JP3354893B2 - Energy saving refrigeration capacity control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an environmental test apparatus,
The present invention relates to a refrigeration capacity control device for an air conditioner including a constant temperature and humidity chamber and the like, and more particularly to a technology for achieving both simple control of the number of refrigerators and energy saving.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a refrigerating capacity control device, an output map using a heating output and a humidification output as coordinate axes is provided with an up area, a keep area and a down area of the refrigerating capacity, and the temperature, the humidity and the heat generation amount in the tank are calculated. An apparatus has been proposed which can easily and reliably control the refrigerating capacity by replacing the elements with the two-dimensional heating output and the humidification output which are the result of the control (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-32).
No. 7123).

[0003] In the above apparatus, the boundaries of the up area, the keep area, and the down area in the output map are determined by the respective apparatuses based on the balance between the refrigerating capacity and the heating and humidifying capacity. In order not to repeat the increase and decrease, it is necessary to provide a width equal to or larger than the amount of change in the refrigerating capacity at the time of the stepwise change. When the throttle mechanism is, for example, a capillary tube, the refrigeration capacity is set to 0, 10
In this example, the change amount is 1000 kc because the switching is performed stepwise such as 00, 2000, and 3000 kcal / hr.
al / hr, and 1000 kcal / hr is replaced by the amount of change in heating or humidification output, and the width beyond that is kept.

In such a control, when the coordinates constituted by the heating output and the humidification output are in the keep area having this width, even if the respective output values are large in the keep area, the refrigerator does not operate in that stage. It is operated at the capacity and is not changed according to the magnitude of the output value. However, in many refrigeration systems, the refrigeration capacity can be controlled almost steplessly at a certain low capacity or more by an electronic expansion valve or an inverter. In such a case, in the control based on the output map, the stepless control function of the refrigerating capacity is not effectively used, and the energy saving operation for reducing the refrigerating capacity and accompanying heating and humidification output is performed. Can not.

[0005] In the case of a device capable of stepless control at a low capability or higher, a range corresponding to a low capability of, for example, about 30% can be set as the keep region. When the refrigerating capacity is reduced, the control may be stable near the down area of the keep area. In such a case, the refrigerator, the heater, and the humidifier perform comprehensive and sufficient energy saving operation. Can not do.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and provides a refrigeration capacity control device capable of easily and reliably controlling the number of chillers and enabling energy-saving operation of an air conditioner. That is the task.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a refrigeration facility having a heater, a humidifier, and a plurality of refrigerators. In a refrigeration capacity control device of an air conditioner configured to control a temperature and a humidity of a room to be air-conditioned by controlling a heating output that is an output and a humidification output that is an output of a humidifier, each of the plurality of refrigerators A refrigerating capacity continuous control mechanism capable of controlling the refrigerating capacity almost continuously in the capacity range from the capacity to the maximum capacity, and a narrow width which can be controlled by the refrigerating capacity continuous control mechanism using both the heating output and the humidifying output as two axes. And a coordinate having a control zone having a coordinate formed by an intermediate portion separated from the origin and a horizontal axis portion and a vertical axis portion extending in both axial directions from the intermediate portion. And the heating output and the humidification And a determining unit configured to determine the position of the point on the coordinates constituted by these, and the determining unit determines that the point is outside the control band so that the point enters the control band. A refrigerating capacity continuous control unit for controlling a refrigerating capacity continuous control mechanism, and increasing the operating number of the plurality of refrigerators when the operating number reaches the maximum capacity and at least one when the minimum capacity reaches the minimum capacity. And a control unit for controlling the number of refrigerators so as to reduce the number.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerating facility having a heater, a humidifier, and a plurality of refrigerators, and controls a heating output as an output of the heater and a humidification output as an output of the humidifier. In the refrigerating capacity control device of an air conditioner that adjusts the temperature and humidity of a room to be air-conditioned, the refrigerating capacity of each of the plurality of refrigerators can be controlled almost continuously in a capacity range from a minimum capacity to a maximum capacity. A refrigerating capacity continuous control mechanism, coordinates having a control zone, an increase zone, a maintenance zone, and a decrease zone having both the heating output and the humidification output as axes, and the control zone being separated from the origin by an intermediate portion; The increase area is formed on the origin side from the control band, and the maintenance area has a predetermined width from the control band. Formed on the opposite side of the origin A determination unit configured to determine the position of a point on the coordinates configured by taking in the heating output and the humidification output, wherein the reduction area includes coordinates formed outside the maintenance area, and A refrigeration capacity continuous control unit that controls the refrigeration capacity continuous control mechanism so that the point enters the control band when the determination unit determines that the point is outside the control zone; and the point enters the increase area. And a control unit for controlling the number of refrigerators to increase the number of the plurality of refrigerators and reduce the number of the plurality of refrigerators when the point enters the decrease area. And

