KR20070097625A - A controller for electric boiler - Google Patents

Abstract

A controller for an electric boiler is provided to prevent erroneous operation caused due to voltage drop during start of the boiler by making consumption of electric power uniform in night time. A controller for an electric boiler includes a plurality of temperature sensors(S1-S4), a heat accumulator sensor(S7), an overheat prevention sensor(S5), a low water level sensor(S6), an indoor controller(100), an assistant controller(80), and an outdoor controller(90). The temperature sensors are arranged in a heat accumulator(1). The heat accumulator sensor is arranged in the heat accumulator so as to keep a preset temperature of accumulated heat. The overheat prevention sensor is arranged in the heat accumulator, and senses whether the temperature of the heat accumulator has reached a preset temperature or not. The low water level sensor senses the level of heating water contained in the heat accumulator. The indoor controller is arranged to control the electric boiler in an indoor area. The assistant controller has a function identical with that of the indoor controller, and is arranged at an outer surface of the electric boiler. The outdoor controller is arranged to control operation of the electric boiler on the basis of the signals output from the sensors, the indoor controller and the assistant controller.

Description

Controller for Electric Boiler {A Controller For Electric Boiler}

1 is a view showing the structure of an electric boiler according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration and a control relationship related to automatic control according to the present invention in FIG. 1.

3 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the outdoor controller of FIG. 2.

4 is a circuit diagram of an outdoor controller.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of performing the control method of the electric boiler according to the present invention.

Figure 6 is a view showing a comparison of the time-specific power consumption of the prior art and the present invention.

<Description of main drawing code>

1: heat storage tank 10: heating water refill line

20: valve 30: water supply line

40: hot water coil 50: hot water discharge line

60: heating line 70: circulation pump

80: auxiliary controller 90: outdoor controller

91: timer section 93: temperature setting section

95: circulation pump drive unit 97: heater drive unit

100: indoor controller 110: heating load

The present invention relates to a controller for an electric boiler, and more particularly, to a controller that enables the night power consumption to be uniform, thereby reducing the risk of simultaneous malfunction at the initial time due to a voltage drop, and allowing the use of a night electricity properly. It is about.

As is well known, the electric boiler, after heating the heating water of the heat storage tank by using the night time electricity of the night time, which is a surplus energy source, and uses it during the day time, there is a disadvantage that the volume of the electric boiler is bound to increase. .

However, despite the above disadvantages, electric boilers are superior to combustion boilers in the use of energy sources, and are also environmentally friendly because they use electricity as a clean energy source. to be.

The conventional electric boiler determines whether the current time is the night time electricity use time, and compares the current heating water temperature of the heat storage tank with the set temperature if the current time is the night time electricity use time. If the current heating water temperature is lower than the set temperature, supply power to the electric heater.

On the other hand, if the current time is not the use of midnight electricity, check whether power is supplied to the electric heater, cut off the power to the electric heater, end the heat storage step, and return to the initial stage to prepare for the next heat storage step.

However, according to this conventional technique, the heating water of the heat storage tank is heated to the set temperature by using one electric heater, so that power consumption is largely generated from the start of the electric boiler to an arbitrary time, and this arbitrary After time, the power consumption becomes less than the average, in this case, a voltage drop is caused during the initial operation, causing the electric boiler to malfunction due to the voltage drop.

In addition, the electric boiler has the advantage of utilizing the surplus power of the late night, but when controlling the electric boiler in the same manner as in the prior art, there is a problem that the power consumed at the beginning of the late night electricity use is rather insufficient On the other hand, since the use of surplus power is not properly made after a certain time, there is a problem that the utilization of the late-night electricity is not properly made.

In addition, when entering the late-night power time zone, the power efficiency is lowered by starting the heat storage without calculating the accurate prediction delay time.

On the other hand, in the conventional boiler function control, it is common that the indoor controller is installed in the room so as to control the operation of the electric boiler located outside the room.

