JP2018025393A - Gas meter system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas meter system capable of optimizing a determination value on a gas meter.SOLUTION: The gas meter system includes: plural gas meters 1 each of which has determination means that determines based on a determination value; and a center unit 11 that collects data based on measurement by the plural gas meters 1. The center unit 11 analyzes data collected from the plural gas meters 1 and calculates a corrected determination value as an optimum value of the determination value. The gas meter 1 sets the corrected determination value received from the center unit 11 as the determination value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas meter that realizes various security functions by measuring a gas flow rate.

  Conventionally, this type of gas meter detects the flow rate of the gas, analyzes the use status of the gas based on the flow rate of the gas, and determines whether there is an abnormality in the use of the gas based on a preset determination value. It was.

  For example, the maximum use time is determined for each gas flow rate, and the gas meter has a function of shutting off the gas using a shut-off means when the maximum use time is exceeded (continuation time over cutoff).

  This maximum use time is set long when the consumption is small and short when the consumption is large according to the gas appliance gas consumption. This is based on the general usage that appliances with low gas consumption such as gas fan heaters are used for a long time, and appliances with high gas consumption such as water heaters are used for a short time. It has been decided.

  Since this usage time depends on how it is used, it is set longer than the normally assumed usage time in order to prevent blocking (referred to as erroneous shut-off) despite normal use. On the other hand, if you set it for a long time, the usage may be different depending on the household that uses the gas appliance. A method of optimizing the usage time by learning the usage time for each has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  In addition, when a predetermined flow rate change is detected, it also has a function of resetting the continuous use time which is timed on the assumption that it is normally used.

  On the other hand, fuel cells, which are becoming popular in recent years, are gas appliances that are used continuously for a long time without causing a large change in flow rate. However, since the usage time determined by the flow rate category is 720 minutes, As a countermeasure, the fuel cell is used by causing a flow rate change periodically (for example, every 12 hours) and detecting the flow rate change with a gas meter as a countermeasure. It has been devised such as resetting the continuous use time that is timed.

  And because the fuel cell cannot change the gas consumption abruptly due to its characteristics, the flow rate must change slowly, and this must be detected by a gas meter, and judgment conditions for accurate detection are set. Has been.

JP 2009-97947 A

However, in the above-described conventional configuration, there is a need to have a certain margin even when trying to optimize and shorten the maximum usage time by learning, so there is a limit to setting it short, and there is still room for optimization. In addition, since the determination condition for determining the flow rate change of the fuel cell requires a plurality of conditions (determination values), there is a problem that it is difficult to set the determination value in order to prevent erroneous determination.

  The determination values used in these determination algorithms are held in the ROM or RAM of the gas meter, and some of the determination values can be changed from outside by communication or the like.

  Furthermore, in recent years, ultrasonic gas meters that can measure the instantaneous flow rate using ultrasonic waves have become widespread, and since the instantaneous flow rate can be measured, the safety functions such as leak detection have become more sophisticated, An abnormal determination is possible, and the corresponding determination value is increasing.

  Therefore, at the development stage of the gas meter, various verifications are performed before the gas meter is introduced to the market, or the data collected from the market is analyzed and the judgment value is reviewed. However, this judgment value is a value obtained within a limited range that can be verified, or if it is attempted to set all judgment values to optimum values such as a considerable period of time for reviewing the judgment values after market recovery. There was a problem that development took time.

  Further, such a judgment value is standardized and must be shared by all meters, and the influence of the installation environment, region, or season cannot be taken into consideration.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and after installing a gas meter, collects data related to a judgment value by communication through a central device, optimizes the judgment value by analyzing and analyzing the data, and installs the gas meter. An object of the present invention is to provide a gas meter capable of setting an optimum judgment value according to the environment, region, or season.

  In order to solve the conventional problem, a gas meter system of the present invention includes a plurality of gas meters having a determination unit that performs determination based on a determination value, a center device that collects data based on measurement of the plurality of gas meters, The center device analyzes the data to obtain a correction determination value that is an optimum value of the determination value, and the gas meter sets the correction determination value received from the center device as the determination value. Thus, after the gas meter is installed, the data related to the judgment value is collected by the center device by communication, and the judgment value can be optimized by analyzing and analyzing.

  The gas meter system of the present invention can optimize the judgment value by collecting data related to the judgment value by communication with the center device and analyzing / analyzing it after installing the gas meter.