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above, the number-of-chillers control unit is configured to determine that when the point enters the increase area and one of the plurality of refrigerators that is operating reaches the maximum capacity. When the number of operating refrigeration units is increased and the point enters the reduction area and the minimum capacity is reached, control is performed such that the number of operating refrigeration units is reduced.

[0010]

FIG. 1 shows an example of the entire configuration of a refrigeration capacity control apparatus to which the present invention is applied. The refrigerating capacity control device includes a heater 1, a humidifier 2, and a refrigerator having three refrigerators 31, 32, and 33 as a plurality of refrigerators in this example. It is used for an air conditioner that controls the heating output Pd and the humidification output Pw, which are the outputs of the above, and adjusts the temperature and humidity of the room 4 to be air-conditioned such as an environmental test device. In this device, electronic expansion valves 34 to 36 as a refrigerating capacity continuous control mechanism, a determination unit 5, an electronic expansion valve control unit 6 as a refrigerating capacity continuous control unit, and a refrigerator start / stop control unit 7 as a refrigerating machine number control unit 7 , Etc., control the refrigeration equipment.

Each of the electronic expansion valves 34 to 36 has a normal structure in which an opening degree corresponding to the number of pulses is given when a pulse signal is given, and each of the refrigerators 31 to 33 has a minimum capacity of, for example, 30%. From 100% capacity
The refrigeration capacity can be controlled almost continuously in the capacity range up to.
In FIG. 1, the refrigerators 31 to 33 and the electronic expansion valves 34 to 3
6 are simply connected by a line, it goes without saying that the electronic expansion valve is actually provided between the condenser and the evaporator of the refrigerator. Further, the evaporator of the refrigerator is provided in a circulating air system such as an environmental test device together with the heater and the humidifier.

The judging section 5 has an output map 51, which is the coordinates shown in FIG. 2, and takes in the heating output Pd and the humidification output Pw to form a point P (P
d, Pw) is determined. The output map 51 is a coordinate having a heating output and a humidification output from 0 to a maximum output of 100%, both axes including a horizontal axis X and a vertical axis Y, and having an energy saving zone Z as a control zone. Saving Enezon Z is a low-temperature portion Z ₃ is a low-humidity portion Z ₂ and Y-axis side portion is X-axis side portion where the inclined portion Z ₁ is an intermediate portion distant from the origin O extending therefrom in the XY both axial directions Is formed.

When the refrigerating capacity increases or decreases, the temperature and humidity in the room 4 to be air-conditioned rise and fall due to the increase and decrease of the cooling effect and the dehumidifying effect, so that a difference is generated between the set value and the measured value. and Pw is vertically together, the point P (Pd, Pw) as shown in FIG. 2 varies as shown by the arrow to the position of P ₁ or P _2. Thus, if the point P by the variation of the heating / humidification load or set value is the position of the P ₁ or P _2, by decreasing or increasing the cooling capacity, it can be returned to the point P in a stable position. Accordingly, the inclined portion Z ₁ is
In order to easily stabilize the heating / humidification output by increasing / decreasing the refrigerating capacity, the heating / humidifying output is provided in a direction intersecting the direction of the arrow, which is the direction of the increase / decrease, and at a position away from the origin O so as to be able to increase / decrease. It is desirable that the distance from the origin at this time is as close to the origin as possible within a range in which good controllability can be maintained.

[0014] Ministry Enezon Z but is formed to have a narrow width can be controlled by an electronic expansion valve, as a point P in FIG. 2, the ability change of the refrigerator is widest at the center portion of the inclined portion Z ₁ The width b of this portion is determined so as to be sufficient for the minimum operation amount of the electronic expansion valve, since it appears well in the direction. In this case, if the width b is increased, the stability of the control is increased, but the energy saving effect tends to decrease. Therefore, the width b is determined as appropriate according to the characteristics of the actual device based on the relationship between the two. The inclination portion Z ₁ may not be linear.