However, in the related art, the boiler can not be easily maintained because the function control of the boiler can only be controlled using an indoor controller. In other words, when trying to find out the fault of the boiler when the boiler is being repaired, it is necessary to implement various functions of the boiler.In this case, the operator must be using the indoor controller to control the boiler function. The maintenance work becomes very cumbersome because other workers have to operate the boiler by operating the indoor controller, and if the communication between the workers located indoors and outdoors is not accurate, it is impossible to know which function is being implemented. There was a problem with this lengthening.

In addition, the boiler should operate the circulation pump appropriately as the room temperature is higher and lower than the target temperature. Since the means for indicating the operation of the circulation pump has not been provided in the past, the user can determine whether the circulation pump is operating normally. There was no problem.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, the object of the present invention is that the night power consumption is uniform, the risk of malfunction at the initial start-up due to voltage drop is reduced, The purpose is to provide a controller for an electric boiler that can be used properly.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a controller of an electric boiler capable of maximizing power efficiency by calculating accurate predicted delay time and initiating heat storage.

Another object of the present invention is to attach a separate auxiliary controller having the same function as the indoor controller to the boiler to control the function of the boiler at the same time indoors or outdoors, and to display the display lamp to indicate whether the operation of the circulation pump indoors It is to provide a controller of an electric boiler that can be installed in the controller and the auxiliary controller so that the user can visually check the operation of the circulation pump of the boiler to facilitate the maintenance and repair of the boiler.

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, in the controller for an electric boiler, a plurality of temperature sensors installed for each predetermined height inside the heat storage tank, for controlling to maintain a preset heat storage temperature installed in the heat storage tank A heat storage sensor, an overheat prevention sensor installed inside the heat storage tank to detect whether an internal temperature has reached a preset overheat temperature, a low water level sensor to detect the level of heating water inside the heat storage tank, and for controlling the electric boiler indoors. An indoor controller, the auxiliary controller having the same function as the indoor controller and installed on one side of the outer surface of the electric boiler, and an outdoor controller for controlling the operation of the electric boiler based on signals received from the sensors, the indoor controller and the auxiliary controller. Characterized in that.

Here, the outdoor controller is a timer unit for counting the time to provide time information necessary for the control, a temperature setting unit for setting the set temperature for the heat storage to gradually increase by the set time period, heating from the indoor controller or the auxiliary controller When the start signal is received, the circulating pump driving unit generates a circulating pump driving signal and transmits the cyclic pump driving signal to the circulating pump, and based on the sensor signal received from each of the sensors and the time information provided from the timer, And a heater driver for generating a heater driving signal based on the value calculated by the central processor and transmitting the heater driving signal to the heater.

In the above, t _t = Time from the start of the contract service time to the end of the heat storage, t _{Δ (t)} = time required from the start of the contract service time to the set temperature, T _max = Average temperature of heat storage tank at the end of the previous day's heat storage, T _cur = average temperature of heat storage tank at the time of measurement, K _p = The predicted delay time t _{d (t)} is defined as the average temperature rise rate during the previous day heat storage time.

Calculated by

The temperature sensor is composed of first to fourth temperature sensors from the top, when defining the temperature detected by the first to fourth temperature sensors as T ₁ ~ T ₄ , the heat storage tank average temperature is

Calculated by

The central processing unit may determine which time zone the current time belongs to when the current time is a midnight electric use time, based on the temperature set by the temperature setting unit, and then the heat storage tank average temperature corresponds to the corresponding time zone. If the temperature is higher than the set temperature, the power is turned off to the heater, and then returns to the initial stage. If the current heat storage tank average temperature is lower than the set temperature, the power is supplied to the heater and then returned to the initial stage. It is desirable to make it uniform throughout the electricity use time.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a view showing the structure of an electric boiler according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration and control relationship related to automatic control according to the present invention in FIG.

As shown in Figure 1 and 2, the electric boiler according to the present invention is a heat storage tank (1), a plurality of sensors (S1 ~ S7), circulation pump (installed therein the heater (H) for heating the heating water ( 70), the auxiliary controller 80, the outdoor controller 90 and the indoor controller 100.

