KR20200081964A - Heating device control method using estimation of flow rate and water pressure - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for controlling a heating device such as a boiler or a water heater, and more specifically, to a method for controlling a heating device by estimating a flow rate and water pressure inside a pipe. The method for controlling a heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of: generating driving information of a pump motor; estimating state information of water inside the pipe using the driving information; and determining whether an error has occurred using the state information and a preset threshold. The heating device to which the present invention is applied can detect no water without a safety device such as a sensor or a switch and can determine a situation in which water is not circulated.

Description

Heating device control method using flow and water pressure estimation{HEATING DEVICE CONTROL METHOD USING ESTIMATION OF FLOW RATE AND WATER PRESSURE}

The present invention relates to a method of controlling a heating device such as a boiler or a water heater, and more particularly, to a method of controlling a heating device by estimating a flow rate and a water pressure inside the pipe.

The boiler is a device that performs heating by heating the water flowing from the heating return pipe and supplying it to the supply pipe, and the water heater is a device that provides hot water by heating the water flowing from the pipe and supplying it to the supply pipe. Circulation of water is an important function in heating devices such as boilers and water heaters. If there is no water in the heating system piping, or if the water circulation is not normal, heating or hot water supply cannot be performed, and in the worst case, it may lead to a fire and cause huge loss.

Therefore, in the heating device, various safety devices are used to detect the absence of water in the interior or to determine a situation in which water is not circulated. Examples of a device that detects the absence of water in a pipe include a water level sensor, a pressure switch, a pressure sensor, etc., and examples of a device that detects the circulation of water include a flow switch and a flow sensor.

Various sensors and/or switches as described above may have a sensing error, frequently fail, and have a very troublesome replacement.

The present invention is to provide a method for controlling a heating device capable of detecting the absence of water or determining a situation where there is no circulation of water without a safety device such as a sensor or a switch therein.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a control method performed in a heating apparatus, comprising: generating drive information of a pump motor; Estimating the state information of the water inside the pipe using the driving information; And determining whether an error has occurred by using the state information and a preset threshold value.

According to an embodiment, the generating of the driving information may include generating speed information of the motor.

According to an embodiment, estimating the state information may include estimating the flow rate information of the water using the speed information.

According to an embodiment, determining whether an error has occurred may include determining that an error has occurred if the flow rate information is lower than a preset flow rate threshold.

According to an embodiment, the generating of the driving information may include generating current information of the motor.

According to an embodiment, estimating the state information may include estimating water pressure information of the water using the current information.

According to an embodiment, determining whether an error has occurred may include determining that an error has occurred if the hydraulic pressure information is lower than a preset hydraulic pressure threshold.

The heating device to which the present invention is applied may detect the absence of water without a safety device such as a sensor or a switch therein, or may determine a situation in which water is not circulated.

In addition, since the heating device to which the present invention is applied, safety devices such as sensors and switches can be removed, the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the hassle of replacement can be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to better understand the drawings cited in the detailed description of the present invention, a brief description of each drawing is provided.
1 is a block diagram of a heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention can be applied to various transformations and can have various embodiments, and specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all conversions, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In describing the present invention, when it is determined that detailed descriptions of related known technologies may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted. In addition, the numbers used in the description process of the present specification (for example, first, second, etc.) are only identification numbers for distinguishing one component from other components.

Also, in the specification, when one component is referred to as "connected" or "connected" with another component, the one component may be directly connected to the other component, or may be directly connected, but in particular, It should be understood that, as long as there is no objection to the contrary, it may or may be connected via another component in the middle.

Also, in the specification, when a part “includes” a certain component, it means that the component may further include other components, not to exclude other components, unless otherwise stated. In addition, terms such as “part” and “module” described in the specification mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which means that it can be implemented by one or more hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software. .

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

1 is a block diagram of a heating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The heating device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be a boiler or a water heater. In FIG. 1, the heating device 100 is described assuming a boiler, but the same or similar may be applied to a water heater.

Referring to FIG. 1, the heating apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a return pipe 110 through which return water is introduced, a heater 120 for heating the return water to a set temperature by a provided burner or heater, Connecting the supply pipe 130, the return pipe 110, the heater 120, the supply pipe 130 and the heating request 170 to supply the supply water heated by the heater 120 to the heating request 170 Circulation pump 140 for circulating water inside the heating pipe, driving information output from the detection unit 150 and the detection unit 150 generating driving information using information output from the motor of the circulation pump 140 It may include a control unit 160 for determining whether or not the circulation of water inside the pipe and/or whether there is no water (or lack) based on the control of the combustion amount of the heater 120, the operation of the circulation pump 140, and the like. .

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 2, an operation of determining whether an error such as an abnormality in circulation of water and/or an absence of water (or lack) in the pipe is based on the driving information will be described in detail.

2 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Although the boiler is illustrated as a heating device in FIG. 2, it is obvious that the present control method can be applied to other heating devices such as a water heater.

