KR20190058797A - Monitoring System for Gas Containers - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a remote monitoring system for a gas container. More specifically, the present invention relates to the remote monitoring system for a gas container, which measures the residual or the like remotely for a small storage tank, special high-pressure tank, gas containers for households or stores, etc., which store fuel gas such as LPG used for households, stores, and factories, by using a weight sensor, a pressure sensor, and a temperature sensor, thereby making it possible to precisely measure the residual, notifying a supplier or a relevant agency of the result of measurement, easing the replacement or supply of a gas container when gas is consumed, and rapidly preventing and responding to a gas leak, disaster such as a fire, theft of the gas container, etc. To this end, the remote monitoring system for the gas container comprises a status information measuring unit, management server, server manager terminal, and gas manager terminal.

Description

[0001] Monitoring System for Gas Containers [0002]

The present invention relates to a gas fuel tank remote monitoring system. More specifically, it is possible to remotely measure the remaining amount of LPG or other fuel gas used for household, business, or factory use, such as a small storage tank, a special high-pressure tank, The present invention relates to a gas fuel cell remote monitoring system capable of promptly replacing, filling, and supplying gas fuel tanks consumed and preventing and responding to disasters such as gas leakage and fire or theft of gas fuel tanks .

Urban gas penetration rate is only 78% in 232 cities and counties in Korea, so the number of residents who do not receive city gas reaches 4.6 million households. In addition, the region where city gas does not enter reaches 35 cities nationwide, and the phenomenon of poor wealth of energy is not solved.

Because city gas requires a lot of time and cost for installation such as excavation work for piping etc., it is a matter of course that it is avoided in the case of a private supplier for a region where the population density is low and the construction cost is high, A countermeasure is needed.

Therefore, the government is actively supporting measures such as the supply of small LPG storage tanks and the supply of city gas by bulk lorry to provide cheap heating and cooking energy for areas where it is difficult to supply city gas. As a part of this, recently, an amendment plan for "Safety and Management of Liquefied Petroleum Gas and Business Law" has been initiated to enable small LPG tanks to be installed in rural areas.

Meanwhile, in recent trends related to the supply of LPG gas, recently, consumers who have used small-sized LPG gas cylinders for home or business use are changed to a method of using small and medium-sized storage tanks. That is, a method of installing an LPG storage tank at a village unit or a shopping center, and supplying LPG gas through a village pipe network or a building piping network is spreading. These recent trends, that is, the spread and spread of small- and medium-sized LPG storage tanks in regional or building units, have enabled small-sized companies to install small-sized storage tanks of less than 3 tons in their consuming places and supply gas through tank lorries. It has become possible to reduce the distribution cost.

However, in factories, restaurants, etc., due to economic fluctuations and seasonal changes, consumption is unstable, which makes it difficult to accurately predict the remaining gas quantity, There is a problem that the check of the remaining amount of the gas must be solved through the confirmation through the wired wireless communication means or the site visit as in the past.

In order to solve these problems, recently, a system for transmitting the residual gas of a small LPG storage tank has emerged. Due to the popularization of smart phones and the development of IT technology, the market for the remote meter probe has greatly increased and a technology for monitoring the remaining amount of gas has appeared While the efficiency of the gas supplier is maximized.

However, in the present system for sending or monitoring the remaining gas in the small LPG storage tank, the remaining amount is measured using a change in the nozzle pressure, etc. As a result of the characteristics of the liquid gas whose pressure changes sensitively according to the temperature change, There is a problem that a large error range may occur and misunderstandings between the seller and the buyer are issued.

In addition, LPG storage tanks use gas, which is a dangerous material, while large and high pressure gas tanks are installed compared to domestic gas tanks. Therefore, it is highly likely to develop into a major disaster in the event of a disaster. This means that there is a problem that the burden of low-income residents or ordinary people, who are in the energy poverty line, is increased due to the cost of installation and maintenance / management of disaster response measures. In addition, existing small LPG gas fuels at home or business are frequently located in areas where security is weak, so it is often the case that they are stolen at night time, so it is urgent to take measures to solve the problem of crime prevention in general It is true.