The sensor is composed of four temperature sensors (S1 ~ S4), overheat prevention sensor (S5), low water level sensor (S6) and heat storage sensor (S7).

The temperature sensors S1 to S4 are provided at predetermined heights in the heat storage tank 1, and the average value of each temperature sensor S1 to S4 is used as the average temperature value in the heat storage tank. The temperature sensors S1 to S4 are attached to the inner wall of the inner cylinder of the heat storage tank 1 and installed one by one fifth of the inner cylinder.

The overheat prevention sensor S5 detects whether the internal temperature reaches a preset overheat temperature and transmits a detection signal to the outdoor controller 90 when the heating water temperature of the heat storage tank 1 reaches the set overheat temperature. Inner cylinder sensor is used to stop the power supply to H). In this embodiment, the overheat temperature was set to 95 ℃.

The low water level sensor S6 detects the level of the heating water in the heat storage tank. When the detected level of the heating water is smaller than a preset value, the low water level sensor S6 is transmitted to the outdoor controller 90 to further supply the heating water.

The heat storage sensor S7 is for controlling to maintain a preset heat storage temperature, and in this embodiment, the heat storage temperature is set to 90 ° C.

The indoor controller 100 is for controlling the operation of the boiler indoors, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted since it is the same as a conventional indoor controller.

The auxiliary controller 80 is installed on one side of the outer surface of the electric boiler and has the same function as the indoor controller 100. Therefore, when the boiler breaks down, it is convenient to operate the auxiliary controller 80 installed in the electric boiler to check the operating state of the boiler without the trouble of operating the indoor controller 100 to check the operating state of the boiler. It becomes possible.

The outdoor controller 90 controls the operation of the electric boiler based on the signals received from the sensors S1 to S7, the indoor controller 100, and the auxiliary controller 80, and detailed functions thereof are detailed in FIG. 3. I will explain.

3 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the outdoor controller of FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the outdoor controller 90 includes a timer unit 91, a temperature setting unit 93, a circulation pump driving unit 95, a heater driving unit 97, and a central processing unit 99 in detail. It is composed.

The timer 91 is a part that counts time and provides time information necessary for control. That is, the electric boiler is used to check whether the current time falls within the contract use time (for example, 10 pm to 8 am) because it uses the late night electricity supplied during the contract use time. .

The temperature setting unit 93 is for adjusting the temperature of the heating water by setting the heat storage temperature and the superheat temperature. In the present invention, it is a great feature that the temperature setting unit 93 sets the set temperature for the heat storage to gradually increase for each set time period, which will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

The circulation pump driver 95 generates a circulation pump driving signal and transmits the signal to the circulation pump 70 when the heating start signal is received from the indoor controller 100 or the auxiliary controller 80.

The heater driver 97 generates a heater driving signal based on the value calculated by the central processing unit 99 and transmits the generated heater driving signal to the heater H.

The central processing unit 99 calculates the prediction delay time and the heater driving time based on the sensor signal received from each sensor and the time information provided by the timer unit 91.

In the automatic control operation, heat storage starts when the predicted delay time calculated at the interval of 1 minute from the start of the contract usage time becomes "0" or less. At this time, the prediction delay time t _{d (t)} is calculated by the following equation.

Where t _t = Time from the start of the contract service time to the end of the heat storage, t _{Δ (t)} = time required from the start of the contract service time to the set temperature, T _max = Average temperature of heat storage tank at the end of the previous day's heat storage, T _cur = average temperature of heat storage tank at the time of measurement, K _p = Average temperature rise rate during the previous day heat storage time.

t _t The contract applies 510 minutes for 10 hours, 360 minutes for 7 hours, and 410 minutes for split time. However, in the time division mode, automatic control operation is not performed in the section where only 1 to 2 hours are initially supplied.

