KR101803685B1 - Freezing prevention system using dc metal heater - Google Patents

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the present invention, power consumption is saved, and the danger of fire is prevented by local heating of a pipe by a metal heater. Accordingly, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a freezing prevention system using DC metal heaters. The freezing prevention system using DC metal heathers comprises: the pipe; the plurality of metal heaters locally heating the pipe, each of which includes a metal case and a heating element in the metal case, wherein the metal heaters are spaced apart from each other along an outer peripheral surface of the pipe; a converter module converting AC power inputted to generate the heat of the heating elements into DC power; a power saving calculation module calculating the intensity of the DC power to be applied to the plurality of metal heaters based on atmosphere temperature information around the pipe or surface temperature information of each metal heater and transmitting a power control signal corresponding to the calculated intensity of the DC power; and a power application module applying or blocking the converted DC power to the plurality of metal heaters based on the transmitted power control signal and applying the DC power of the calculated intensity when the converted DC power is applied.

Description

FREEZING PREVENTION SYSTEM USING DC METAL HEATER [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for preventing freezing of piping filled with purified water such as digested water, and more particularly to a system for preventing freezing of a frozen tissue using a metal heater.

Conventionally, in order to prevent freezing of piping filled with water such as digestion water, a method of preventing the freezing of winter piping is widely used, in which a hot line is disposed along the piping and power is supplied to the hot line It is still used a lot now. However, these heat lines are arranged in one or two lines depending on the thickness of the pipe on the outer peripheral surface of a relatively long pipe of 100 to 200 m, and they are disposed in a spiral manner, . Especially, in the place where relatively cold days are few, the system for preventing the frost damage using the conventional hot wire is a main cause of power waste in winter.

In order to eliminate such waste, techniques have been developed to partially prevent piping from being cooled with a small energy by heating the piping and utilizing the kinetic energy due to the conduction of the piping and the convection of the internal digestion water. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 07008460 relates to an apparatus for preventing freezing of a water pipe, wherein a heating element made up of a thermistor is provided in a heater mounting portion of a pipe and is heated to a predetermined temperature. The thermistor uses a thermal element whose resistance value is changed when the temperature exceeds a specific temperature and the heat is reduced, thereby maintaining the constant temperature, thereby eliminating the possibility of ignition.

However, most of the thermistors as heating elements are formed of ceramic-based materials and silver paste electrodes on both sides. Even if abnormal heat generation occurs, there is no disconnection of heating elements and the heat can be continuously overheated without stopping the heat generation. The heat generation point must be maintained at a relatively high temperature.

Therefore, there is a need for a new type of frost protection system that can prevent the fire from occurring and improve the power saving rate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been accomplished on the basis of the above-described need, and it is a first object of the present invention to provide a frost protection system using a DC metal heater capable of saving electric power by locally heating a pipe by a metal heater.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a frost protection system using a DC metal heater that can induce sufficient heat generation with low power consumption by applying DC power to a heating element.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a frost prevention system using a DC metal heater that can reduce the risk of fire by applying a heating element that can fundamentally block the risk of fire due to abnormal overheating of the heating element.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a frost protection system using a DC metal heater which can reduce the risk of fire by generating heat at a larger area than the heat generation point by constituting the heating element of the metal heater applied to the piping as the plane heating element do.

A fifth object of the present invention is to provide a frost prevention system using a DC metal heater that can detect and prevent abnormal overheat that may occur even by chance by constituting a monitoring unit capable of monitoring the temperature of a heating element.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a piping system, A plurality of metal heaters each including a heating element inside a metal case and a metal case, the metal heaters being spaced apart from each other along an outer circumferential surface of the pipe and locally heating the pipe; A converter module for converting input AC power into direct current power for heat generation of a heating element; A power saving operation module for calculating a DC power to be applied to a plurality of metal heaters based on outside-air temperature information about a pipe or surface temperature information of each metal heater, and transmitting a power control signal corresponding to the calculated DC power; And a power application module for applying or blocking the converted DC power to the plurality of metal heaters based on the transmitted power control signal and applying the DC power of the calculated intensity when applying the converted DC power, Can be achieved by providing a freezing prevention system using a heater.

