JPH09264505A - Management device for thermal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect an abnormal stop caused by a power failure at a thermal equipment or a shut-off of a breaker and also to detect an abnormal state in a communication line by a method wherein an abnormal state of the thermal equipment is detected in response to whether or not a pre-set communication response command is returned back from the thermal equipment to a management device. SOLUTION: A management device transmits a communication confirming command CT from a communication line to a thermal equipment Bn. If the thermal equipment Bn is in its normal operating state, a preset communication response command CA is returned back to a management device and if the device is in its stopped state due to instant power failure or shut-off of a breaker, the communication response command CA is not returned back (S1). The communication response command CA from the thermal equipment Bn is waited for its receiving and if the receiving of the communication response command CA is present, the aforesaid procedure is repeated to monitor an occurrence of abnormal state (S3). In turn, in case that the communication response command CA is not received even if a predetermined time elapses (S3), the management device displays an occurrence of abnormal state or produces an alarm (S4).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a management device for managing the operating status of thermal equipment connected via a communication line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to efficiently operate a heating device such as a boiler, a management device for managing the operating state of the heating device may be used. This management device is installed together with the thermal equipment on the site of the facility, and is connected to this thermal equipment via a communication line. Then, the operating status of the heating device is received from the automatic driving device on the heating device side via this communication line, and integrated management of the heating device is performed. In particular, such a management device is used when a plurality of thermal devices and their peripheral devices are installed.

By the way, in such equipment, if the thermal equipment abnormally stops due to a power outage or breaker interruption, communication is performed at the time when the thermal equipment is restarted after the power failure is restored. There is a problem that the discovery of a power failure will be delayed. That is, as described above, when communication from the heat device side is impossible due to a power failure of the heat device,
Until the thermal equipment recovers from the power failure and communication is restored, it cannot be understood from the management device side whether the cause is an abnormality in the communication line or an abnormality in the thermal equipment.

[0004]

Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to solve the problem in the management device K which is installed at a facility site together with a thermal device and manages the operating condition of the thermal device connected through a communication line. This is to detect an abnormal stop due to a power outage of a device or breaker breaker, or an error in a communication line.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a management device for connecting thermal equipment via a communication line and managing the operating status of the thermal equipment, wherein the management device is connected to the thermal equipment from the communication line. The above problem is solved by a configuration for detecting an abnormality of a thermal device by transmitting a communication confirmation command and responding to the transmission of the communication confirmation command by returning a preset communication response command from the thermal device to the management device. It is a solution.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention is realized in a management device for connecting thermal equipment via a communication line and managing the operating status of the thermal equipment. Therefore, the thermal equipment has a configuration capable of outputting the operation status data to at least the management apparatus, that is, an automatic control apparatus is provided, and the management apparatus retains the operation status data in order to retain the operation status data. It has a power backup function. Here, the facility site is a facility such as a building or factory equipped with a heat device as a heat source for air conditioning or manufacturing. The arrangement of the thermal equipment and the management device at the site of the facility includes the case where they are arranged in the same compartment or the room, the case where they are arranged in different compartments, or the case where they are arranged in the room.

[0007] The management device receives data on operating conditions from the thermal equipment via the communication line, but the management device sends a communication confirmation command to the thermal equipment from the communication line. The transmission of this communication confirmation command is repeated at appropriate intervals. Then, in response to the transmission of the communication confirmation command from the management device to the thermal device, and when the communication response command set in advance from the thermal device is returned to the management device, the thermal device is normal. Is
Judge that an abnormality has occurred in the thermal equipment. After this determination, the management device displays the occurrence of an abnormality or gives an alarm.

Further, in the case where the management device communicates with a general management device installed at a management base remote from the site of the facility, the management device will detect the occurrence of the abnormality when the abnormality is detected. Configure to notify the management site. With this configuration, it is possible to understand the abnormality of the thermal device even at the management base. This management base is a facility that comprehensively manages the thermal equipment on the site of the facility as described above, and therefore a comprehensive management device is installed. This integrated management device connects a plurality of the above-mentioned management facilities at the site, and reports the operating status and abnormalities of the heat equipment at these facilities on a communication line such as a public telephone line or ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network). It is to be grasped and maintained and managed through. When connecting the integrated management apparatus and the thermal equipment on the site of the facility, the management apparatus may be directly connected to the thermal equipment without intervening.

[0009]

[Embodiment] An embodiment in which a heating device is a boiler will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In addition, FIG.
FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the processing operation in one embodiment of the management apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a drawing for explaining the installation situation of the management apparatus in one embodiment of the present invention.

