JP2012132807A - Power saving type measuring method and device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a measuring device in which power consumption can be reduced so as to solve such a problem that, in a DTS for measuring the temperature of an oil well, the power consumption is large since electric power is supplied to a temperature measurement part even in a period when measurement is not performed.SOLUTION: The supply of the electric power to the temperature measurement part for measuring the temperature is stopped from the start until measurement start instruction is received. Then, when the measurement start instruction is received, the next measurement start time is read out to stop the supply of the electric power to the temperature measurement part until this measurement start time, and when the measurement start time comes, the stopping operation of the supply of the electric power to the temperature measurement part is repeated after the electric power is supplied to the temperature measurement part and the measurement is performed. The electric power is supplied only during the measurement, thereby power consumption can be reduced.

Description

  The present invention relates to a power-saving measurement method and apparatus capable of reducing power consumption, and particularly suitable for use in a measurement apparatus used outdoors, such as an apparatus for measuring the temperature of a conventional oil well and a non-conventional oil well. The present invention relates to a power-saving measurement method and apparatus.

  FIG. 8 shows the configuration of a temperature measuring device for measuring the temperature of the oil well. In FIG. 8, 10 is a DTS (Distributed Temperature Sensor) for measuring the temperature of the oil well, and is installed outdoors. Electric power is supplied to the DTS 10 from a power supply device (not shown). Reference numeral 11 denotes a power supply terminal to which power is supplied.

  A controller 12 is installed indoors. The controller 12 and the DTS 10 are connected by a network 13 such as Ethernet (registered trademark). The controller 12 instructs the DTS 10 to start and stop measurement. The DTS 10 measures the temperature of the oil well based on a predetermined sequence, and transmits the measurement result to the controller 12.

  A measurement sequence programmed in advance by the user is stored in the DTS 10. When the DTS 10 receives the measurement start command transmitted from the controller 12, the DTS 10 performs measurement based on the built-in measurement sequence and repeats the work of transmitting the result to the controller 12.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of a measurement sequence. In FIG. 9, (A) is a measurement sequence table, which defines the measurement execution order and which channel is used for measurement. In this example, the measurement elements 1 to 4 are executed in order. Measurement elements 1 to 4 perform measurement using channel 1 to channel 4, respectively. Measurement conditions are given to these channels.

  FIG. 9B is a measurement start time setting table, and it is defined that the measurement starts at 0:00, 6:00, 12:00, and 18:00. When the DTS 10 receives the measurement start command, the DTS 10 reads the next measurement start time from the measurement start time setting table. At this time, the DTS 10 performs a series of measurements based on the measurement sequence table and repeats the operation of waiting until the next measurement start time. . Usually, the measurement time is shorter than the waiting time.

  FIG. 10 shows a measurement flow and a measurement sequence flow. FIG. 10A is a flowchart showing a measurement flow.

  In FIG. 10A, when the power of the DTS 10 is turned on in step (P10-1), the process waits until a measurement start command is transmitted from the controller 12 in step (P10-2). When receiving the measurement start command, the DTS 10 refers to the measurement start time setting table and reads the next measurement start time. For example, when the DTS 10 receives a measurement start command at 10:00, the next measurement start time becomes 12:00. The DTS 10 waits until 12 o'clock in the process (P10-3), and executes the measurement sequence at 12 o'clock (process (P10-4)).

  When the execution of the measurement sequence is completed, the DTS 10 reads the next measurement start time of 18:00 and waits until 18:00 in the process (P10-5). At 18 o'clock, the measurement sequence is executed in step (P10-6).

  Similarly, in step (P10-7), the DTS 10 waits until 0:00, which is the next measurement start time, and executes the measurement sequence at 0:00 (step (P10-8)). And it waits until 6 o'clock which is the next measurement start time in the process (P10-9), and when 6 o'clock is reached, the measurement sequence is executed (process (P10-10)). When the step (P10-10) ends, the process returns to the step (P10-3). These steps are repeated until a measurement stop command is transmitted from the controller 12.

  FIG. 10B is a flowchart of measurement sequence execution. As specified in the measurement sequence table, the measurement of the elements 1 to 4 is executed in this order, and the process ends.

