Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F11/00—Control or safety arrangements
  • F24F11/30—Control or safety arrangements for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
  • F24F11/32—Responding to malfunctions or emergencies
  • F24F11/38—Failure diagnosis
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F11/00—Control or safety arrangements
  • F24F11/50—Control or safety arrangements characterised by user interfaces or communication
  • F24F11/56—Remote control
  • F24F11/58—Remote control using Internet communication
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F11/00—Control or safety arrangements
  • F24F11/62—Control or safety arrangements characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
  • F24F11/63—Electronic processing
  • F24F11/64—Electronic processing using pre-stored data
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F2110/00—Control inputs relating to air properties
  • F24F2110/10—Temperature
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F2140/00—Control inputs relating to system states
  • F24F2140/50—Load

Definitions

• the present invention relates to the field of detection and control, and more especially to a method, a system and a storage for detecting a fault of a HVAC system.
• HVAC Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning
• a HVAC system is generally provided with a large number of various components, some faults such as refrigerant leaks and damages to compressor capacitor are likely to occur, especially after long-term use.
• these existing technical means still have flaws and deficiencies in the aspects such as complexity, correctness, convenience and user experience, which may be further improved and optimized.
• the present invention provides a method, a system and a storage for detecting a fault of a HVAC system, in order to address or at least relieve one or more of the above-described problems existing in prior arts and problems in other aspects.
• the present invention provides a method for detecting a fault of a HVAC system, comprising the steps of:
• the room air temperatures are obtained from a temperature controller for controlling the HVAC system.
• operation data of each compression stage of the HVAC system is obtained from the HVAC system, and the compressor equivalent runtime is obtained by making a calculation based on a capacity ratio of each compression stage.
• the method further comprises the steps of:
• the method further comprises the step of:
• the report information is transmitted to a cloud server via a wireless network, the wireless network comprising Wi-Fi, 4G, BT or ZigBee network.
• the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperatures is determined as an abnormal value when the value property of the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperatures in the cooling mode or the heating mode is contrary to a set value property, or a difference value between the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperatures and zero is less than a preset value; and/or wherein the step of the processing of the values comprises calculating a sum of the values, calculating a arithmetic mean value of the values, or calculating a weighted mean value of the values.
• the present invention provides a system for detecting a fault of a HVAC system, comprising a processor configured to perform the steps of:
• the room air temperatures are obtained by the processor from a temperature controller for controlling the HVAC system.
• operation data of each compression stage of the HVAC system is obtained by the processor from the HVAC system, and the compressor equivalent runtime is obtained by the processor by making a calculation based on a capacity ratio of each compression stage.
• the processor is further configured to perform the steps of:
• the processor is further configured to:
• the report information is transmitted to a cloud server via a wireless network, the wireless network comprising Wi-Fi, 4G, BT or ZigBee network.
• the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperatures is determined as an abnormal value when the value property of the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperatures in the cooling mode or the heating mode is contrary to a set value property, or a difference value between the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperatures and zero is less than a preset value; and/or wherein the step of processing the values comprises calculating a sum of the values, calculating an arithmetic mean value of the values, or calculating a weighted mean value of the values.
• the present invention further provides a storage for storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when being executed, to implement the method for detecting a fault of a HVAC system according to any one of above items.
• the method, system and storage for detecting a fault of a HVAC system have significant technical advantages and can be used for on-line fault detection of a HVAC system in order to effectively detect a series of faults such as faults of fast occurrence and faults involving slow degeneration of system performance, and output information such as alerts.
• This will help relevant staff to find and identify HVAC system terminals possibly having problems more easily, so as to carry out an examination and repair as early as possible, and thereby increase the security and user satisfaction of the HVAC system.
• Fig. 1 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for detecting a fault of a HVAC system according to the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating compression stage runtime in an example of a HVAC system with two compression stages.
• Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a corresponding relationship between room air temperature and runtime in an example of a HVAC system.
• Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating using a time window example to take statistics of the distribution of a rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature.
• Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram about determining that a fault has occurred in one HVAC system example based on a statistical result of the distribution of a rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature shown in Fig. 4.