The metal case includes a lower plate mounted on the outer circumferential surface of the pipe and an upper plate coupled to the upper portion of the lower plate, and the heating element can be positioned between the lower plate and the upper plate.

The freezing prevention system using the DC metal heater may further include a surface temperature sensor mounted on each metal heater and measuring surface temperature information and a temperature information transmission module transmitting the measured surface temperature information to the power saving operation module.

The heating element may be a surface heating element that generates heat based on the DC power.

The planar heating element may include a carbon compound sheet, a pair of conductors located at both ends of the carbon compound sheet, and a pair of insulating sheets bonded to upper and lower portions of the carbon compound sheet.

The DC metal heater freeze prevention system may further include an ambient temperature sensor for measuring ambient temperature information.

According to the embodiment of the present invention as described above, there is an effect that power can be saved by local heating of the pipe by the metal heater.

Also, by applying DC power to the heating element, sufficient heat can be induced by low power consumption.

In addition, the risk of fire can be reduced by applying a heating element which can fundamentally block the risk of fire due to abnormal heating of the heating element.

The heat generating element of the metal heater applied to the purified water pipe is constituted by the surface heating element so that the risk of fire can be reduced by generating heat at an area wider than the heat generating point.

In addition, by configuring a monitoring unit capable of monitoring the temperature of the heating element, it is possible to detect and prevent abnormal overheat that may occur by chance.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a frost protection system using a DC metal heater according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a power control method in a configuration of a frost prevention system using a DC metal heater according to an embodiment of the present invention;
3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a metal heater is mounted on a pipe in a structure of a frost preventing system using a DC metal heater according to an embodiment of the present invention;
4 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross-section of a planar heating element in the configuration of a frost protection system using a DC metal heater according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to or limited by the embodiments.

Various modifications may be made to the embodiments described below. It is to be understood that the embodiments described below are not intended to limit the embodiments, but include all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives to them.

The terms used in the examples are used only to illustrate specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the embodiments. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, the terms "comprises" or "having" and the like refer to the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. The terminology used herein is a term used for appropriately expressing an embodiment of the present invention, which may vary depending on the user, the intent of the operator, or the practice of the field to which the present invention belongs. Therefore, the definitions of these terms should be based on the contents throughout this specification.

In the following description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals regardless of the reference numerals, and redundant explanations thereof will be omitted. In the following description of the embodiments, a detailed description of related arts will be omitted if it is determined that the gist of the embodiments may be unnecessarily blurred.

Frost protection system using DC metal heater

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of a freezing prevention system using a DC metal heater according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a graph showing a power consumption of a DC metal heater according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1 and 2, the freeze prevention system of the present invention includes a pipe 10, a plurality of metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e, and a power control unit 30 . The power control unit 30 may include a power converter 310 and a power saving operation module 310. The power converter 310 may include a converter module 3210 and a power application module 3220. [ One embodiment of the present invention may further include an electromotive force module (3230) in the power converter (310).

The present embodiment induces heat generation based on direct current power to the piping 10 through the power converter 320 including the converter module 3210, thereby reducing power consumption, blocking the risk of fire, monitoring faults etc. in advance It acts to prevent accidents.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. Fig.

The piping 10 to which the present invention is applied may be preferentially applied to the piping 10 filled with purified water such as digested water. However, due to the characteristics of the technical field of the present invention, The piping may be a synthetic resin material such as PVC or a metal piping such as a copper pipe, a cast iron pipe, a carbon steel pipe, and a stainless steel pipe.

The plurality of metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e are spaced apart from each other on the outer circumferential surface of the pipe 10 along the pipe 10 at predetermined intervals. The spacing between the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d and 20e is five in the present embodiment at intervals of 20 m in the length of 100 m of the pipe 10, More or less densely depending on the center or the end of the base portion.

