JP2006336933A - Group control device for air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a group control device for an air conditioner capable of controlling a plurality of air conditioners for a wide space without impairing amenity while saving energy even when heat load is significantly changed. <P>SOLUTION: This group control device for the air conditioners for controlling the plurality of air conditioners mounted in a space to be cooled while dividing the air conditioners into a plurality of groups in a state that schedules of energy-saving operations of the plurality of groups are not overlapped in time, comprises a storing portion for storing the schedules of predetermined cooling operation and energy-saving operation of every group, an indoor thermometer for measuring an indoor temperature of the neighborhood of the air conditioner belonging to each group, and a control portion for judging whether the indoor temperature is over a predetermined comfortable upper limit temperature or not, and instructing the air conditioner belonging to the group to perform the cooling operation when the indoor temperature is over the upper limit temperature, and the energy-saving operation when it is lower than the upper limit temperature, when the group falls under the schedule of the energy-saving operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a group controller for an air conditioner that performs group control of a plurality of air conditioners installed to cool a large space.

When multiple air conditioners are installed to cool a large volume of space such as a continuous floor of a building or a factory, each air conditioner can be independently operated to reduce cooling operation and energy consumption. If energy-saving operation is repeated, the air conditioner in the space is aligned in one operation mode at the same time, and the temperature fluctuation in the space increases, resulting in a loss of comfort.
Therefore, a plurality of air conditioners are classified into groups of two levels, and the energy saving operation of each group is shifted in time to improve comfort (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-41528 A

However, there is a problem that the room temperature greatly increases when a certain group is switched to the energy saving operation when the indoor heat load becomes considerably larger than the average.
In addition, it is possible to shorten the energy-saving operation time of the group air conditioners that contribute to the place where the heat load is large, but changes in the heat load include the frequency of people coming and going, the outside air temperature, etc. Since it is complicated, there is a problem that adjustment is complicated and troublesome.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a group control device for an air conditioner that controls a plurality of air conditioners that target a large volume of space without sacrificing comfort while maintaining energy saving even when the thermal load fluctuates greatly. I will provide a.

  The group control device for an air conditioner according to the present invention divides a plurality of air conditioners arranged in a space to be cooled into a plurality of groups and controls each group, and a schedule of energy saving operation of the plurality of groups is set. In the air conditioner group control devices that are shifted in time, a storage unit that stores a schedule of cooling operation and energy saving operation that are predetermined for each group, and the air conditioner that belongs to each group are installed. When the above-mentioned group falls under the schedule for energy saving operation, it is determined whether or not the indoor temperature exceeds a predetermined comfortable upper limit temperature. A control unit that commands an air conditioner belonging to the above group to perform an energy saving operation in the following cases.

  The effect of the group control device for an air conditioner according to the present invention is that even in a group where energy-saving operation is scheduled, when the room temperature exceeds the comfortable upper limit temperature, the energy-saving operation is canceled and the cooling operation is started. Therefore, the air conditioners of other groups can be prevented from being overloaded.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 is a configuration diagram of a group of air conditioners to which a group controller for an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a timetable showing the operation schedule of a group of air conditioners. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure of the air conditioner by the air conditioner group control device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating how the indoor temperature changes.

The group controller 1 for an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention groups a plurality of air conditioners 2 for cooling a large volume space such as a floor in which one floor of a building is blown out. Control as. In the cooling target space, a group of air conditioners (12 indoor units 3 and corresponding outdoor units 4) 2 as control targets of the group control device 1 are installed.
Each air conditioner 2 evaporates the refrigerant compressed by a compressor (not shown) by an evaporator (not shown) in the indoor unit 3 to absorb heat from the space, and the refrigerant vapor in the outdoor unit 4 by a condenser (not shown). A heat engine (not shown) that cools the product with outside air to condense and returns to the compressor, a heat engine control unit (not shown) that controls the heat engine so that the room temperature matches the target temperature, and the vicinity of the air inlet 5 of the indoor unit 3 The indoor thermometer 6 which measures the temperature of is provided.
When receiving the cooling operation command from the air conditioner group control device 1, the air conditioner 2 performs the cooling operation with the comfortable temperature as the target temperature. Further, when the energy-saving operation command is received from the air conditioner group control device 1, the air conditioner 2 is operated in an energy-saving manner based on an energy-saving temperature that is considerably higher than the comfortable temperature, so that only the operation is performed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the plurality of air conditioners 2 to be controlled by the group control device 1 are grouped into five groups (G1 to G5) as the first stage of grouping. Then, as a second stage of grouping, five groups are grouped into two blocks (B1, B2).
The air conditioner group control device 1 according to the first embodiment performs control in units of groups (G1 to G5) grouped in this way.