To solve these problems, the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention, which is developed to solve these problems, is a small storage tank for storing LPG or other fuel gas used for household, business or factory use, a special high pressure tank, It is possible to measure the remaining amount remotely with respect to the fuel cell, etc., and to measure the remaining amount by using the weight sensor, the pressure sensor and the temperature sensor, and to make accurate residual amount measurement possible. Thereby facilitating replacement and supply of the gas fuel, and preventing and responding to disasters such as gas leakage, fire, and theft of gas fuel tanks.

In order to achieve the above object, the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention is a gas fuel cell remote monitoring system including a status information measurement unit, a management server, a server administrator terminal and a gas manager terminal, A plurality of sensors and a communication module including a remaining amount sensor for measuring remaining amount information of the gas fuel tank and a temperature sensor for measuring temperature information of the gas fuel tank, and the remaining amount information and the temperature information from the plurality of sensors Collecting status information of the gas fuel cell and transmitting the status information to the management server through a communication network connected to the communication module; Wherein the management server stores the status information transmitted by the status information measurement unit in storage means and transmits the status information according to a request from the server administrator terminal or the gas manager terminal, And notifies the gas manager terminal and the supplier system of the gas fuel tank of the replacement information when the remaining amount is less than a predetermined amount, and transmits the replacement information to the related organization, supplier, server manager or gas manager If there is state information to be notified, notifies the related institution system, the supplier system, the server administrator terminal or the gas manager terminal through the communication network after generating the notification item; The server administrator terminal and the gas manager terminal display on the display screen when the status information or the notification information is received; And the like.

In addition, in the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention, in addition to the features described above, the remaining amount sensor is a weight sensor for measuring the remaining amount information by the weight of the gas fuel tank, The pressure sensor may further include a pressure sensor for measuring the remaining amount information by pressure, and when the management server calculates the remaining amount, the residual amount measurement error is corrected in consideration of the temperature information.

Further, in addition to the above-described features, the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention is characterized in that the plurality of sensors include a gas sensor for measuring whether gas fuel is leaking to the outside of the gas fuel tank, Wherein the status information includes at least one of gas leakage information or motion information, and the management server includes the gas leakage information or the motion information in the status information The notification server notifies the related system to the notification system, and transmits the result to the vendor system, the server administrator terminal, and the gas manager terminal. The temperature information is analyzed to determine whether the temperature of the gas fuel tank And if the temperature is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, preparing the notice and transmitting the notification to at least one of the related system, the supplier system, the server administrator terminal or the gas manager terminal .

As described above, since the gas fuel tank remote monitoring system according to the present invention allows the remaining amount of the gaseous fuel to be measured in the gas fuel tank and transmitted to the management server, it is possible to measure the remaining amount of the gas at the remote place, If this amount is less than a certain amount, it will notify the gas manager terminal or the gas fuel supplier system of the replacement information so that the gas fuel tank can be supplied in a timely manner without stopping the gas supply. There is an effect that can inform.

Further, the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention can measure the residual amount by using the gas weight even if the sensor included in the state information measuring unit does not use the pressure, etc., There is an effect that can be constructed. In addition, even if the remaining amount is measured using the pressure sensor, since the management server can correct the error of the remaining gas amount using the temperature information, the accurate remaining amount can be measured and provided in spite of the temperature change, It is possible to prevent the occurrence of civil complaints caused by residual error between suppliers.

In addition, the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention is configured such that the status information measuring unit transmits the gas leakage information and the temperature or humidity information to the management server, and the management server analyzes the excessive amount of gas leakage, abnormal temperature and humidity, The possibility of occurrence or disaster can be predicted, so that it is possible to prevent a possible disaster in advance and to respond promptly in the event of a disaster.

In addition, the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention can include a motion detection sensor in the state information measurement unit, and when the motion information is transmitted to the management server, the management server notifies the gas fuel cell manager terminal and related organizations thereof Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to prevent theft of the gas fuel tank or to take measures immediately in the event of a stolen accident.

1 is a system conceptual diagram of a gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention.
2 is a configuration diagram of a state information measurement unit in the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation relationship of each component in the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. Accordingly, those skilled in the art can easily implement the technical idea of the present invention. 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. .

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the various embodiments belong. Although the terms used in the present invention are selected as general terms that are widely used at present, there are some terms selected arbitrarily by the applicant in specific cases. In this case, since the meaning is described in detail in the description part of the present invention, It is to be understood that the present invention should be grasped as a meaning of a term other than the term.

