JPH0476800A - Freezing detector for gas pressure adjuster - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely inform the freezed state of a gas pressure regulator by automatically measuring the temperature of the pressure regulator, and when the temperature is low and the downstream side pressure of the pressure regulator is lowered, deciding a gas pressure drop due to freezing. CONSTITUTION:A pressure drop abnormality detecting means 9 detects the abnormal drop of the downstream side pressure of the pressure regulator 3 constituting a gas feeding facility and a temperature sensor 8 detects the temperature of the regulator 3. A deciding means 10 inputs two signals from the means 9 and the sensor 8, and if a signal is outputted from the means 9 when the signal from the sensor 8 is less than a certain level, decides a pressure drop due to the inside freezing of the regulator 3. Consequently, an operation defect due to the freezing of the regulator 3 can be automatically checked and a safety counterplan can be obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention detects a drop in gas supply pressure caused by a pressure regulator remaining in a closed state due to freezing of a pressure regulator in an LP gas supply facility. This invention relates to a freeze detection device for a gas pressure regulator that notifies a freeze state.

Conventional technology In recent years, in order to prevent explosions caused by gas leaks and fires caused by forgetting to turn off gas appliances, gas meters have been built to monitor gas leaks and how long gas appliances have been used. Gas cutoff devices are now being built in, which determines that the gas appliances have been forgotten to be turned off and shuts off the gas supply if this continues, ensuring safety downstream from the gas meter. There is. On the other hand, regarding safety management upstream of the gas meter, that is, from the LP gas cylinder to the gas meter, conventionally a person visits the site once every two years to perform a safety check.

An overview of conventional safety management as described in 2 will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a safety check means in a conventional gas supply facility. In FIG. 3, 1 is an LP gas cylinder, 2 is a main valve to the cylinder, 3 is a pressure regulator, 4 is a gas meter, 5 is a gas appliance, 6 is a pressure gauge, and 7 is a pen recorder.

The operation of the safety check means in the conventional gas supply equipment constructed as described above will be explained with reference to FIG. Once every two years, a person visits the site, connects a pressure gauge 6 midway through the gas piping between the pressure regulator 3 and the gas meter 4, and measures the gas pressure inside the gas piping with a pen recorder 7. The pressure regulating function of the pressure regulator 3 is then checked. Open the cylinder main valve 2 and gas appliance 5.
The gas pressure is recorded on the pen recorder 7 under normal usage conditions. The recorded gas pressure is 230-330tm Ht
If it is between 0, the pressure regulating function of the pressure regulator 3 is normal, and if it is out of the above range, it is determined that the pressure regulator 3 is malfunctioning.

Problems that the invention sought to solve However, although the above-mentioned means can check for permanent malfunctions of the pressure regulator, it cannot deal with temporary malfunctions such as the non-operation of the pressure regulating valve due to freezing. It had

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a freeze detection device for a pressure regulator that can automatically check for malfunctions due to freezing of the pressure regulator.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the freeze detection device for a gas pressure regulator of the present invention is a pressure drop abnormality detection device that detects an abnormal drop in pressure on the downstream side of a pressure regulator that constitutes gas supply equipment. A temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the pressure regulator, a pressure drop abnormality detecting means, and two signals from the temperature detecting means are input, and a pressure drop abnormality is detected when the signal from the temperature detecting means is below a certain level. The apparatus includes a determining means configured to determine that the pressure drop is due to freezing inside the pressure regulator when there is a signal from the means, and an output means operated by the signal from the determining means. .

The present invention uses the above-described configuration to automatically measure the temperature of the pressure regulator, and when the temperature is low and the pressure on the downstream side of the pressure regulator decreases, it can be determined that the gas pressure has decreased due to freezing. This means that it will be possible to notify the

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, a freeze detection device for a gas pressure regulator according to an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a freeze detection device for a gas pressure regulator in an embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 1, 1 is L
To the P gas cylinder, 2 is the main valve to the cylinder, 3 is the pressure regulator, 4
1 is a gas meter, 5 is a gas appliance, 8 is a temperature sensor which is a temperature detection means for measuring the temperature of the pressure regulator 3, 9 is a pressure drop abnormality detection means, 10 is a determination means, 11 is an output means, 1
2 is a pressure sensor, 13 is a flow rate sensor, 14 is a comparator, 15 is a comparator, 16 is a gate circuit, 17 is a timer circuit, 18 is a comparator, and 19 is a gate circuit. Note that blocks showing the same functions as those in the conventional example shown in FIG. 3 are given the same numbers.

First, the operation of the pressure drop abnormality detection means 9 will be explained.