The block diagram of the gas meter system in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which shows the response | compatibility of the function of a security part, and a determination value in Embodiment 1 of this invention (A)-(c) The figure explaining the judgment value which a gas meter has Graph explaining gas consumption classification and time limit in continuous use time excess judgment means (A) Graph for explaining determination operation in fuel cell presence / absence determination means, (b) Diagram for explaining optimization of determination value in fuel cell presence / absence determination means

1st invention is provided with the some gas meter which has a judgment means which performs judgment based on a judgment value, and the center apparatus which collects the data based on measurement of the plurality of gas meters, and the center apparatus carries out the data Analyzing to determine a correction determination value that is the optimum value of the determination value, the gas meter is a gas meter system that sets the correction determination value received from the center device as the determination value, and after installing the gas meter The data related to the judgment value is collected by the center device through communication, and the judgment value can be optimized by analyzing and analyzing the data.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flow rate measuring unit for measuring a gas flow rate, and a security unit for determining the presence / absence of an abnormality based on various algorithms based on a gas usage state obtained from the gas flow rate measured by the flow rate measuring unit. And a gas meter having a judgment value storage means for holding judgment values used in the algorithm, and a communication means, and a center device, wherein the center device receives the use status from the gas meter as data, and receives the data. The corrected determination value obtained by analyzing the data and optimizing the determination value is obtained and transmitted to the gas meter. The gas meter holds the correction determination value received from the center device in the determination value storage means. The gas meter system is characterized in that the judgment value is rewritten.

  In a third aspect of the invention, in particular, in the second aspect of the invention, transmission of data from the gas meter to the center device is performed based on a request for the data from the center device. By controlling communication, communication can be distributed and traffic concentration can be prevented.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect of the invention, the gas meter further includes a temperature detection unit, and the data includes temperature data detected by the temperature detection unit. The center device can further optimize the judgment value by performing analysis taking temperature data into account.

  According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects of the invention, the data includes an identifier that can identify an installation location of the gas meter. By performing an analysis that takes into account the supply route, the determination value can be further optimized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a gas meter system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the gas meter 1 has a gas inflow pipe 2 and an outflow pipe 3, and a flow rate measuring means 4 is configured in a path from the inflow pipe 2 to the outflow pipe 3. A plurality of gas appliances A5a, gas appliances B5b, and gas appliances C5c are connected downstream of the outflow pipe 3. The gas meter 1 also includes temperature detection means 6 for detecting the temperature of the gas or the ambient temperature.

  The flow rate measuring means 4 detects a gas flow rate at a predetermined interval (for example, every 2 seconds) and outputs flow rate data. The security unit 8 is equipped with various abnormality determination algorithms, and based on the flow rate data measured by the flow rate measurement unit 4, the presence / absence of an abnormality is determined using the determination value held in the determination value storage unit 9. If the gas needs to be shut off, the shutoff means 12 is used to shut off the gas.

  The flow rate data measured by the flow rate measurement unit 4 and the temperature data measured by the temperature detection unit 6 are transmitted to the center device 11 by the communication unit 10 via the network.

  In the center apparatus 11, the data from the plurality of gas meters obtained by the communication unit 14 is stored in the data storage unit 15 and analyzed by the analysis unit 16, thereby determining the determination stored in the determination value storage unit 9. A correction determination value with an optimized value is obtained and transmitted to the gas meter 1 via the communication means 14.

  Then, the gas meter replaces the correction determination value obtained by the communication unit 10 with the determination value stored in the determination value storage unit 9.

  The security unit 8 and each means in the gas meter 1 are controlled by a control means 13 constituted by a microcomputer.

  Moreover, although only one gas meter 1 is shown in FIG. 1, this gas meter system is configured by a plurality of gas meters having the same configuration.

  FIG. 2 shows determination means possessed by each safety function (continuous time over-blocking function, total flow rate over-blocking function, individual flow rate over-blocking function) in the security unit 8, and determination values set corresponding to the determination unit (whichever Is also stored in the judgment value storage means 9).

  In the continuous overtime interruption function, the continuous use time excess determination means 8a measures whether the time limit is not exceeded for each flow rate category, and the flow rate change presence / absence determination means 8b determines that the flow rate has changed. If it is determined that the fuel cell is being used by the fuel cell presence / absence determination means 8c, it is determined whether or not there is an abnormal continuous use by resetting the time measurement.