While the description of various embodiments may describe various elements of the embodiments in terms of "first", "second", "first", "second", "first" or "second" And does not limit the constituent elements. For example, the representations do not limit the order and / or importance of the components. The representations may be used to distinguish one component from another.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT (S) The following will describe a gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention includes a state information measurement unit 200 installed in a gas fuel cell 100, a management server 300 located at a remote location, an administrator managing the management server It is preferable to include a server administrator terminal 400 carried by the user and a gas manager terminal 500 carried by a user of a home or a person in charge of the home using the gas fuel tank. The state information measuring unit 200, It is preferable that the server 300, the server administrator terminal 400 and the gas manager terminal 500 are connected to each other through a communication network 600 and the communication network 600 is a wireless communication network. .

Also, the management server 300 can provide information to the supplier system 700 of the gas fuel cell 100 through the communication network 600, and can provide relevant information related to gas safety, crime prevention and / It is desirable to be able to provide information to the institutional system 800, such as gas safety corporations, firefighters, police officers, security and security companies. A method of providing information to the vendor system 700 or the related institution system 800 by the management server 300 may be a method of directly transmitting data in cooperation with the corresponding systems, It is also possible to provide information through the Internet.

Meanwhile, it is preferable that the state information measurement unit 200 is attached to the gas fuel cell 100 or installed around the gas fuel cell 100. When the gas fuel cell 100 is mounted on a cradle (not shown) It may be included in the cradle. In addition, it is possible to provide the gas fuel cell 100 near the gas fuel cell 100, even if it is not attached to or in contact with the gas fuel cell 100.

It is also preferable that the state information measurement unit 200 includes a plurality of sensors. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a state information measurement unit 200 in the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention. Hereinafter, the configuration of the state information measurement unit 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 2, the state information measurement unit 200 includes a plurality of sensors 221 to 226 for measuring various status information related to the gas fuel cell 100, and the plurality of sensors 221 to 226, A state information storage module 230 for storing state information collected by the state information collection module 220 and a state information storage module 230 for storing state information collected by the state information collection module 220. [ 220 to the management server 300 via the communication network 600. The communication module 210 includes a communication module 210, The state information storage module 230 is preferably a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, and the communication network 600 is preferably a wireless communication network, but may be a wired communication network. When the communication module uses a wireless communication network, it is possible to use a commercial wireless communication network such as LTE, but it is also possible to use a nearby wireless communication network such as a wifi network or Bluetooth.

The plurality of sensors 221 to 226 include a weight sensor 221 for measuring weight information of the gas fuel cell 100 and a temperature sensor 223 for measuring temperature information of the gas fuel cell 100 The weight sensor 221 measures the remaining amount of fuel gas remaining in the gas fuel cell 100. That is, a value obtained by subtracting the self weight value of the gas fuel cell 100 from the weight value measured by the weight sensor 221 is a pure weight of the fuel gas remaining in the gas fuel cell 100. When the cradle is provided at the lower end of the gas fuel cell 100, the weight sensor 221 may be included in the cradle.

In addition, in the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention, in addition to the weight sensor 221, the plurality of sensors 221 to 226 included in the state information measurement unit 200 may include a pressure sensor It is also possible to include a pressure sensor 221 that can measure the remaining amount information by measuring the pressure sensor 222. It is also possible to include only the pressure sensor 222 without the weight sensor 221. [ In the case where the remaining amount is calculated by the internal pressure of the gas fuel cell 100 using the pressure sensor 222, the remaining amount of gas calculated by taking into consideration the temperature information measured and transmitted by the temperature sensor 223, When the weight sensor 221 is included, the remaining amount information obtained by correcting the measured value of the pressure sensor 222 with the temperature information and the remaining amount information corrected by the weight sensor 221 It is also possible to reduce the measurement error range by making use of the remaining amount information complementarily.

If the management server 300 receives the status information transmitted by the status information measurement unit 200, the management server 300 may store the status information It is preferable that the management server 300 stores various status information and immediately utilizes the status information to create notification information. However, the management server 300 may compare the status information with previously stored status information, , It is possible to create the notification items and to make the statistical information of the status information in a predetermined cycle.