The power controller 30 controls power input to the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e. 2, the power controller 30 controls the power of the 220 V voltage input through the molded circuit breaker (MCCB) and the earth leakage circuit breaker (ELCB) to 4 to 20 mA or 0 to 5 V, As shown in Fig. More specifically, the power control unit 30 may include a power saving operation module 310 and a power converter 320. The power saving operation module 310 may be configured to store ambient temperature information about the piping 10, Receives the surface temperature information, calculates the intensity of the DC power to be applied to the plurality of metal heaters based on the received information, and transmits the power control signal corresponding to the calculated DC power to the power converter 320 do. The power saving operation module 310 may be mounted around the pipe 10 to receive an outside air temperature sensor 50 for measuring the outside air temperature such as PT 100?

The power converter 320 is configured to include a converter module 3210 and a power application module 3220 and may further include an electromotive force module 3230. The converter module 3210 converts external AC input to DC power and the power application module 3220 receives the control signal of the power saving operation module 310 to apply or block the DC power to the converted DC power, It acts to apply the DC power of the intensity corresponding to the control signal. The power application module 3220 can be designed with various circuits using elements such as a transistor, an operational amplifier, and the like. The overvoltage module 3230 also controls the voltage applied to the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e at the time of overcurrent detection to block the overcurrent that may occur in the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 0 " to < / RTI >

The power saving operation module 310 may be configured in various ways to perform power saving operation. For example, when the outside air temperature falls to a predetermined temperature, the power is turned on for a predetermined time, and when the outside air temperature rises to a predetermined temperature or higher, the applied power is turned off. Alternatively, And may be a method of controlling the applied power by setting a stepwise output.

Meanwhile, the power control unit 30 of the present embodiment may further include a temperature information reception module 330 for receiving heater temperature information and a heater alarm unit 340 for outputting an alarm based on the heater temperature information. In order to realize functions of the temperature information receiving module 330 and the heater alarm unit 340, the freeze preventing system of this embodiment is mounted on each of the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d and 20e, (Or heater temperature information) of the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e to the surface temperature sensors (not shown) for measuring the surface temperatures of the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, (60a, 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e) for transmitting the temperature information to the control unit (30).

The temperature information receiving module 330 and the temperature information transmitting modules 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d and 60e are connected to each other by a wired communication means such as RS485 Or wireless communication means such as an RF module or an FM frequency band module or a high frequency ZigBee and Bluetooth may be used.

The heater alarm unit 340 judges that the surface temperature of the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e exceeds the temperature of about 45 degrees Celsius (predetermined upper limit reference temperature) due to thermal energy transmitted to the pipe 10, And output an alarm. The heater alarm unit 340 performs monitoring by receiving surface temperature information (or heater temperature information) and periodically comparing the temperature information with a preset upper limit reference temperature. Meanwhile, when it is judged that the abnormal heating is abnormal, the power control signal is transmitted to the power converter 320 through the power saving calculation module 310 so that the heat of the DC metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d and 20e can be blocked have.

On the other hand, when the temperature falls below a predetermined lower limit reference temperature, the heater alarm unit 340 determines that the DC metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e are not operated and outputs an alarm. 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e of the DC metal heater and can output a notification.

The DC power check boxes 40 and 70 are provided at the DC power inlet and the terminal end, respectively, and serve as check points for checking the application state of the DC power. Particularly, the DC power check box 40 of the DC power inlet, 60b, 60c, 60d, and 60e, as a transmission relay unit.

The converter module 3210 functions as an AC-DC converter and simultaneously functions as a constant voltage output device. Specifically, in this embodiment, a voltage of about 45 to 48 V is applied to each of the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e by applying a constant current to the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e. The power consumed by each of the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e can be maintained to be about 150 W. This is because the conventional 220 V AC power is applied to the metal heater to consume about 600 W The power saving effect is about 1/4. The intensity adjustment of the power applying module 3220 according to the case may adjust the applied voltage by adjusting the above-described constant voltage.