It is conceivable that the pressure on the downstream side from the pressure regulator 3 decreases when replacing the cylinder. Therefore, it is impossible to determine from pressure information alone whether the pressure regulator 3 is malfunctioning or the pressure has decreased due to replacement of the cylinder or the like. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, two pieces of information, information from the pressure sensor 8 and information from the flow rate sensor 9, are used to detect the pressure drop abnormality. The comparator 14 is set to output when the output of the flow rate sensor 13 exceeds a certain level. The comparator 15 is set to output when the output of the pressure sensor 12 becomes 230IlIIIH2o or less. The gate circuit 16 transmits the output of the comparator 15 to the timer circuit 17 only when there is a signal from the comparator 14. Therefore, the signal from the pressure sensor 12 is transmitted to the timer circuit 17 only when the flow rate sensor 13 has a signal above a certain level.
0m+H! If it is less than O, the timer circuit I7 operates. In order to eliminate noise, the timer circuit 17 is configured to output a signal to the next stage determining means only when the signal is present for a certain period of time or more. The above is the operation of the pressure drop abnormality detection means. Next, the operation of the determining means 10 will be explained. The comparator 18 is configured to generate an output when the output of the temperature sensor 8 falls below a set temperature, for example, zero degrees Celsius. The gate circuit 19 opens the gate only when an output is generated from the comparator 18, and transmits the output of the pressure drop abnormality detection means 9 to the output means 11 at the next stage.

Therefore, if the pressure decreases when the temperature of the pressure regulator is below zero degrees Celsius, the determining means 10 outputs a signal.

When the output means 11 is informed of the pressure drop due to freezing, LE
D lights up or flashes to notify people of the freeze, and a warning is sent to the management center using a telephone line or the like. Alternatively, the gas supply is stopped by operating a separately provided gas cutoff valve.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, there is provided a pressure drop abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormal drop in pressure on the downstream side of a pressure regulator constituting the gas supply equipment, and a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the pressure regulator. Two signals from the pressure drop abnormality detection means and the temperature detection means are input, and if the signal from the temperature detection means is below a certain level and there is a signal from the pressure drop abnormality detection means, the inside of the pressure regulator is frozen. The structure includes a determining means configured to determine that the pressure has decreased due to freezing, and an output means operated by a signal from the determining means, so that a pressure decrease due to freezing can be detected and notified to a person.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pressure drop detection device 9 has a configuration in which a pressure sensor 12 and a pressure sensor 20 are provided on the upstream and downstream sides of the pressure regulator, respectively, to detect the difference between the two pressures. I don't mind. Also, the pressure sensor 12
It is also possible to have only one configuration.

Note that the freeze detection device for the gas pressure regulator of the present invention may be built into the pressure regulator 3. Further, the entire abnormality detection device for the gas pressure regulator may be provided as a separate unit, or a portion, for example, the pressure sensor 12, may be built into the pressure regulator 3 and other portions may be provided in another location.

Further, the determining means 10 may be realized by software aloginization using a microcomputer.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides a pressure drop abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormal drop in pressure on the downstream side of a pressure regulator constituting a gas supply facility, and a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the pressure regulator. Two signals from the pressure drop abnormality detection means and the temperature detection means are input, and if the signal from the temperature detection means is below a certain level and there is a signal from the pressure drop abnormality detection means, the inside of the pressure regulator is frozen. A determination means configured to determine that the pressure drop is due to freezing, and an output means operated by a signal from the determination means to detect a pressure drop due to freezing of the gas pressure regulator and notify a person or activate a shutoff valve. It is possible to provide a freeze detection device for a gas pressure regulator that can take safety measures such as operation.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a freeze detection device for a gas pressure regulator in one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a freeze detection device for a gas pressure regulator in another embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a conventional block diagram. j...To LP gas cylinder, 2... Main valve to cylinder, 3... Pressure regulator, 4... Gas meter, 5... Gas appliance, 8...Temperature sensor, 9...Pressure drop abnormality detection means, 10
...determination means, 13...flow rate sensor,
17...Timer circuit. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A pressure drop abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormal drop in pressure on the downstream side of a pressure regulator constituting the gas supply equipment, a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the pressure regulator, the pressure drop abnormality detection means, and the Two signals from the temperature detection means are input, and if the signal from the temperature detection means is below a certain level and there is a signal from the pressure drop abnormality detection means, it is determined that the pressure drop is due to freezing inside the pressure regulator. A freeze detection device for a gas pressure regulator, comprising a determination means configured as above and an output means operated by a signal from the determination means. (2) The freeze detection device for a gas pressure regulator according to claim 1, wherein the pressure drop abnormality detection means includes a pressure sensor and a flow rate sensor. (3) The freeze detection device for a gas pressure regulator according to claim 1, wherein the pressure drop abnormality detection means includes two pressure sensors.