  Patent Document 1 describes a sensor array for downhole measurement that extracts measurement results of temperature and pressure from an oil well. In Patent Document 1, a sensor array coupled to an optical transmission line is inserted into an oil well, temperature and pressure readings are transmitted to the outside using the optical transmission line, and power is detected via the optical transmission line. The data is transmitted to the array.

JP 2008-210372A

However, such DTS has the following problems.
The DTS must be always operated and is often installed outdoors where it is difficult to supply power. Therefore, there are many cases where the power source depends on photovoltaic power generation. Photovoltaic power generation has the advantage that it can be installed anywhere to obtain electric power, but it has the disadvantage that the amount of power generation is small and it can only generate electricity during the day, so it must be stored for night operation. For this reason, it is necessary to reduce the power consumption of the DTS.

  However, the DTS 10 in FIG. 8 consumes a large amount of power because it is always supplied with power even though the standby time is longer than the measurement time. For this reason, there existed a subject that big power generation facilities, such as a big solar cell panel and a large capacity battery, were needed.

  The invention described in Patent Document 1 relates to transmission of measurement data and power, and does not reduce power consumption.

  An object of the present invention is to realize a power-saving measurement method and apparatus capable of reducing power consumption by not supplying power to a measurement unit during standby.

In order to achieve such a problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is:
A power-saving measurement method used in a measuring device comprising a measuring unit that measures a physical quantity and a control unit that controls power supplied to the measuring unit,
The control unit, after being activated, stops the power supplied to the measurement unit and waits until receiving a measurement start command; and
The control unit acquires the next measurement start time until receiving the measurement stop command after receiving the measurement start command, and stops supplying power to the measurement unit until the acquired measurement start time, A second step of repeating the step of supplying power to the measurement unit at the measurement start time and stopping the power supply to the measurement unit when the measurement is completed;
Is provided. Since power is supplied to the measurement unit only during measurement, power consumption can be reduced.

The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1,
A predetermined warm-up time is set, and the control unit starts power supply to the measurement unit at a time obtained by subtracting the warm-up time from the acquired measurement start time. Accurate measurement is possible.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2,
A measurement value of the ambient temperature is input to the control unit, and the control unit changes the warm-up time based on the input measurement value of the ambient temperature. Since the warm-up time can be shortened, the power consumption can be further reduced.

The invention according to claim 4
In a measurement device that reads a predetermined measurement start time, measures a physical quantity at the read measurement start time, and repeats an operation of transmitting a measurement result,
A measurement unit for measuring physical quantities;
After starting, the power supply to the measurement unit is stopped until a measurement start command is received. A control unit that repeats the operation of supplying power to the measurement unit at the start time and stopping the power supply to the measurement unit when measurement is completed,
Is provided. Since power is supplied to the measurement unit only during measurement, power consumption can be reduced.

The invention according to claim 5 is the invention according to claim 4,
A predetermined warm-up time is set, and the control unit starts power supply to the measurement unit at a time obtained by subtracting the warm-up time from the acquired measurement start time. Accurate measurement is possible.

The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claim 5,
A measurement value of the ambient temperature is input to the control unit, and the control unit changes the warm-up time based on the input measurement value of the ambient temperature. Since the warm-up time can be shortened, the power consumption can be further reduced.

The present invention has the following effects.
According to the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth inventions, the power supply to the measurement unit that measures the physical quantity is stopped until the measurement start command is received after the activation, and the measurement start command is received. Then, the next measurement start time is read, and the power supply to the measurement unit is stopped until this time is reached.At the measurement start time, the power is supplied to the measurement unit and the measurement is performed, and then the power supply to the measurement unit is performed. The operation to stop was repeated.

  Since power is supplied to the measurement unit only during measurement, there is an effect that the power consumption of the measurement device can be reduced. In particular, the effect is great when used outdoors in an apparatus where a power source having a low power supply capability such as a solar cell must be used.

  In addition, if a warm-up time is provided before the start of measurement and power is supplied to the measurement unit during this warm-up time, more accurate measurement can be achieved.

  Furthermore, since the warm-up time can be shortened by measuring the ambient temperature and changing the warm-up time according to the ambient temperature, there is an effect that the power consumption can be further reduced.

