected to the system by way of repair or servicing to keep the system operating efficiently. The diagnostic software may be embodied in a hand held diagnostic unit which is part of a service engineer's equipment so that he can simply plug it into the system to check its need for servicing or repair, and as the unit will indicate what is needed to be done, he can perform that work with minimum delay and testing. Also, the diagnostic software may be embodied in the system, so that the

t':: l t: l ': l engineer simply has tO look at a display to assess what needs to be done. Alternatively, the diagnostic software may be located at a remote location, in a central controller, which can be used to check a large number of systems from afar. Also, the repair or servicing, depending upon what is required, may also be effected from the central controller. Clearly, such an arrangement has huge advantages. Thus, the diagnostic software will interpret diagnostic findings, and provide a "fix" which is effected automatically, or by the engineer, without the need for skilled interpretation..

The said servicing or repair may be effected by manual operation, for example by instructing a computer, or it may be automatic, for example by pre-programming a computer.

The invention has best application for large numbers of domestic water heating systems, respectively located in individual homes. It will be understood that every home in the country is provided with a water heating system, and so the advantages of the invention are huge. In the case of domestic water heating systems, these are becoming sophisticated, and consumers are demanding that more control of such systems be available, to suit lifestyles, and to provide economies. The number of functional features of the system to be controlled and serviced may therefore be large and varied.

For example, it may be that in a particular household, the pump which circulates the hot water around the central heating is not performing according to its rating, and at least as a stop gap measure, more voltage has to be supplied thereto to make the pump run faster. The invention provides not only that the central control

: l r dI::. : 4: d; monitors the pump and realises that it is not providing the rated output, but automatically can make the power input adjustment to increase the pump output. If the rise in power to the pump makes it run beyond a desired output level, then the control system can signal that that household system needs that specific repair. All of this can take place without the householder knowing anything about it. The invention also applies however, where the householder has an interface with central control. Thus, the householder may well telephone central control when a problem is experienced, and then at central control, the operator would examine the operating conditions of the system in question, identify the problem, and if the problem is one of the functions capable of adjustment, make that adjustment, to rectify the problem.

It is appreciated that the adjustment may only be a temporary measure, until the underlying problem can be completely solved, but in the particular application of water heating systems, a temporary solution effected immediately from afar, is extremely valuable both to the customer and the supplier. The customer is not inconvenienced (can arrange for a repair at his/her leisure) and the supplier maintains goodwill and efficiency (repair can be effected in due course at a convenient time and customer does not have the system down until the repair is effected) In all cases the repair needed is indicated by the diagnostic software.

Adjustments and control of the system may be of a pre-emptive nature, in that the control may detect possible future inefficiency of the water heating system and make the adjustment from afar, or instruct an engineer to effect it, and the user may not be aware that the adjustment has taken place.

The water systems which we produce and sell are what are known as the thermal storage water systems.

; tr' :.:' : i' There is a substantial number of controls associated with such a system, including a control to supply heat to the flowing secondary water when a hot tap is turned on, a control to ensure that the hot water issuing from the tap is at the correct temperature, a control to control the temperature of the water in the tank, a control to control the temperature of the water issuing from the boiler, a control to switch on a back up heater (i.e. an electric heater) in the event of boiler failure or inefficiency, and so on.

All of these controls can be "watched" and appropriate adjustments can be made from the central control or by the engineer, when the operating conditions of the system deviate from that required.

The invention is applicable to other water heating systems in which controls and diagnoses are needed, including so called combi boiler systems, and unvented systems; indeed the invention may be applicable to any water heating system, and a special advantage is achieved in that many of such systems can be controlled from afar.

It can be seed that in one aspect, the invention provides an effective "global" control which enables quick adjustment of the water heating apparatus from afar, without the need for skilled interpretation of the operating conditions of the apparatus, and in some cases without the user being aware of the adjustment, and either automatically or by the adjustment being effected by a relatively unskilled operator at the central control.