When the server administrator terminal 400 or the gas manager terminal 500 requests to provide information on the status information, the management server 300 transmits the status information to the server administrator terminal 400 or the gas It is preferable to provide it to the administrator terminal 500. For example, when the manager of the business using the gas fuel cell 100 inquires the remaining amount information of the gas fuel cell 100 used in his / her business through his / her gas manager terminal 500, Information about the remaining amount of the gas fuel cell 100 from the state information included in the storage means and transmits the inquiry to the corresponding gas manager terminal 500. [

The management server 300 calculates the remaining amount of the gas fuel cell 100 by analyzing the remaining amount information transmitted by the status information measurement unit 200 and generates replacement information when the remaining amount is less than a predetermined amount, It is preferable to notify the supplier system 700 that supplies the gas fuel cell 100 or charge gas to the gas fuel cell 100 and notify the same to the gas manager terminal 500. [ That is, when the remaining amount of the gas fuel cell 100 is short and the replacement or charging time of the gas fuel cell 100 approaches, the fact that the gas fuel cell 100 is to be replaced or charged is notified to the supplier of the gas fuel cell 100 And the fact that the gas fuel cell 100 is used is notified to the business or home using the gas fuel cell 100 so that the gas fuel cell can be replaced or charged at the right time.

The state information measurement unit 200 does not allow the management server 300 to calculate the remaining amount of the gas fuel cell in this way, This is because it is necessary to simplify the function as much as possible to reduce the production cost and to reduce the possibility of occurrence of the failure and to reduce the maintenance cost. The remaining amount of the gas fuel tank may be calculated by measuring the weight of the gas fuel cell 100 with the weight sensor 221 as described above or may be calculated by measuring the weight of the gas fuel cell 100 measured by the pressure sensor 222. [ It is preferable to measure the residual amount measurement error using the temperature information measured by the temperature sensor 223.

Meanwhile, in the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention, the plurality of sensors 221 to 226 included in the state information measurement unit 200 may be provided with a humidity sensor (not shown) capable of measuring the humidity around the gas fuel cell 100 224), a gas detection sensor (225) capable of measuring whether or not gas fuel is leaking to the outside of the gas fuel cell (100), or a motion detection sensor (226) . In the case of the humidity sensor 224, it is possible to reliably determine whether or not a fire has occurred in the vicinity of the gas fuel cell 100 together with the temperature sensor 223. For example, when the temperature is suddenly raised or exceeds a predetermined temperature, If the humidity decreases rapidly, it can be judged that a fire has occurred or the possibility of a fire has risen sharply. In the case of the gas detection sensor 225, it is necessary to detect when a gas leakage occurs in the gas tank or the supply line. In the case of the motion detection sensor 226, It is for detecting.

Since the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention includes the temperature sensor 223, the humidity sensor 224, the gas sensor 225 or the motion sensor 226 as described above, the gas fuel cell 100 ) It is possible to determine the occurrence of a disaster or the occurrence or possibility of a crime in the vicinity. Accordingly, the management server 300 immediately notifies the gas safety authority or the fire department if the occurrence of such a state, that is, the possibility of a disaster such as a fire or a gas leakage accident, or a disaster, becomes high, It is preferable to notify a police officer or an expense or a security-related company when a crime such as theft of the fuel cell 100 or the possibility of crime is detected. To this end, If there is state information to be notified to the gas manager, it generates notification information and notifies the relevant institutional system 800 (gas safety related organization, firefighter, police officer or security company) through the communication network 600, Content to the supplier system 700, the server administrator terminal 500, and / To be notified to the administrator terminal 400 is preferred.

Meanwhile, the server administrator terminal 400 and the gas manager terminal 500 may display the status information or the notification information on the display screen.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation relationship of each component in the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention. Hereinafter, the operation of each component in the gas fuel cell remote monitoring system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3, the status information measurement unit 200 collects various status information related to the gas fuel cell 100 and transmits the collected status information to the management server 300 (step s110). The status information includes remaining amount information for calculating remaining amount such as weight information of the gas fuel cell 100 and pressure information inside the gas fuel cell 100, temperature information of the gas fuel cell 100 container, Gas leakage information indicating whether or not gas leakage is occurring in the gas fuel cell 100 or the connection pipe, and motion information on whether the gas fuel cell 100 is moving or the like. The method of collecting the state information by the state information measurement unit 200 and transmitting the collected state information to the management server 300 may be performed at predetermined time intervals. However, it is also possible to use information such as rapid temperature rise, motion information, It is also desirable to notify immediately when a corresponding event occurs.