It is the block diagram which showed one Example of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed operation | movement of the apparatus of FIG. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement flow waiting for a measurement command. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement flow of a power save state. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement flow waiting for warm-up start time. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement flow waiting for measurement start time. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement flow of next measurement start time acquisition. It is a block diagram of the temperature measuring apparatus by the conventional DTS. It is a block diagram of the table which designates a measurement sequence. It is a flowchart which shows the conventional measurement flow and measurement sequence.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a power saving type measuring apparatus according to the present invention. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same element as FIG. 8, and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 20 denotes a DTS that measures the temperature of the oil well. A temperature measurement unit 21 that measures the temperature of the oil well, measurement data that is measured by the temperature measurement unit 21, and a control unit 22 that performs overall control of the DTS 20. Composed. The control unit 22 is provided with a monitoring timer (not shown) for stopping the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21.

  A wireless LAN 30 communicates with the outside wirelessly, and is connected to the control unit 22 by Ethernet (registered trademark) or the like. The DTS 20 and the wireless LAN 30 are installed in a pole mount rack.

  31 is a solar cell panel, which generates electric power from sunlight. The electric power generated by the solar cell panel 31 is supplied to the control unit 22 and the wireless LAN 30. Further, power is supplied from the control unit 22 to the temperature measurement unit 21.

  A wireless LAN 32 is connected to the controller 12 via Ethernet (registered trademark). The wireless LAN 32 communicates with the wireless LAN 30, transmits a command to the DTS 20, and receives temperature measurement data measured by the temperature measurement unit 21.

  Similar to the DTS 10 in FIG. 8, the measurement sequence created by the user is also stored in the DTS 20. The DTS 20 measures the temperature of the oil well based on this measurement sequence, and transmits the result to the controller 12 via the wireless LANs 30 and 32. Here, it is assumed that the measurement sequence table and the measurement start time setting table shown in FIG. 9 are stored as the measurement sequence.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, the power consumption of the DTS 20 is reduced by not supplying power to the temperature measurement unit 21 when temperature measurement is not performed.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the DTS 20. In FIG. 2, when power is supplied to the DTS 20, the flow starts. When power is turned on, the DTS 20 performs a self-diagnosis in step (P2-1), starts a monitoring timer in step (P2-2), and then starts a measurement start command from the controller 12 in step (P2-3). Wait until you receive

  When the measurement start command is received, the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped in the step (P2-4), and the process waits until the warmup start time for starting the warmup in the step (P2-5). A certain amount of time is required from when power is supplied to the temperature measurement unit 21 until the operation is stabilized. Therefore, stable measurement can be performed by supplying power to the temperature measurement unit 21 prior to the start of measurement.

  During the measurement sequence, a warm-up time, which is a duration of warm-up, is set. The warm-up start time can be obtained by subtracting the warm-up time from the measurement start time at which the measurement is started.

  When the warm-up start time is reached, power is supplied to the temperature measurement unit 21 in step (P2-6), and the process waits until the measurement start time is reached in step (P2-7). When the measurement start time is reached, in step (P2-8), temperature measurement is executed according to a predetermined measurement sequence, and the measurement result is transmitted to the controller 12. When the measurement sequence ends, the process returns to step (P2-4) and the same operation is repeated. This operation continues until a measurement stop command is received from the controller 12. Steps (P2-4) to (P2-8) correspond to the second step.

  For example, it is assumed that the DTS 20 receives a measurement start command at 10:00. The DTS 20 refers to the measurement start time setting table and knows that the next measurement start is 12:00. The DTS 20 stops supplying power to the temperature measurement unit 21 and waits until (12:00-warm-up time). At this time, power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is started to warm up, and at the measurement start time, a measurement sequence is executed.

  When the measurement sequence ends, the next measurement start time of 18:00 is read from the measurement start time setting table, the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped, and the process waits until (18:00-warm-up time). At this time, power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is started, and after warming up, the measurement sequence is executed.

  Similarly, the measurement at 0 and 6 o'clock is executed. When the 6 o'clock measurement sequence ends, the process returns to the 12 o'clock measurement sequence. This series of operations is repeated until a measurement stop command from the controller 12 is received.