Where an engineer does have to visit the site, the software provides the diagnosis of the fault or malfunction in such a manner that the repair is in effect de-skilled.

; r til d l 7 The invention in one embodiment will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, of which figure 1 shows a heating and hot water system of a dwelling as conventionally used, and figure 2 shows a heating and hot water system of a domestic dwelling according to the invention.

A conventional water system in a dwelling is schematically shown in Figure 1. The system components, boiler controls, system controls, user controls and the like, are normally sourced from different manufactures and integrated on site by an installation company.

Apart from thermostatic radiator valves, all user controls communicate directly or indirectly to the boiler.

Because of the system configuration, any problem with heating or hot water caused by bad installation, faulty design and other faulty system components will be experienced by the occupant.

Identification of the fault is very important for everyone, the occupant, installer, Service Company, appliance manufacturer etc. Remote appliance monitoring systems are coming into the market and these can be implemented at modes t CoStS. However their usefulness is limited because, the interpolation of the data requires human intervention on site and therefore correct diagnosis depends upon the experience and knowledge of the analyst. This is particularly true of hot water systems. Such individuals are scare, and command high salaries.

The present process for maintaining the appliances and systems in the field has the following problems and drawbacks.

a) Highly skilled specialists are required to predict faults and link symptoms to real causes which make the process expensive and inflexible.

' l l: b) Innovation is included because of additional retraining COStS, finding suitable additional staff etc. c) Higher training costs are incurred as the appliances and systems become more complex.

d) High percentages of system faults are not fixed during first V1S it.

e) Poor customer service and higher service COStS result.

The invention overcomes or mitigates these limitations, providing more advantages of remote appliance monitoring.

An example of a layout for the method of the invention is schematically shown in Figure 2. As discussed above, the primary objectives of the method are: 1. To combine system logged data with for example an occupant complaint e.g. "insufficient hot water" and then use predetermined rules to precisely identify the fault and from central control or by local engineer (with little knowledge of the system) to provide the repair or an intermediate fix which can be implemented before a subsequent service call.

2. Use minimum number of sensors in the appliance to identify faults and predict future faults using intelligent and self learning algorithms. 3. The method may comprise analysing the incoming and historic appliance performance data and then predict component failure times and effect preventive maintenance schedules.

::,: d.;: i' 4. Activate a backup system e.g. an electric heater if the appliance can not be remotely restarted.

In such a case, as in perhaps other cases, the householder may need to be informed of adjustments made. In other cases he will not.

Claims (8)

t lr : '; ( 10 CLAIMS

1. A water heating system or a number of such systems located in respective locations, and the or each system has a software sensing programme monitoring the functioning of the system coupled to or adapted to be coupled to diagnostic software capable of analysing the functioning of the system and to indicate what is needed to be effected to the system by way of repair or servicing to keep the system operating efficiently.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the diagnostic software is embodied in a hand held diagnostic unit which is part of a service engineer's equipment adapted to be plugged into the system to check its need for servicing or repair.

3. A system according to claiml, wherein the diagnostic software is embodied in the system, so that the engineer simply has to look at a display lo assess what needs to be done.

4. A system according to any preceding claim, wherein the diagnostic software is located at a remote location, in a central controller, which can be used to check a large number of systems from afar.

5. A system according to claim 4, wherein the repair or servicing, depending upon what is required, can be effected from the central controller.

6. A method of controlling a water heating system or a number of such systems located in respective locations, wherein the or each system has a software sensing programme monitoring the functioning of the system comprising coupling diagnostic software capable to analyst the functioning of the system and

' :.:' ' d.: - - .- f; indicate what is needed to be effected to the system by way of repair or servicing to keep the system operating efficiently.

7. A water heating system or a number of such systems, substantially as hereinbefore described.

8. A method of controlling a water heating system or a number of such systems substantially as hereinbefore described.