The group controller 1 for an air conditioner according to the first embodiment includes a storage unit 11 in which an operation schedule for each group is determined and stored, a control unit 12 that controls each group based on the operation schedule, It has an internal clock 13 that records the time used for control.
Moreover, the indoor temperature which represents each group is input into the control part 12 from the indoor thermometer 6 of the air conditioner 2 which belongs to each group.
In the operation schedule, as shown in FIG. 2, an energy saving operation start time and an energy saving operation end time related to the energy saving operation, a cooling operation start time and a cooling operation end time related to the cooling operation are determined for each group. In FIG. 2, the part of the schedule for energy-saving operation is filled.

Next, the control procedure of the control unit 12 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 taking the group G1 and the group G2 as examples.
The group G1 will be described as an example in which the room temperature does not exceed the comfortable upper limit temperature when the schedule corresponds to the energy saving operation as illustrated in FIG. Further, regarding the group G2, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the schedule corresponds to the energy saving operation, the room temperature will be described as an example exceeding the comfortable upper limit temperature. Here, the comfort upper limit temperature is a temperature that can be accepted by a resident, although the comfort is lower than the comfort temperature in the cooling operation. As an index representing indoor comfort, there is a PMV index calculated from temperature, humidity, radiation temperature, amount of clothes, amount of activity, and the like. When the PMV is in the range of -0.5 to 0.5, 90% of the residents are said to feel the space comfortable. When the room temperature changes by 1.5 ° C., the PMV changes by about 0.5. For example, a temperature obtained by adding 1.5 ° C. to the comfortable temperature may be set as the comfortable upper limit temperature.
In S101, based on the schedules of the groups G1 and G2 read from the storage unit 11, the cooling operation start time is awaited. When the cooling operation start time is reached, the process proceeds to S102.
In S102, a cooling operation command is issued to the air conditioner.
The heat engine controller of the air conditioner 2 that has received the cooling operation command performs the cooling operation by controlling the heat engine with a comfortable temperature, for example, 25 ° C. as a target temperature. The room temperature decreases as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B and reaches the target temperature.
In S103, it is determined whether or not the scheduled cooling operation end time is reached. If the cooling operation end time is reached, the control is terminated, and if it is before the cooling operation end time, the process proceeds to S104.

In S104, it is determined whether it is an energy saving operation start time. If the energy saving operation start time is reached, the process proceeds to S105, and if it is before the energy saving operation start time, the process returns to S103.
In S105, the room temperature in the vicinity of group G1 or group G2 is taken in, and it is determined whether the room temperature exceeds a predetermined comfortable upper limit temperature, for example, 26.5 ° C., and the room temperature exceeds the comfortable upper limit temperature. When the room temperature is equal to or lower than the comfortable upper limit temperature, the process proceeds to S106.
In S106, since about 90% of the people feel comfortable even if the operation is shifted to the energy saving operation as it is, an energy saving operation command is issued to the air conditioner 2.
The heat engine control unit of the air conditioner 2 that has received the energy-saving operation command performs the energy-saving operation by controlling the heat engine with the energy-saving temperature, for example, 27 ° C. as the target temperature. Then, the room temperature rises as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b).

In S107, it is determined whether the room temperatures of the groups G1 and G2 have exceeded the comfortable upper limit temperature. As shown in FIG. 4A, when the room temperature is equal to or lower than the comfortable upper limit temperature, the energy saving operation is continued and the process proceeds to S108. Moreover, as shown in FIG.4 (b), when room temperature exceeds comfortable upper limit temperature, it progresses to S110.
In S108, it is determined whether or not the energy saving operation end time is reached. If the energy saving operation end time is reached, the process proceeds to S110, and if it is before the cooling operation end time, the process returns to S107.
In S109, if the energy saving operation is continued at this point, that is, the room temperature exceeds the comfortable upper limit temperature, not only the comfort may be further deteriorated, but another group may be overloaded. Therefore, the cooling operation command is continued and the process returns to S103.
In S110, a cooling operation is commanded to the air conditioner 2 of group G2, and the process returns to S103.