  Similarly, the total flow rate over determination means 8d that realizes the total flow rate over cutoff function, and the individual flow rate over determination value for the individual flow rate over determination means 8e that realizes the individual flow rate over cutoff function. Is set as a determination value and stored in the determination value storage means 9.

  FIG. 3 (a) shows a gas consumption amount classification (determination value storage means 9 that stores the amount of heat converted into a flow rate) and a gas consumption amount classification that are determination values in the continuous use time excess determination means 8a. The time limit corresponding to is tabulated.

  FIG. 3B shows a flow rate change determination value for determining that the flow rate change has occurred in the flow rate change presence / absence determining means 8b. The predetermined flow rate and the change flow rate value and change within the predetermined time interval are shown. The rate is set as a determination value, and the flow rate change presence / absence determination unit 8b is based on the flow rate measured by the flow rate measurement unit 4, and whether the flow rate change within the time interval of 30 seconds is the change flow rate value of 51.82 L / h or more. Alternatively, it is determined that there is a flow rate change when the rate of change (the ratio of the changed flow rate to the flow rate at that time) is 3% or more.

  FIG. 3C shows determination values for detecting a change in the gas flow rate periodically performed in the fuel cell in the fuel cell presence / absence determination means 8c. The time interval and the change flow rate and change amount (per hour) The fuel cell presence / absence determination means 8c is based on the flow rate measured by the flow rate measurement means 4, and the change flow rate within the time interval of 40 seconds is equal to or greater than the determination value 20L / h. Is determined as 0.4 L / h / s or more, it is determined that the fuel cell is being used.

  When the continuous use time excess determining means 8a determines that there has been a flow rate change by the flow rate change presence / absence determining means 8b, or when the fuel cell presence / absence determining means 8c determines that the fuel cell is being used. It has a function to reset the count of continuous use time.

  Next, regarding the method of optimizing the judgment value stored in the judgment value storage means 9 in the present invention, first, the time limit in the continuous use time excess judgment means 8a will be described.

  First, the gas meter 1 periodically notifies the center device 11 via the communication means 10 of the longest time that the flow rate did not change and the flow rate at that time without the flow rate change determination and the fuel cell use determination. Send to.

  The center device 11 receives similar data from a plurality of gas meters, stores and accumulates them in the data storage means 15, and then the analysis means 16 statistically processes the relationship between the accumulated flow rate and the longest time, Find the average of the longest usage time for each flow rate and its variation.

  Hereinafter, the specific method will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, a stepped graph A indicated by a solid line shows the relationship between the gas consumption category and the time limit shown in FIG. A curve B indicated by a solid line shows the relationship between the flow rate obtained by the above statistical processing and the average of the longest usage time.

  When the graph of the maximum usage time (for example, statistical 3σ) including the variation obtained by the statistical method becomes a curve C indicated by a dotted line, the usage time is actually less than 19.8 kW. It can be seen that it is possible to shorten the usage time of the.

  Since the gas meter 1 stores the determination value storage means 9 as a table shown in FIG. 3A, the center device 11 uses the curve C as a correction setting value for the maximum usage time for each gas consumption category. The gas meter 1 optimizes the time limit for the measurement usage time based on the actual measurement data by rewriting the determination value stored in the determination value storage means 9 with the corrected determination value. I can do it.

  The time limit obtained by this optimization is a shaded portion of the optimized time limit shown in FIG. 3A, and the graph is a stepped graph D indicated by a dotted line in FIG.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the gas meter 1 can improve the safety performance by optimizing the judgment value, and can shut off the gas even though it is used normally and is safe. Can prevent false interruption.

  In the above example, characteristics of seasons and regions are not taken into consideration, but optimization such as seasons and regions can be achieved by adding conditions such as calendar and region or temperature to the determination value setting.

  Next, a method for optimizing the fuel cell determination value in the fuel cell presence / absence determination means 8c will be described.

  Some fuel cells are equipped with a gas flow rate control for avoiding interruption of the gas meter over duration. At this time, for example, as shown by a solid line A in FIG. 5A, the gas flow rate is temporarily increased from the reference flow rate and maintained for a certain period of time, and then the constant flow rate becomes lower than the reference flow rate over time and maintained for a certain period of time. After that, the flow rate changes to return to the reference flow rate.

  On the other hand, the gas meter 1 determines whether or not the fuel cell is being used by the fuel cell presence / absence determination means 8c equipped with an algorithm for detecting the flow rate change.