In addition, when _Tmax is 61 degreeC or more and the temperature of the temperature sensor S1 installed in the uppermost part of the heat storage tank 1 is 45 degreeC of boilers and 30 degreeC or less of water heaters, heat storage is started regardless of the calculated prediction delay time.

The average temperature increase rate K _P during the heat storage time is calculated by Equation 2 below.

Here, T _int is the average temperature of the heat storage tank 1 at the time when electric power is supplied to the heating element, and t _on and t _off are the time when the power is turned on or _off in the heating element.

Here, the average temperature of the heat storage tank 1 is calculated by following formula (3).

Here, the temperature sensor is composed of first to fourth temperature sensors S1 to S4 from the top, and T ₁ to T ₄ are temperatures detected by the first to fourth temperature sensors S1 to S4.

4 is a circuit diagram of an outdoor controller and an indoor controller.

When the circulating pump 70 starts to operate as the boiler operates, an operation signal of the circulating pump 70 is input to the control unit 87 installed in the indoor controller 100 and the auxiliary controller 80, respectively. The controller 87 outputs a control signal for sequentially lighting the plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) in response to an input operation signal.

The transistor Q1 is turned on by the control signal output from the control unit 87, whereby power is supplied to a plurality of light emitting diodes LED connected in parallel to the transistor Q1. The diode LED is sequentially turned on.

That is, when the circulating pump is operated by the driving of the boiler 20, as soon as the light emitting diodes (LEDs) of the circulating pump display means 60 are sequentially turned on, users can accurately check whether the circulating pump is operated.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of performing the control method of the electric boiler according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail. It is determined whether the current time TMx counted by the timer unit 91 is the midnight electric use time TM _S ≤ TM _X <TM _E. If the current time (TM _X ) is not the night time electricity use time, the power to the electric heater (H) is cut off and the heat storage step is completed, and then the initial stage is returned to prepare for the next heat storage step.

On the other hand, if the current time (TM _X ) is a night time electricity use time, any time zone (TM _S ≤ TM _X <TM _A , TM _A ≤ TM of the time zone set by the temperature setting unit 93 is the current time (TM _X ) _{X <TM B, TM B ≤TM} X <TM C, TM C ≤TM X <TM D, then determine if the belong to the _{TM D ≤TM X <TM E)} , the current temperature of the heating storage tank (1) Fig. (T _X ) is compared with the set temperatures (T _A , T _B , T _C , T _D , T _E ) of the corresponding set time period, and the current heating water temperature (T _X ) is the set temperature (T _A , T _B , If T _C , T _D , T _E ) or more, turn off the power to the electric heater (H) and return to the initial stage, and the current heating water temperature is the corresponding set temperature (T _A , T _B , T _C , T _D , T If it is lower than _E ), the electric heater (H) is supplied with power and returns to the initial stage.

The set time (TM _S , TM _A , TM _B , TM _C , TM _D , TM _E ) may be arbitrarily set in consideration of the required heat storage amount, but in the case of the present embodiment, the start time of midnight electricity use (TM _S ) the 22:00 and, when the late-night electricity use end time (TM _E) 08 sirago, by the time slot interval to 2 hours TM _a is 24 hour, TM _B is 02:00, TM _C is 04:00, TM _D is It was 06 o'clock.

In addition, the corresponding set temperature for each set time period was set to satisfy the condition of T _A <T _B <T _C <T _D <T _E in consideration of the required heat storage amount and heat storage time.

Figure 6 is a view showing a comparison of the time-specific power consumption of the prior art and the present invention.

Compared with the conventional technology and the hourly power consumption of the present invention, referring to this, in the case of the electric boiler according to the present invention (B), the power consumption is relatively evenly distributed over the entire night time electricity use time, In the case of the electric boiler according to the technology (A), it can be seen that the power is excessively consumed in the first half of the startup, and the power consumption rapidly drops below the average in the second half of the startup.