The low-humidity zone Z ₂ and the low-temperature zone Z ₃ are portions for maintaining controllability in a special operation state such as a control transition period. Humidity section Z ₂ is a portion close to the humidification output is 0, is when the refrigerator is to provide maximum dehumidification capacity is operated at high power. The heating output at this time is set to be a large value in order to compensate for the decrease in the sensible heat load due to the excessive cooling effect of the refrigerator by reheating. However, in order to save energy, 100% is not to be stabilized. It is similar even low temperature part Z _3, in this case so that compensate the reduction of the latent heat load by refrigeration dehumidification with high humidification output.

When the determination unit 5 determines that the point P is outside the energy saving zone Z, the electronic expansion valve control unit 6 controls the electronic expansion valves 34 to 36 so that the point P falls within the energy saving zone.
Control. In this control, the opening degree is controlled by increasing or decreasing the number of pulses of the electronic expansion valve.
Further, in this example, the number of pulses or the degree of opening given to the electronic expansion valve is sent to the control device, and thereby the electronic expansion valves 34 to 36 to be subjected to the degree of opening control are determined.

The refrigerator start / stop controller 7 includes three refrigerators 31
The maximum capacity is 100 when all of the operating numbers of ~ 33
%, And control is performed so that when the minimum capacity reaches 30%, the capacity is reduced until at least one is reached.
That is, for example, when the NO1 refrigerator 31 reaches 100%, NO
The second refrigerator 32 is additionally operated, and when the NO2 becomes 100%, the NO3 refrigerator 33 is further additionally operated. If all three refrigerators are operated and all of them reach 30%, for example, the operation of the NO3 refrigerator 33 is stopped.
Even if the capacity of the O1 refrigerator 31 temporarily becomes larger than 30%, when it is reduced to 30% again, the NO2 refrigerator 32
To stop.

When the refrigeration capacity is reduced to 30% while the operation state of the NO1 refrigerator alone is reached, the point P is shifted from the energy saving zone Z to the opposite side of the origin O, Pd and Pw are increased, and the refrigeration capacity further decreases. Even if requested, the electronic expansion valve 3
At 4 you cannot control to less than this ability. Then 3
A method of continuing the operation at 0% capacity, a method of stopping once and restarting at a time interval by a timer or the like to maintain the operation state for at least a certain time, and a point P becomes an energy saving zone Z when Pd and Pw become small. An appropriate control method, such as a method of restarting when the vehicle enters the origin side from, and maintaining the operation state for at least a certain time, can be used.

The start / stop state of the refrigerator by the refrigerator start / stop control unit 7 is summarized as a refrigerating capacity rank by assuming that the maximum capacity of one refrigerator is 100%, as shown in Table 1 below. : [Table 1] Rank Capacity when the number of refrigerators is increased (%) Capacity when the number of refrigerators is decreased (%) 0 0 0 1 30 to 100 30 to 100 2 130 to 200 60 to 200 3 230 to 300 90 to 300 As the heating output Pd and the humidification output Pw, in this example, signals transmitted from the heating output signal generator 8 and the humidification output signal generator 9 are used. These signal generators determine Pd and Pw based on the deviation between the detected values of the temperature sensor 10 and the humidity sensor 11 provided in the room 4 and the set values of the temperature and humidity setting unit (not shown), the rate of change of the detected values, and the like. And send. The output of the heater 1 and the humidifier 2 is controlled by this signal. The actual outputs of the heater 1 and the humidifier 2 may be detected and used as Pd and Pw.

The above-described refrigeration capacity control device is operated as follows, and exerts its operational effects. The temperature and humidity of the room 4 to be air-conditioned such as an environmental test device are set by a setting unit (not shown), and any or all of the refrigerators 31 to 33 are operated, and the heater 1 and the humidifier 2 are operated. The device operates when the temperature and humidity inside are adjusted. First, the heating output Pd and the humidification output Pw are sent to the determination unit 5, and it is determined whether the point P (Pd, Pw) is within the energy saving zone Z on the output map 51. The result of this determination is sent to the electronic expansion valve control unit 6, and if, for example, the NO1 refrigerator 31 is operating and the other refrigerators are stopped, the electronic expansion valve control unit 6 sets the electronic expansion valve control unit for the NO1 refrigerator. The expansion valve 34 is controlled.