First, an outline of a management apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, at the facility site X,
A plurality of boilers B1 to Bn as heat equipment are arranged, and each of the boilers B1 to Bn is connected to a communication line T1 to Bn.
It is connected to the management device K via Tn.

Each of the boilers B1 to Bn is equipped with its own automatic operation device 1. The management device K is composed of a microcomputer or the like, and inputs the operating conditions and load conditions of the boilers B1 to Bn according to the processing procedure stored in advance in the storage device to ensure efficient operation of the boilers B1 to Bn. It manages. The data such as the operating status and load status of each boiler B1 to Bn is stored in each communication line T1 to Tn.
Is transmitted from the automatic driving device 1 of each boiler B1 to Bn.

The management device K further includes communication lines T1 ...
Communication confirmation command C from Tn to thermal devices B1 to Bn
It has a function of transmitting T, and also has a function of detecting an abnormality in the thermal equipment depending on whether or not the response communication confirmation command corresponding to the communication confirmation command CT is received. Therefore, the automatic operation device 1 of the boiler has a function of setting and transmitting a response communication confirmation command corresponding to the communication confirmation command CT. Moreover, in order to hold the management data of the boiler, the management device K
A power supply backup device 2 in case of power failure is provided.

Further, the management device K also has a function of communicating with the integrated management device 3 installed in the management site Z remote from the facility site X. The management site Z is connected to a plurality of facility sites X, and the management device K transmits the operating states of the thermal devices B1 to Bn on the facility site X side and abnormal stop data to the general management device 3. The management base Z analyzes the cause of the abnormal stop information from the received data, and transmits the abnormality countermeasure information to the management device K of the facility site X based on the result, or dispatches a worker for repair. To do. The communication with the integrated management device 3 is performed using, for example, a public telephone line or a data communication line.

The configuration and operation of the abnormality detection of the thermal equipment by the management apparatus K of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, since a plurality of thermal devices B1 to Bn are connected to one management device K, abnormality detection is performed by switching each thermal device B1 to Bn. In the following description, a procedure for detecting an abnormality in the thermal equipment Bn will be described. First, in step S1, the management device K issues a communication confirmation command CT to the thermal equipment Bn from the communication line. Here, if the thermal device Bn is in a normal operating state, the communication response command CA preset for the communication confirmation command CT is sent to the management device K.
To the communication response command CA, the communication response command CA is not returned if it is in a stopped state due to the momentary power failure or the breaker cutoff as described above. Then, in the next step S2, the reception of the communication response command CA from the thermal device Bn is awaited. If the communication response command CA is received, the thermal device is in a normal operating state, so the process returns to step S1 and the above procedure is performed. Repeat to monitor the occurrence of abnormalities. In step S2, the reception of the communication response command CA from the thermal device Bn is waited for a predetermined time. If the communication response command CA from the thermal device Bn can be received within the predetermined time, the process returns to step 1 as described above. On the other hand, if the communication response command CA is not received even after the lapse of the predetermined time, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the thermal device Bn, and in step S4, the management device K displays the occurrence of the abnormality in an appropriate display means. Is displayed or an alarm is generated. At this time, in the case where the management device K is installed together with the thermal devices B1 to Bn in the facility site X and communicates with the management base Z in a remote place, when the abnormality is detected, the management device K is used. Notifies the management base Z.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, even if the thermal equipment is stopped due to a momentary power failure or a pseudo-instantaneous power failure due to breaker interruption, etc., it is immediately detected on the management device side. Therefore, it is possible to promptly deal with the stoppage of the thermal equipment and the abnormal situation related thereto.
Further, when the management device is connected to the management base, the management base side can grasp the malfunction of the heating device, and thus it is particularly effective in such a system for managing the heating device in a wide area.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a processing operation in an embodiment of a management apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an installation situation of a management device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 B1 to Bn Thermal equipment T1 to Tn Communication line K Management device X Facility site Z Management base 3 Total management device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A thermal device B installed at a facility site X together with thermal devices B1 to Bn and connected via communication lines T1 to Tn.
In the management device K that manages the operating conditions of 1 to Bn, the management device K sends a communication confirmation command CT to each of the thermal devices B1 to Bn via the communication lines T1 to Tn, and transmits this communication confirmation command CT. Of the thermal equipment B1 to Bn, the abnormality of the thermal equipment B1 to Bn is detected depending on whether or not a preset communication response command CA is returned from the thermal equipment B1 to Bn to the management device K. Management device. 2. When the management device K communicates with a general management device 3 installed at a management base Z separated from the facility site X, the management device K will detect when an abnormality is detected. The management apparatus for the thermal equipment according to claim 1, wherein the management base Z is notified of the occurrence of this abnormality.