  FIG. 3 shows an operation flow in the “measurement start command waiting” routine of the step (P2-3). This flow corresponds to the first step.

  In FIG. 3, when the monitoring timer started in the step (P2-2) times out (step (P3-1)), the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped in the step (P3-2). The DTS 20 enters a power saving state.

  Thus, the power consumption of the DTS 20 can be reduced by stopping the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 after a certain time using the monitoring timer and setting the power saving state.

  If a measurement start command is received before the monitoring timer times out (step (P3-3)), the monitoring timer is stopped in step (P3-4), and the next time is set from the measurement start time setting table in step (P3-5). Acquires the measurement start time and escapes from the “wait for measurement start command” routine. As is apparent from the flowchart in FIG. 2, when the measurement is awaited, the supply of power to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped in step (P2-4).

  FIG. 4 shows an operation flow in the power saving state. In FIG. 4, when a measurement start command is received in step (P4-1), power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is started in step (P4-2), and the next measurement start time in step (P4-3). To get. When the next measurement start time is acquired, the process proceeds to step (P2-4) in FIG.

  Since the power saving state continues until a measurement start command is received, no power is supplied to the temperature measurement unit 21. For this reason, the power consumption of DTS20 can be reduced.

  FIG. 5 shows an operation flow in waiting for the warm-up start time. In FIG. 5, when the warm-up start time is reached in the step (P5-1), power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is started in the step (P5-2) and until the measurement start time is reached in the step (P5-3). wait. Since the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped in the step (P2-4) of FIG. 2, the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped until the warm-up start time is reached. For this reason, the power consumption of DTS20 can be reduced.

  When the measurement stop command is received in the step (P5-4), the monitoring timer is started in the step (P5-5), and the process shifts to the measurement start command waiting in the step (P5-6). As shown in FIG. 3, when the monitoring timer is typed up, the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped, so that the power consumption of the DTS 20 can be reduced.

  FIG. 6 shows an operation flow when waiting for the measurement start time. In FIG. 6, the process waits until the measurement start time in the step (P6-1), and when the measurement start time is reached, the measurement is executed based on the measurement sequence designated in the step (P6-2). When the measurement is completed, the next measurement start time is acquired in step (P6-3).

  If a measurement stop command is received while waiting for the measurement start time (step (P6-4)), the monitoring timer is started in step (P6-5), and a measurement start command is issued in step (P6-6). Wait until you receive As can be seen from FIG. 3, since the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped when the monitoring timer times out, the power consumption of the DTS 20 can be reduced.

  FIG. 7 shows an operation flow in obtaining the next measurement start time. In FIG. 7, in the step (P7-1), the next measurement start time is acquired with reference to the measurement start time setting table. The next measurement start time is the time closest to the current time and in the future. For example, when the next measurement start time is acquired at 7:00, the next measurement start time is 12:00.

  When the next measurement start time is acquired, it is determined in step (P7-2) whether the current time is before the warm-up start time. Assuming that the time from the current time to the measurement start time is StartWaitTime and the warmup time is WarmupTime, it is determined that the current time is before the warmup start time when StartWaitTime> WarmupTime, and is determined to be later when StartWaitTime ≦ WarmupTime.

  If the current time is before the warm-up start time (YES), the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped in step (P7-3), and the process waits for the warm-up start time in step (P7-4). . As shown in FIG. 5, since the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped until the warm-up start time, the power consumption of the DTS 20 can be reduced.

  If the measurement waiting time is shorter than the warm-up time in the process (P7-2) (NO), the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is started in the process (P7-5), and the measurement start time in the process (P7-6). Transition to waiting. In this case, a sufficient warm-up time cannot be taken, but since the measurement start time setting table is set so that a sufficient warm-up time can be taken, this is not usually the case.

  The next measurement start time acquisition occurs in all the flows in FIGS. According to the flow of FIG. 7, since power is not supplied to the temperature measurement unit 21 from the time when the next measurement start time is acquired until the warm-up start time is reached, the power consumption of the DTS 20 can be reduced.