Normally, various devices are operated in a state where the point P is within the energy saving zone Z. However, due to fluctuations in heat load and moisture load, changes in set temperature and humidity, and fluctuations in other conditions,
As shown in FIG. 3, a point P _{1 at} which the point P deviates from the energy saving zone Z.
It may become a position such as to P _4. That is, assuming that the amounts of heat generated by the heater and the humidifier are Pd and Pw, R is the amount of cooling heat of the refrigerator, and Q is the amount of heat entering from outside or the amount of heat generated from the sample in the room, the inside of the room 4 is thermally balanced. In order to maintain the temperature and humidity conditions, it is necessary to satisfy the following relationship: Pd + Pw + Q = R -------------- (1) In the above equation, Pd,
When Pw is in KW units, these are multiplied by 860 and kc
Of course, the unit is al / hr.

Assuming that R is constant, for example, if Q becomes large, the temperature in the chamber 4 rises and the humidity (relative humidity) decreases accordingly, and Pd decreases in order to restore the humidity. Pw becomes slightly larger Te, coordinate points which constitute these is the position of the hypothetical point P ₁ from P. Naturally it moves to P ₂ of the opposite when the heat load drops. An increase steam load, the P ₃ position Pw is reduced in direct. Becomes the point P ₄ Increasing the setting temperature and humidity.

If such a state is left, P₁And P_Three
At such points, Pd and Pw decrease and controllability deteriorates.
_TwoAnd P_Four, Pd and Pw increase, and heating and humidification
Energy is wasted. Therefore, in the present invention, the electronic expansion
The valve control section 6 controls the electronic expansion valve 34 and gives
Adjust the opening by increasing or decreasing the number of screws to adjust the refrigeration capacity
I do. Then, even if the conditions fluctuate as described above, the point P
From the hypothetical point P₁~ P _FourSatisfies equation (1) before reaching
The refrigeration capacity R increases and decreases, and the point P is larger than the energy saving zone Z.
Displaced near the original position without coming off sharply and stabilized
You. As a result, good controllability is maintained, and
The amount of heat and the reheating and humidification heat associated with it are kept to a minimum.
Is controlled.

Next, when it is necessary to greatly increase the refrigerating capacity, for example, when the setting is changed from a high temperature condition to a low temperature condition, the number of pulses of the electronic expansion valve 34 is increased through the change of the point P as described above. As the value gradually increases, the degree of opening increases, and when these values reach the maximum of 100%, the valve is fully opened. The number of such pulses or the direct valve opening is sent to the control device, and the refrigerator start / stop controller 7 controls the electronic expansion valve 3
In response to the fully open signal of No. 4, the NO2 refrigerator 32 is started.

When the refrigerator is started, the refrigerating capacity at that time is stepped up to a minimum capacity of 30% at a time.
At this point, the total refrigerating capacity is 130%. The change in the refrigerating capacity cools the circulating air in the chamber 4 via the evaporator, and the refrigerating capacity further increases, decreases, or stabilizes depending on the heat balance at this time. And
As shown in Table 1 above, the same two refrigerators allow the refrigerating capacity to be adjusted up to 130-200% when the refrigerating capacity further increases, and up to 60-200% when the refrigerating capacity decreases.

When the NO1 refrigerator 31 becomes 100% and becomes NO
When the 2 refrigerator 32 is added as 30%, the electronic expansion valve control unit 6 controls the electronic expansion valve 35 which is not 100% from the opening signal (number of pulses) of the electronic expansion valves 34 and 35. A signal is sent to control the electronic expansion valve 35 so that the point P enters the energy saving zone Z. If the measured temperature does not drop to the set temperature even if NO2 is activated, and if Pw further drops and the point P deviates from the energy saving zone Z, the electronic expansion valve 34 is controlled so as to increase its opening degree. When this is fully opened and the NO2 refrigerator 32 reaches 100% capacity, the refrigerator start / stop controller 7 receives this signal and
Control to start.

On the other hand, when the total refrigerating capacity becomes excessive due to the NO2 refrigerating machine 32 being started at 30% capacity, the NO1 refrigerating machine 31 is operated at 100%. Control is performed such that the refrigerating capacity of NO1 is reduced without stopping NO2. As a result, the refrigerating capacity was 30% for both refrigerators, and a total of 60%.
%. When the refrigeration capacity is further reduced, NO2 is stopped, for example, and only NO1 is used, so that the refrigeration capacity can be adjusted up to 30 to 100%.