In steps S210 to S220, when the boiler 100 starts to operate, the boiler internal circulation pump 140 is operated. Water heated by the heater 120 by the operation of the circulation pump 140 may be supplied to the heating element 170 through the supply pipe 130 and circulated back to the heater 120 through the return pipe 110 Can be.

In step S230, the boiler 110 may generate speed information and/or current information corresponding to a motor (not shown) formed in the circulation pump 140. For example, the sensing unit 150 may be connected to the circulation pump 140 to generate speed information corresponding to the rotational speed (RPM) of the motor. For another example, the sensing unit 150 may be connected to the circulation pump 140 to generate current information corresponding to the current value [A] supplied to the motor. Accordingly, the speed information may be information about the rotational speed of the motor formed in the circulation pump 140 and the current information may be information about the current value supplied to the motor formed in the circulation pump 140.

In step S240, the control unit 160 of the boiler 100 estimates the flow rate information of the water inside the pipe (that is, collectively described as the supply pipe 130 or the return pipe 110, hereinafter referred to as the pipe) using the generated speed information. can do. When the number of revolutions of the motor increases, the flow rate of water inside the pipe increases. This can also be demonstrated experimentally, as disclosed in Table 1 below. Table 1 shows the results of the flow test of the water flow inside the pipe for a 68[mm] impeller connected to a PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous motor) motor (220[V], 50[W]) with adjustable speed .

Motor RPM Flow rate [L/min] 3150 27 2450 20.25 2180 13.50 1960 6.75

As shown in Table 1, the boiler 100 may store a lookup table matching the RPM and flow rate of the motor. Therefore, the control unit 160 may estimate the flow rate information corresponding to the speed information using the stored lookup table. When Table 1 is previously stored as a look-up table, if the speed information corresponds to 2180 [RPM], the controller 160 may estimate that the flow rate of water inside the pipe is 1305 [L/min]. In step S250, the boiler 100 may estimate water pressure information of the water inside the pipe using the generated current information. When the current supplied to the motor increases, the water pressure inside the pipe increases. This can also be demonstrated experimentally, as disclosed in Table 2 below. Table 2 shows the results of the hydraulic pressure test of the water in the pipe for a 68[mm] impeller connected to a PMSM (Permanent Magnet Synchronous motor) motor (220[V], 50[W]) with adjustable speed.

Current supplied to the motor [mA] Water pressure [kg/cm2] 271 0 312 5 360 10

As shown in Table 2, the boiler 100 may store a lookup table in which the current supplied to the motor and water pressure are matched. Accordingly, the control unit 160 may estimate the hydraulic pressure information corresponding to the current information using the stored lookup table. When Table 2 is previously stored as a look-up table, if the current information corresponds to 312 [mA], the controller 160 may estimate that the water pressure inside the pipe is 5 [kg/cm2]. In step S260, the control unit 160 of the boiler 100 may determine that an error has occurred in the boiler if the estimated flow rate information and/or water pressure information is less than each preset threshold value, and control corresponding to the determined error. You can do

For example, the control unit 160 may determine that the flow rate of water in the pipe is small when the flow rate information is lower than a preset flow rate threshold. In this case, the control unit 160 may stop driving the boiler 100.

For another example, if the water pressure information is lower than a preset water pressure threshold, the control unit 160 may determine that the water pressure in the pipe is small, and in this case, the control unit 160 may stop the boiler 100 from driving. have.

The control unit 220 described with reference to FIG. 2 may have a form in which each function described above is logically configured. Also, the function of the control unit 220 may be implemented in the form of a routine, instruction, or program stored in a provided memory (not shown).

Although described above with reference to embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art variously modify the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. And can be easily understood.

100: heating device
110: water pipe
120: heater
130: supply pipe
140; Circulation pump
150: detection unit
160: control unit
170: Heating requirements

Claims (7)

In the control method performed in the heating device,
Generating drive information of the pump motor;
Estimating the state information of the water inside the pipe using the driving information; And
Determining whether an error has occurred using the state information and a preset threshold;
Including, heating control method.
According to claim 1,
Generating the driving information,
Generating speed information of the motor;
Including, heating control method.
According to claim 2,
Estimating the status information,
Estimating the flow rate information of the water using the speed information;
Including, heating control method.
According to claim 3,
The step of determining whether the error occurs,
Determining that an error has occurred if the flow rate information is lower than a preset flow rate threshold;
Including, heating control method.
According to claim 1,
Generating the driving information,
Generating current information of the motor;
Including, heating control method.
The method of claim 5,
Estimating the status information,
Estimating the water pressure information of the water using the current information;
Including, heating control method.
The method of claim 6,
The step of determining whether the error occurs,
Determining that an error has occurred if the hydraulic pressure information is lower than a preset hydraulic pressure threshold;
Including, heating control method.

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