  Such a group control device 1 for an air conditioner, even when the group is scheduled for energy saving operation, when the room temperature exceeds the comfortable upper limit temperature, the energy saving operation is canceled and the comfort of the resident is deteriorated. Can be minimized, and the air conditioners 2 of other groups can be prevented from being overloaded.

  In the first embodiment, the condition for ending the energy saving operation is that the comfortable upper limit temperature is exceeded. However, considering the energy saving performance, the energy saving operation is saved even if the comfortable upper limit temperature is exceeded within a certain time from the start of the energy saving operation. The driving may be continued.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the group controller for an air conditioner according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
The group control device 1B according to the second embodiment is based on the timekeeping unit 15 that calculates the arrival time until the comfortable upper limit temperature is reached after the energy saving operation is instructed to the group control device 1 according to the first embodiment. Since the control weighting unit 16 for reviewing the conditions of the energy saving operation is added and the others are the same, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.
The timing unit 15 according to the second embodiment counts the time when the control unit 12 transmits the energy saving operation command to each group as an initial time, and then sets the time when the room temperature reaches the comfortable upper limit temperature as the final time. And the arrival time related to the magnitude of the heat load is obtained from the end time and the initial time. Note that when the heat load is small, the room temperature does not reach the comfortable upper limit temperature and the energy-saving operation is terminated. In this case, the arrival time is set to be equal to or longer than the energy-saving operation time.
Further, the control weighting unit 16 according to the second embodiment classifies, for example, an average value for one hour into three during a predetermined arrival time of each group obtained by the time measuring unit 15. For example, when the schedule shown in FIG. 2 is used, the energy saving operation time is 3 minutes and the average arrival time level is less than 1.5 minutes. Level A is 1.5 minutes or more and less than 3 minutes. When it is 3 minutes or more, it is classified into level C. Review the schedule so that the frequency of energy-saving operation is 1: 2: 3 for the group thus classified.

Such an air conditioner group control device 1B leveles the heat load applied to the air conditioner 2 by reviewing the conditions of the energy saving operation based on the speed at which the room temperature rises during the energy saving operation. It is possible to prevent an overload from being applied to the specific air conditioner 2 and to maintain the overall comfort.
In the second embodiment, the conditions for energy-saving operation are reviewed based on the average value of the arrival times during a predetermined period. However, the conditions for energy-saving operation on the next day may be reviewed based on the average value of the previous day. Moreover, you may review for every time slot | zone in consideration of the influence of external air, such as the amount of solar radiation.

1 is a configuration diagram of a group of air conditioners to which a group control device for an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is applied. It is a timetable in which the operation schedule of a group of air conditioners was represented. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of controlling the air conditioner by the air conditioner group control device according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the mode of a change of room temperature. It is a functional block diagram of the group control apparatus for air conditioners concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1B Group controller for air conditioner, 2 Air conditioner, 3 Indoor unit, 4 Outdoor unit, 5 Inlet, 6 Indoor thermometer, 11 Memory | storage part, 12 Control part, 13 Internal clock, 15 Timekeeping part, 16 Control weighting part.

Claims (2)

Group control for air conditioners in which a plurality of air conditioners arranged in a space to be cooled are divided into a plurality of groups and controlled for each group, and the schedules of energy saving operation of the plurality of groups are shifted in time. In the device
A storage unit for storing a schedule of cooling operation and energy saving operation determined in advance for each group;
An indoor thermometer that measures the indoor temperature in the vicinity where the air conditioner belonging to each of the groups is installed;
When the group falls under the schedule for energy saving operation, it is determined whether the room temperature exceeds a predetermined comfortable upper limit temperature. If it exceeds, the cooling operation is performed. A control unit commanding the harmony machine,
A group control device for an air conditioner comprising: A timekeeping unit that measures the time it takes for the indoor temperature to reach the comfortable upper limit temperature after the start of energy-saving operation;
A control weighting unit that classifies the average value of the arrival times of the respective groups for a predetermined period and changes the conditions of energy-saving operation based on the classification,
The air conditioner group control device according to claim 1, comprising:

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