If the demand for the refrigerating capacity becomes 30% or less when only one NO1 refrigerator is in operation, if the control for merely stopping NO1 is performed by continuing the conventional stop control, the operation during the operation is performed. Since there is no freezer, N
The O1 refrigerator cannot be restarted, and even if it is restarted, if the demand for the refrigerating capacity at that time is 30% or less, the O1 refrigerator may stop again and start and stop repeatedly.
Therefore, control is performed by an appropriate method including any of the following.

One of the methods is a control method in which only the NO1 refrigerator does not stop the operation, and always maintains the operation state during the operation of the environmental test device or the like. In this method, for example, when the demand for the refrigeration capacity is 20%, the energy-saving zone Z
Therefore, only 10% of the total capacity of the three refrigerators consumes extra freezing heat and about the same amount of heating / humidifying heat is required. However, such an energy loss is small, and such an operation state is small, so that the energy saving effect is not significantly affected.

As another method, when a refrigerating capacity of 30% or less is required, the NO1 refrigerator is stopped, and thereafter, it is started at an appropriate time interval by a timer or the like, and after maintaining the operating state for a certain time, Control to start and stop according to the demand for refrigeration capacity is performed. In this method, the control is slightly complicated, but the energy saving effect is greater than when the NO1 refrigerator is constantly operated. When the refrigerator is stopped, a low refrigerating capacity is required.
It is not impossible to immediately maintain the target temperature and humidity.

Further, in the above, when the refrigerating capacity of 30% or less is required, the NO1 refrigerator is stopped, and when the output point P enters from the energy saving zone to the output increase request part on the origin O side, the starting is started. Keep the driving state for a certain time,
Thereafter, the control is again shifted to the automatic stop control in response to a request for the refrigerating capacity. In this method, the temperature and humidity can be maintained more reliably than in the above method.

When the three refrigerators are operated by starting the NO3 refrigerator 33, the refrigerating capacity at that time is 100% + 100
% + 30% gives a total of 230%. From Table 1, it is possible to adjust the capacity from 230 to 300% for a capacity increase and 90 to 300 for a capacity decrease. When the capacity decreases, 30% of NO3 is held in that state, and 1% of NO2
To further reduce the capacity from 00% to 30% and further reduce the capacity, both NO3 and NO2 are kept at 30% and NO1 is reduced to 30%. , NO2 and NO1 in this order. The start / stop of NO1 is as described above. Although the refrigeration capacity has been described in terms of% in the above description, for example, if 100% is set to 1000 kcal / hr, the actual increase / decrease state of the refrigeration capacity can be represented.

According to the above-described control, the number of refrigerators can be easily and reliably controlled, and the heating output and the humidification output are controlled so as to always enter the energy saving zone Z. The amount of reheating and the amount of rehumidification by the heater and the humidifier and the amount of rehumidification always change at a small value,
Energy saving of driving can be achieved.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show another example of the refrigerating capacity control device of the present invention. The apparatus of the present embodiment is different from the apparatuses of FIGS. 1 to 3 in the configuration of the start / stop control portion of the refrigerator. That is, the output map 51 of the determination unit 5 includes, together with the energy saving zone Z, an increase area, a maintenance area, an up area 52 as a decrease area, a keep area 53, and a down area 54 for changing the number of refrigerators, The electronic expansion valve control unit 6 determines the point P
When (Pd, Pw) enters the up area 52, the number of operating chillers is controlled to increase, and when it enters the down area 54, the number of operating chillers is reduced.

In each of the above areas, the up area 52 is formed on the origin O side from the energy saving zone Z, and the keep area 5 is formed.
3 is formed at a central portion opposite to the origin O with a predetermined width B from the energy saving zone Z, and is provided in the coordinates so that the down area 54 is formed outside the keep area 53. The predetermined width B is such that when the point P enters the down area 51 and one refrigerator is started, the point P stays within the keep area 53 when Pd and Pw increase due to an increase in the refrigerating capacity. It is determined as follows. In this example, since the minimum capacity after the start of the refrigerator is 30%, the width B can be set at a place where a margin for the vector sum of the Pd component and the Pw component has a margin for 30% of the refrigerating capacity. If the refrigeration capacity is 10
0% is 100% of each of maximum heating output and humidification output
If the change in the refrigerating capacity causes the heating output and the humidification output to increase or decrease by the same amount, Pd = Pw = 15%, and the width B becomes about 21% or more on the output map 51. On the X or Y axis, the refrigeration capacity is almost all Pd or Pd.
Since it changes to w, it is about 30% or more. In the example of FIG. 5, the keep area has a large margin.