In detail, this difference will be described in the prior art (A) so that the current temperature (T _x ) of the heating water input through the temperature sensor of the heat storage tank (1) is more than the set temperature (T _S ). When the power is continuously applied to the electric heater H for a long time, and when the temperature of the stored water partially exceeds the set temperature T _S after a certain time has elapsed, the power to the electric heater H is repeatedly cut off / As the power is supplied, the power consumption decreases drastically, and in the second half of the start-up, the external temperature is lowered below the set temperature, and the heating line is operated. As this length becomes longer, power consumption gradually increases again.

On the other hand, in the case of the present invention (B), since the current temperature (T _X ) of the heating water is controlled to be equal to or higher than the set temperature (T _A , T _B , T _C , T _D , T _E ) of the corresponding set time step by step. Therefore, the power cut / off supply to the electric heater H is repeatedly performed relatively evenly throughout the entire night time electricity use, so that the power consumption is evenly maintained throughout the night time electricity use time.

According to the present invention as described above, the night-time power consumption is uniform, there is an effect of reducing the risk of malfunction during initial start-up due to the voltage drop, and to use the night-time electricity stably and appropriately.

In addition, by calculating the accurate prediction delay time to start the heat storage, there is an effect that can maximize the power efficiency.

In addition, by attaching a separate auxiliary controller having the same function as the indoor controller to the boiler to control the boiler function indoors or outdoors at the same time, and a display lamp indicating whether the circulation pump is operating, the indoor controller and the auxiliary controller Installed in the user can visually check whether the operation of the circulation pump of the boiler has the effect of facilitating maintenance and repair of the boiler.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, it is possible to make various modifications or variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the appended claims will cover such modifications and variations as fall within the spirit of the invention.

Claims (5)

In the controller for an electric boiler, A plurality of temperature sensors installed at predetermined heights in the heat storage tank; A heat storage sensor installed inside the heat storage tank and controlling to maintain a preset heat storage temperature; An overheat prevention sensor installed inside the heat storage tank and detecting whether an internal temperature reaches a preset overheat temperature; A low water level sensor for detecting the level of heating water in the heat storage tank; An indoor controller for controlling the electric boiler indoors; An auxiliary controller having the same function as the indoor controller and installed on one side of an outer surface of the electric boiler; And And an outdoor controller for controlling the operation of the electric boiler based on signals received from the sensors, the indoor controller, and the auxiliary controller. The method of claim 1, The outdoor controller A timer unit for counting time and providing time information necessary for control; A temperature setting unit configured to gradually increase the set temperature for the heat storage by the set time periods; A circulating pump driver for generating a circulating pump driving signal and transmitting the generated circulating pump driving signal when the heating start signal is received from the indoor controller or the auxiliary controller; A central processor configured to calculate a predicted delay time and a heater driving time based on sensor signals received from the sensors and time information provided from the timer unit; And And a heater driving unit generating a heater driving signal based on the value calculated by the central processing unit and transmitting the heater driving signal to the heater. The method of claim 2, t _t = Time from the start of the contract service time to the end of the heat storage, t _{Δ (t)} = time required from the start of the contract service time to the set temperature, T _max = Average temperature of heat storage tank at the end of the previous day's heat storage, T _cur = average temperature of heat storage tank at the time of measurement, K _p = Defined as the average temperature rise rate during the previous day heat storage time, The prediction delay time t _{d (t} ) is

Controller for an electric boiler, characterized in that calculated by. The method of claim 3, wherein The temperature sensor is composed of first to fourth temperature sensors from the top, when defining the temperature detected by the first to fourth temperature sensors as T ₁ ~ T ₄ , The heat storage tank average temperature

Controller for an electric boiler, characterized in that calculated by. The method of claim 4, wherein The central processing unit If the current time is a midnight electricity use time based on the set temperature set by the temperature setting unit, after determining which time zone the current time belongs to, and if the heat storage tank average temperature is equal to or higher than the set temperature corresponding to the time zone, After turning off the power to the heater and returning to the initial stage, and if the current heat storage tank average temperature is lower than the set temperature, the power is supplied to the heater and then returned to the initial stage. An electric boiler controller characterized in that the uniformity over.

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