Each of the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d and 20e includes a metal case 210 and a heating element 220 inside the metal case 210. The metal case 210 may be made of stainless steel or other metal material having a good thermal conductivity. The metal case 210 of the present embodiment is configured to include a lower plate 212 mounted on the outer circumferential surface of the pipe 10 and an upper plate 214 coupled to the upper portion of the lower plate 212. Alternatively, The upper and lower plates may be integrally formed and the openings may be formed on one surface so that the heat generating element 220 can be inserted therein. The metal case 210 must be able to conduct the heat radiated from the heating element 220 to the piping 10 so that a heat transfer material such as thermal grease or the like between the lower plate 212 and the piping 10, Can be added.

Each of the metal heaters 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, and 20e is positioned below the pipe 10 to perform local heating as shown in FIG. 4, the carbon compound sheet 222 is formed of a planar heating element, and a pair of conductors (for example, 224a, and 224b, and a pair of insulating sheets 226a and 226b are adhered to upper and lower portions thereof. The pair of insulating sheets 226a and 226b may be formed of a sheet of a flame retardant to reduce the risk of fire.

The carbon compound sheet 222 is formed of a carbon compound containing at least any one of conductive carbon paste, carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene, and is produced by forming a mesh of graphite in the carbon compound . The metal paste electrode may be made of copper-paste, copper foil or silver paste, and a pair of upper and lower insulating sheets 226a and 226b may be made of the same material. In this embodiment, A film containing at least one of PET, polypropylene (PP), and polyimide (PI) to seal the upper portion is used as the upper sheet 226b, Sheet 226a.

On the other hand, the lower sheet 226b has a thickness of 1 to 10 mm, the carbon compound sheet 222 has a thickness of 0.05 to 1 mm, the metal paste electrode has a thickness of 0.01 to 3 mm and a width of 5 to 30 mm, To 50 [mu] m. The total weight of the heating element 220 is 2 to 30 parts by weight of the lower sheet 226b, 0.5 to 35 parts by weight of the carbon compound sheet 222, 0.1 to 20 parts by weight of the graphite graphite, 1 to 5 parts by weight of the metal paste electrode, And 1 to 10 parts by weight of the sheet 226a.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, As will be understood by those skilled in the art. It is therefore to be understood that the embodiments described above are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. In addition, the scope of the present invention is indicated by the following claims rather than the above detailed description. Also, all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention.

10: Piping
20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e: metal heater
210: Metal case
212: Lower plate
214: upper plate
220: heating element
222: carbon compound sheet
224a, 224b: a pair of conductors
226a, 226b: a pair of insulating sheets
30:
310: power save operation module
320: power converter
3210: Converter module
3220: Power supply module
3230:
330: Temperature information receiving module
340: Heater alarm
40, 70: DC power supply check box
50: Ambient temperature sensor
60a, 60b, 60c, 60d, 60e: a temperature information transmission module

Claims (5)

pipe;
A plurality of metal heaters including a metal case and a heating element inside the metal case, the metal heaters being spaced apart from each other along an outer circumferential surface of the pipe, and locally heating the pipe;
A converter module for converting AC power inputted for generating heat of the heating element into DC power;
Calculating a strength of DC power to be applied to the plurality of metal heaters based on outside-air temperature information about the pipe or surface temperature information of each metal heater, and transmitting a power control signal corresponding to the calculated DC power Computing module; And
A power application module that applies or blocks the converted DC power to the plurality of metal heaters based on the transmitted power control signal and applies DC power of the calculated intensity when the converted DC power is applied; Including,
A surface temperature sensor mounted on each of the metal heaters and measuring the surface temperature information and a temperature information transmission module for transmitting the measured surface temperature information to the power saving operation module, .
The method according to claim 1,
The metal case includes a lower plate mounted on an outer circumferential surface of the pipe, and an upper plate coupled to an upper portion of the lower plate,
Wherein the heating element is located between the lower plate and the upper plate.
delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the heating element is a planar heating element that generates heat based on the direct current power,
Wherein the planar heating element comprises a carbon compound sheet, a pair of conductors located at both ends of the carbon compound sheet, and a pair of insulating sheets bonded to the upper and lower portions of the carbon compound sheet, Prevention system.
The method according to claim 1,
And an outdoor air temperature sensor for measuring the outdoor air temperature information.

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