In the apparatus of this embodiment, the electronic expansion valve controller 6 controls the point P to enter the energy saving zone Z irrespective of the refrigerator start / stop controller 7. Then, since the refrigerators are operated with a fixed number of units, the point P cannot be maintained in the energy saving zone Z due to a load change or a setting change, and the point P deviates from this and enters the up area 52 or the down area 54. In addition, the refrigerator start / stop controller 7 performs control to increase or decrease the number of operating refrigerators. As described above, in the present invention, since the continuous control of the refrigerator is performed in the energy saving zone, the width B of the keep area has a sufficient margin, and the control of the increase and decrease of the refrigerator can be further stabilized.

FIG. 6 shows an example of control for increasing or decreasing the number of refrigerators in the above-described region. In this control, the following processing is repeated for each control cycle. In addition, by setting a “count” and delaying the processing time, unnecessary start-up and shut-down of the refrigerator due to temporary fluctuations of the heating output and humidification output can be prevented, and the output can be changed when the refrigeration capacity is changed. Avoids changing ranks until they become stable. The count x is
In relation to the control cycle, for example, it is determined that it takes about 5 minutes to change the refrigerator rank in Table 1.

After setting the rank and count to 0 as an initial setting, it is determined whether or not the point P is in the up area 52 in the output map (S-1). If it is in this area, the count is set to +1 and the count is set to + x Is determined (S-2, 3), and when the count reaches + x, a capacity signal of the refrigerator is input to determine whether three refrigerators are used and the rank is 3 (S-2). -4) The rank can be increased by one at a time until the point P enters the keep area 53 on the way to 3 (S-5, 6).

If the point P is not in the up area, it is determined whether it is in the down area 54 (S-7), and the same processing as described above is performed (S-8, 9, 10, 11, 12). In this case, however, the count is decremented, and if the count does not enter the keep area, the count is decremented until the rank becomes zero. If the point P does not exist in the up area or the down area, it is checked whether it is in the keep area (S-13),
If it is in the keep area, the control cycle is repeated without changing the count (S-14 and thereafter).

According to such control of the number of refrigerators, simple and reliable control and energy saving operation can be performed similarly to the apparatus of FIG. In the above control, since the control of the electronic expansion valve and the start / stop control of the refrigerator are made independent, the point P
Is in the up area or the down area, even if the refrigeration capacity does not reach the start / stop condition and the point P can be put into the energy saving zone Z by controlling the electronic expansion valve, the refrigeration is performed by the start / stop control by the area. It is possible that the aircraft will start and stop unnecessarily. However, such unnecessary start and stop can be avoided by adjusting the count in an actual device.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show the configuration and control flow of still another example of the refrigerating capacity control device. In the apparatus of the present example, the refrigerator start / stop controller 7 increases the number of operating refrigerators when the point P enters the up region 52 and the running one of the plurality of refrigerators reaches the maximum capacity. Then, when the point P enters the down area and reaches the minimum capacity, control is performed so as to reduce the number of operating refrigerators. In this example, the electronic expansion valve control unit 6 is combined with the refrigerator start / stop control unit 7 to facilitate such control. or,
The count set in FIG. 6 is omitted, and the control is simplified.

The control of the apparatus of this embodiment is performed as follows.
It is determined which of the zones Z, 52, 53 and 54 the point P is on the output map 51 (S-1). When the point P is in the energy saving zone Z, the operation of the refrigerator including the electronic expansion valve is performed. If the state is maintained as it is (S-2, 3) and the operating chillers are in the keep area outside the zone Z and all the operating chillers have the minimum capacity (S-4, 5), the number of operating chillers is two or more. At this time, one unit is stopped, and two or less units, that is, when the number is 0 or 1, the current state is maintained (S-6, 7, 3). When all the operating refrigerators are not at the minimum capacity, the electronic expansion valve is driven in a direction to close by the minimum operation amount (S-5, 8).