In step s110, the management server 300 receiving the status information from the status information measurement unit 200 calculates the remaining amount using the remaining amount information (step s120), and then, using the temperature information, (Step s130). If the corrected remaining amount is less than a predetermined amount, that is, whether or not the replacement or charging timing of the gas fuel cell 100 is to be reached soon, or the like, It is preferable to inform the gas manager terminal 500, the server administrator terminal 400 and the vendor system 700 (step s140). In some cases, the notification to the server administrator terminal 400 may be omitted It is possible.

In step s140, the management server 300 analyzes the temperature information in the status information and determines whether the temperature has exceeded a predetermined temperature or has been rapidly increased (step s150) It is preferable to notify the gas manager terminal 500 when the temperature exceeds a certain temperature or if there is a sudden temperature rise so as to induce a check of the gas manager.

If it is determined in step s150 that the temperature is equal to or higher than the predetermined temperature, the humidity information is also analyzed to determine whether it is below the predetermined humidity. If the temperature is lower than the predetermined humidity, it is determined that the fire has occurred or the possibility of fire has increased. The server administrator terminal 400, the gas safety construction system 800a, and the firefighter's system 800b to promptly perform the action (Step s160). Meanwhile, the management server 300 analyzes the gas exposure information included in the status information, and when it is determined that the gas exposure is performed in the gas fuel cell 100 or the surrounding piping, The manager terminal 400, the gas safety construction system 800a, and the firefighter's system 800b, so that disaster management or disaster prevention measures are performed (Step s170).

When the movement is detected in the gas fuel cell 100 and it is determined that the movement is the theft of the gas fuel cell, the gas manager terminal 500, the server administrator terminal 400, It is notified to the police officer or the security company system 800c so that prompt action is taken (Step s180).

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above examples, the present invention is not necessarily limited to these examples, and various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the examples disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope of equivalents should be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

100 gas fuel cell
200 status information measurement unit
210 communication module 220 status information storage module
221 Weight sensor 222 Pressure sensor
223 Temperature sensor 224 Humidity sensor
225 Gas detection sensor 226 Motion detection sensor
230 status information storage module
300 management server
400 server administrator terminal
500 gas manager terminal
600 network
700 Supplier Systems
800 related agency system

Claims (5)

A gas fuel tank remote monitoring system comprising a state information measurement unit, a management server, a server administrator terminal and a gas manager terminal,
Wherein the status information measurement unit includes a plurality of sensors and a communication module including a remaining amount sensor for measuring remaining amount information of the gas fuel container and a temperature sensor for measuring temperature information of the gas fuel container, And collecting status information of the gas fuel cell including the temperature information and transmitting the status information to the management server through a communication network connected to the communication module;
The management server includes:
Storing the state information transmitted by the state information measurement unit in a storage means,
Transmits the status information at the request of the server administrator terminal or the gas manager terminal,
Calculating a remaining amount of the gas fuel tank by analyzing the remaining amount information, and notifying the gas manager terminal and the supplier system of the gas fuel tank of the replacement information when the remaining amount is less than a predetermined amount,
If there is state information to be notified to the related organization, the supplier, the server manager or the gas manager in the state information, the notification system generates the notification items and transmits the notification to the related institution system, the supplier system, the server administrator terminal, Notifies the administrator terminal;
The server administrator terminal and the gas manager terminal display on the display screen when the status information or the notification information is received; A gas fuel tank remote monitoring system
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the remaining amount sensor is a weight sensor for measuring the remaining amount information by the weight of the gas fuel tank.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the remaining amount sensor is a pressure sensor for measuring the remaining amount information with the internal pressure of the gas fuel cell, and when the management server calculates the remaining amount, correcting the residual amount measurement error in consideration of the temperature information, Remote monitoring system
4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Wherein the plurality of sensors further include at least one of a gas sensor for measuring whether gas fuel is leaking to the outside of the gas fuel tank or a motion sensor for detecting movement of the gas fuel tank, Wherein the management server generates the notification information when the state information includes the gas leakage information or the motion information, notifies the related system to the related system, and outputs the result Further comprising the step of: sending, to the vendor system, the server administrator terminal and the gas manager terminal,
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the management server analyzes the temperature information and creates the notice when the temperature of the gas fuel cell is higher than a predetermined temperature and transmits the notice to at least one of the related system, the supplier system, the server administrator terminal, Gas-fueled remote monitoring system

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