The fuel cell presence / absence determination means 8c uses a plurality of determination values shown in FIG.
In FIG. 5A, T corresponds to the time interval, X corresponds to the change flow rate, and ΔY corresponds to the change amount (corresponding to the slope of the graph).

  However, in the fuel cell gas flow control, it is difficult to cause a large flow rate change, so the change flow rate has to be reduced. On the other hand, depending on the installation status of the gas meter, it is generated by the use of other gas appliances. Since it is affected by the pulsating flow or the like, the gas meter 1 actually does not obtain a clean waveform as shown by a solid line in the figure but measures a flow rate as a distorted waveform shown by a dotted line B.

  Accordingly, the determination value is determined in advance based on the assumed installation environment and field test and is stored in the determination value storage means 9, but there is a problem that it is difficult to deal with all situations, and to some extent It is set to a value that does not cause misjudgment with a margin of. However, if there is a margin, a change in flow rate other than the fuel cell is determined to be the use of the fuel cell, which is not preferable for safety.

  In the present invention, this determination value can be optimized by analyzing data acquired from a plurality of gas meters by communication. Hereinafter, a specific method will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5B shows the data of the change flow rate and the change amount when it is determined that the fuel cell is used in the gas meter 1 from a plurality of meters (meters 1 to n) and is stored in the data storage unit 15. It is a table of stored data.

  The center apparatus 11 obtains a corrected determination value that is an optimum value of each determination value by taking into account variation by a statistical method based on the data represented in the table of FIG. 5B, and communicates with the gas meter 1 by communication. Send. The gas meter 1 can improve the discrimination accuracy of the fuel cell by rewriting the judgment value currently stored in the gas meter 1 with the corrected judgment value.

  In addition, since the flow rate measured as described above is affected by other gas appliances, each data used for optimizing the judgment value may be influenced by the gas supply route, so it is set for each supply route. It is also useful.

  That is, by adding an identifier that can identify each gas meter to the data transmitted from the gas meter 1, it is possible to specify the installation location, for example, for each of the supply routes A to C shown in FIG. Further optimization can be achieved by analyzing the data.

  It goes without saying that the determination value can be optimized in the same manner for the total flow rate excess determination value and the individual flow rate excess determination value.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. The above description of the embodiment is an exemplification of the present invention and does not limit the present invention. In addition, an embodiment in which the components described in the above-described embodiments are appropriately combined is also possible. The present invention can be modified, replaced, added and omitted within the scope of the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  As described above, according to the gas meter system according to the present invention, after the gas meter is installed, the determination value can be optimized by collecting the data related to the determination value by communication, analyzing and analyzing the data by communication. Therefore, the determination value can be optimized not only in the gas meter but also in a device that performs various determinations using the determination value based on the measured data.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Gas meter 4 Flow rate measurement means 6 Temperature detection means 8 Safety part 8a Continuous use time excess determination means 8b Flow rate change presence / absence determination means 8c Fuel cell presence / absence determination means 8d Total flow rate excess determination means 8e Individual flow rate excess determination means 9 Determination value storage means 10 Communication means 11 Center device 12 Blocking means

Claims (5)

A plurality of gas meters having determination means for performing determination based on the determination value;
A center device that collects data based on measurements of the plurality of gas meters, and
The center device analyzes the data to obtain a correction determination value that is an optimum value of the determination value,
The gas meter system, wherein the gas meter sets the correction determination value received from the center device as the determination value. A flow rate measuring unit that measures the flow rate of gas, a security unit that determines the presence or absence of an abnormality based on various algorithms based on the use status of the gas obtained from the gas flow rate measured by the flow rate measuring unit, and the algorithm A gas meter having a judgment value storage means for holding a judgment value and a communication means;
A center device,
The center device receives the usage status from the gas meter as data, analyzes the received data to obtain a corrected determination value that optimizes the determination value, and transmits the correction determination value to the gas meter.
The gas meter system, wherein the determination value stored in the determination value storage means is rewritten with the correction determination value received from the center device. 3. The gas meter system according to claim 2, wherein transmission of data from the gas meter to the center device is performed based on a request for the data from the center device. The gas meter system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the gas meter includes a temperature detection unit, and the data includes temperature data detected by the temperature detection unit. The gas meter system according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the data includes an identifier capable of specifying an installation location of the gas meter.

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