According to this control, the operation state of at least one refrigerator is maintained in the keep range, so that control stability is obtained, and the heating / humidification output is relatively small because the refrigerator is in the keep range. Since the output can be controlled according to the conditions, an energy saving effect can be obtained. For the sake of simplicity of control, the number of operating refrigerators may be maintained at the present time even when the capacity is the minimum during the keep region.

When the point P is not in the keep area, it is determined whether or not the point P is in the down area (S-4, 9). Then, when all the chillers are at the minimum capacity, one chiller is stopped unless all the chillers are stopped (S-11, 7). Therefore, in the down range, all the refrigerators may stop. As a result, one continuous operation in the down region where the heating / humidification output is large is eliminated, and energy saving of the operation is achieved. In addition, since the restart of the number of operating chillers from 0 to a minimum of 1 is reliably performed by determining the next up area, the temperature and humidity can be reliably controlled to the set values.

When the point P is in the up range, when one or all of the running refrigerators are at the maximum capacity, unless all the refrigerators are in operation, one refrigerator is started (S-12 to S15). 0
Or, when the maximum capacity is not reached, the electronic expansion valve is driven in a direction to open by the minimum operation amount (S-13, 16).
According to this control, the determination of the area of the point P and the operation of the electronic expansion valve are performed in parallel, so that the number of refrigerators can be reliably increased or decreased only when the electronic expansion valve cannot be controlled, and the need for refrigerators becomes unnecessary. Thus, there is no possibility of starting and stopping at all, and the control can be stabilized together with the energy saving operation.

In the above example, the case where the refrigerating capacity continuous control mechanism is an electronic expansion valve has been described. However, for example, a stepless control of the refrigerating capacity such as a device in which the rotation of the compressor can be continuously controlled by an inverter motor. The present invention can be applied to other devices that can be controlled.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a refrigeration capacity continuous control mechanism, a determination unit provided with coordinates having a control zone, a refrigeration capacity continuous control unit, and a chiller number control unit Is provided, the heating output and the humidification output are taken into the determination unit, the position of the point (P) on the coordinate constituted by these is determined, and the refrigerating capacity continuous control unit sets the point P to the control zone of the coordinate. For example, a refrigeration capacity continuous control mechanism such as an electronic expansion valve is continuously controlled so that the refrigeration capacity can be increased or decreased according to the control result. The unit controls the number of operating units to increase or decrease when the total capacity of the operating refrigerators is at the maximum or minimum, so the heating / humidification output is continuously controlled while reliably meeting the refrigerating capacity requirements for multiple refrigerators. Control to keep in band It can be.

The control zone is divided into an intermediate portion having a narrow width which can be controlled by the refrigeration capacity continuous control mechanism and separated from the origin of the coordinates, and a horizontal axis portion and a vertical axis portion extending in both axial directions from the intermediate portion. Because it is formed, the horizontal axis portion satisfies the demand for high heating output for reheating to supplement the cooling effect when the refrigerator is performing dehumidification with high capacity, and the vertical axis portion Satisfies the demand for high output humidification output for rehumidification to supplement the dehumidification effect when the refrigerator is performing cooling operation with high capacity. The total output of the heating output and the humidification output in the above can be reduced within a certain range while satisfying the demand for good controllability, and the energy saving of operation can be achieved by reducing the amount of refrigerating heat and the amount of reheating / humidifying heat. it can. That is, according to the present invention, by skillfully combining the control of the number of refrigerators and the control of the continuous capacity, it is possible to save the operation energy while maintaining the continuity and certainty of the control.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a refrigeration capacity continuity control mechanism, a determination unit having coordinates having control zones, a refrigeration capacity continuity control unit, and a chiller number control unit are provided. The increase area, the maintenance area, and the decrease area are added to the coordinates of the determination unit, and the number-of-chillers control unit controls the number of refrigerators by the area independently of the control of the refrigerating-capacity continuous control unit. That is, when the number of refrigerators is excessive or deficient with respect to the refrigerating capacity required in the continuous control, the fact that the point P deviates from the control band and the maintenance region and necessarily reaches the increase region or the decrease region is used. However, under such conditions, the number of refrigerators can be increased or decreased, and continuous control in the control zone can be performed again. Therefore, even with this control, the number of operating refrigerators can be reliably controlled, and energy saving during operation can be achieved.