  As described above, the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped until the measurement start command is received, and after the measurement start command is received, the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped until the warm-up start time. When the warm-up start time is reached, power is supplied, and when the measurement sequence ends, the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 is stopped. For this reason, the power consumption of DTS20 can be reduced. In particular, in a measuring apparatus such as a DTS in which the standby time is significantly longer than the measurement time, significant power saving can be realized.

  In this embodiment, the warm-up time is described as a constant value, but the warm-up time may be changed according to the ambient temperature. The length of the warm-up time varies depending on the ambient temperature. When the ambient temperature is low, the warm-up time must be lengthened.

  Therefore, a thermometer that measures the ambient temperature of the DTS 20 may be connected to the control unit 22 and the warm-up time may be changed according to the output value of the thermometer. If the warm-up time is kept constant, the worst-case warm-up time (when the ambient temperature is the lowest) must be used. However, if this is done, the warm-up time can be shortened, thus further reducing power consumption. it can. As the ambient temperature, the temperature inside the DTS 20 or the outside air temperature can be used.

  How much the warm-up time is changed depending on the ambient temperature is determined by an operation experiment. For example, when the ambient temperature is 10 ° C. lower than the standard temperature, the warm-up time may be increased by 1.5 times.

  In addition, during the flow of the measurement sequence in FIG. 10B, a waiting time during which no measurement is performed may be provided between the measurement of one element and the measurement of the next element (for example, between elements 1 and 2). In such a case, when the standby time is longer than the warm-up time, the power supply to the temperature measurement unit 21 may be stopped until the warm-up time is reached. In this way, further power saving can be achieved.

  In this embodiment, the warm-up is performed before the measurement sequence is executed. However, when the warm-up is not necessary, the warm-up is omitted, and power is supplied to the temperature measurement unit 21 when the measurement start time is reached. You may make it do.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the DTS 20 and the controller 12 are connected by a wireless LAN, but may be connected by a wire.

  Moreover, although electric power was supplied to DTS with the solar cell panel 30, another generator or commercial power may be used.

  In this embodiment, a monitoring timer is used. When the monitoring timer expires, the power supply to the temperature measurement unit is stopped. However, the power supply to the temperature measurement unit is immediately stopped without using the monitoring timer. You may do it.

  Furthermore, although the DTS which measures the temperature of an oil well was demonstrated in this Example, another temperature measuring apparatus may be sufficient. Further, the present invention can be applied to a measuring device that measures a physical quantity other than temperature.

12 Controller 20 DTS
21 Temperature measurement unit 22 Control unit 30, 32 Wireless LAN
31 Solar panel

Claims (6)

A power-saving measurement method used in a measuring device comprising a measuring unit that measures a physical quantity and a control unit that controls power supplied to the measuring unit,
The control unit, after being activated, stops the power supplied to the measurement unit and waits until receiving a measurement start command; and
The control unit acquires the next measurement start time until receiving the measurement stop command after receiving the measurement start command, and stops supplying power to the measurement unit until the acquired measurement start time, A second step of repeating a step of supplying power to the measurement unit at a measurement start time and stopping the power supply to the measurement unit when the measurement is completed;
A power-saving measurement method comprising:   The predetermined warm-up time is set, and the control unit starts power supply to the measurement unit at a time obtained by subtracting the warm-up time from the acquired measurement start time. 1. A power-saving measurement method according to 1.   The measured value of ambient temperature is input to the control unit, and the control unit changes the warm-up time based on the input measured value of ambient temperature. Power-saving measurement method. In a measurement device that reads a predetermined measurement start time, measures a physical quantity at the read measurement start time, and repeats an operation of transmitting a measurement result,
A measurement unit for measuring physical quantities;
After starting, the power supply to the measurement unit is stopped until a measurement start command is received. A control unit that repeats the operation of supplying power to the measurement unit at the start time and stopping the power supply to the measurement unit when measurement is completed,
A power-saving measuring device comprising:   The predetermined warm-up time is set, and the control unit starts power supply to the measurement unit at a time obtained by subtracting the warm-up time from the acquired measurement start time. 4. The power-saving measurement method according to 4.   The measured value of the ambient temperature is input to the control unit, and the control unit changes the warm-up time based on the input measured value of the ambient temperature. Power-saving measurement method.

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