In the invention according to claim 3, in addition to the above, the number of refrigerators control unit is controlled by a plurality of refrigerators when the point enters the increase range and the operating refrigerator among the plurality of refrigerators reaches the maximum capacity. When the number of refrigeration units is increased and the point enters the decreasing area and reaches the minimum capacity, control is performed so as to reduce the number of refrigeration units to be operated. As a result, the number of refrigerators is controlled, so that the refrigerators can be reliably started and stopped only when necessary, so that the energy saving effect can be increased and the control can be further stabilized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a refrigeration capacity control device to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an output map of a determination unit of the device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a control state in the output map.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the overall configuration of the refrigeration capacity control device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an output map of a determination unit of the device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of control of the number of refrigerators in the above-described apparatus.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing still another example of the overall configuration of the refrigeration capacity control device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of control of the number of refrigerators in the above apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Humidifier 2 Heater 4 Room to be air-conditioned 5 Judgment part 6 Electronic expansion valve control part (Refrigeration capacity continuous control part) 7 Refrigerator start / stop control part (Refrigerator number control part) 31, 32, 33 NO1-NO3 refrigeration (Multiple refrigerators) 34, 35, 36 Electronic expansion valve (refrigeration capacity continuous control mechanism) 51 Output map 52 Up area (increase area) 53 Keep area (maintenance area) 54 Down area (decrease area) P on coordinate point Pd heating power Pw humidifying output Z Ministry Enezon (control zone) Z ₁ inclined portion (intermediate portion) Z ₂ low humidity section (horizontal axis portion) Z ₃ low temperature section (vertical axis portion)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A room that includes a refrigerating facility having a heater, a humidifier, and a plurality of refrigerators, and controls a heating output as a heater output and a humidifier output as a humidifier to be air-conditioned. A refrigerating capacity control device for an air conditioner, wherein the refrigerating capacity can be controlled almost continuously in a capacity range from a minimum capacity to a maximum capacity. A control mechanism and coordinates having a control band having a narrow width that can be controlled by the refrigerating capacity continuous control mechanism with both the heating output and the humidification output as axes, and the control zone is an intermediate portion separated from the origin. A point on the coordinates comprising coordinates formed by a horizontal axis portion and a vertical axis portion extending in both axial directions from the intermediate portion, taking in the heating output and the humidification output, Judgment to judge the position of And a refrigeration capacity continuous control section that controls the refrigeration capacity continuous control mechanism so that the point falls within the control zone when the determination section determines that the point is outside the control zone; and And a control unit for controlling the number of refrigerators to be increased when the number of operating units reaches the maximum capacity and reduced until at least one unit reaches the minimum capacity when the minimum capacity is reached. Refrigeration capacity control device. 2. A refrigeration system having a heater, a humidifier, and a plurality of refrigerators, wherein a heating output which is an output of the heater and a humidification output which is an output of the humidifier are controlled to control an air-conditioned room. A refrigeration capacity control device for an air conditioner that adjusts temperature and humidity, wherein the refrigeration capacity continuous control is capable of controlling the refrigeration capacity of each of the plurality of chillers almost continuously in a capacity range from a minimum capacity to a maximum capacity. Mechanism, coordinates with the heating output and the humidification output as both axes and a control zone, an increase zone, a maintenance zone, and a decrease zone, wherein the control zone is an intermediate part separated from the origin and both axes from the intermediate part. The increased area is formed on the origin side from the control band, and the maintenance area has a predetermined width from the control band and is opposite to the origin. Formed on the side with the reduced area A determination unit that includes coordinates formed outside the maintenance region, and that takes in the heating output and the humidification output to determine the position of a point on the coordinates formed by the determination unit and the determination unit; When it is determined that the point is outside the control zone, the refrigeration capacity continuous control unit that controls the refrigeration capacity continuous control mechanism so that the point enters the control zone, and when the point enters the increase area, A refrigerating machine number control unit for controlling the number of operating refrigerating machines so as to decrease the operating number of the plurality of refrigerating machines when the point enters the decreasing range. apparatus. 3. The number-of-chillers control unit determines the operating number of the plurality of refrigerators when the point enters the increase area and a running one of the plurality of refrigerators reaches the maximum capacity. 3. The refrigeration capacity control device according to claim 2, wherein the refrigeration capacity control device is controlled to decrease the number of operating the plurality of refrigerators when the point increases and the point enters the decrease area and reaches the minimum capacity.