• Fig. 1 exemplarily shows a basic flow of an embodiment of a method for detecting a fault of a HVAC system according to the present invention, which may be employed to on-line detect a fault of a HVAC system conveniently.
• the method may comprise the steps of:
• Step S 11 obtaining room air temperatures during the operation of the HVAC system, and obtaining the equivalent runtime of the compressor during the operation of the HVAC system.
• the data will be used to calculate a rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature discussed hereinafter.
• the temperature data may be obtained in various ways.
• the temperature data may be acquired by one or more temperature measuring elements, devices, instruments or the like disposed in the HVAC system, and may also be obtained conveniently from a temperature controller configured to control the HVAC system.
• Fig. 3 illustrates six room air temperature data A, B, C, D, E and F during the operation of HVAC system, which schematically shows room air temperature fluctuations during the operation of HVAC system.
• Fig. 2 exemplarily shows a HVAC system provided with two compression stages, i.e. compression stage 1 and compression stage 2. As illustrated in Fig. 3, it schematically shows a compressor equivalent runtime line 3 of one HVAC system after translation
• operation data of each of the compression stages can be obtained from a HVAC system, and then compressor equivalent runtime is obtained by making a calculation based on respective capacity ratios of these compressor stages. That is to say, by multiplying the runtime of each compression stage and its capacity ratio to obtain a product of each compression stage, and then adding such products of the compression stages, the compressor equivalent runtime can be obtained.
• an equivalent translation table may be provided based on data from the producer or supplier of the HVAC system or the compressor(s) therein or from professional institutions, or data from a test of a HVAC system or the compressor(s) therein. Therefore, the corresponding compressor equivalent runtime can be obtained by directly by consulting the table.
• Step S 12 making a calculation based on the obtained room air temperatures and compressor equivalent runtime, to obtain a rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature within the compressor equivalent runtime, and distributing the obtained rate of change per unit time of the room air temperatures along a time axis.
• a change rate per hour of room air temperature may be calculated by using one hour as a unit time.
• the method of the present invention also allows to select other proper time intervals (e.g., 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1.5 hours, 2 hours, 5 hours, etc.) as the unit time to calculate the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature.
• Step S 13 after the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature are calculated, determining whether a fault occurs in the HVAC system based on changes of the data. This is because the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature roughly indicates the fluctuation of room air temperature in a set unit time. That is to say, the data may reflect the operation condition of the HVAC system.
• the obtained a rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature may be further differentiated based on an operation mode of the HVAC system, to facilitate a fault analysis of the HVAC system based on corresponding changes in the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature.
• the obtained rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature are distributed along a time axis.
• the unit time (such as one hour) employed in the calculation of a rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature is taken as the internal unit of the time axis.
• the value properties of the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperatures when the HVAC system operates in a cooling mode and a heating mode may be defined as follows: in the cooling mode, the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature with a normal property of room air temperature is set as a negative value, which is below the zero axis indicated by the dotted line shown in Fig. 4, while the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature with an abnormal property of room air temperature is set as a positive value, which is above the zero axis indicated by the dotted line shown in Fig.
• the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature with a normal property of room air temperature is set as a positive value, which is above the zero axis indicated by the dotted line shown in Fig. 4, while the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature with an abnormal property of room air temperature is set as a negative value, which is below the zero axis indicated by the dotted line shown in Fig. 4.
• a data dot 4 of a positive value will be determined as an abnormal value
• a data dot 5 of a negative value will be determined as an abnormal value.
• the above-described abnormal values mean the values being deviated from a normal value.
• the value property of the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature in the cooling mode or a heating mode being absolutely contrary to a set value property (that is, the value property of a normal value should be a negative value in the cooling mode, while an abnormal value is indicated by a positive value in the cooling mode, whereas the value property of a normal value should be a positive value in the heating mode, while the abnormal value is indicated by a negative value in the heating mode).
• a set value property that is, the value property of a normal value should be a negative value in the cooling mode, while an abnormal value is indicated by a positive value in the cooling mode, whereas the value property of a normal value should be a positive value in the heating mode, while the abnormal value is indicated by a negative value in the heating mode.
• the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature may be determined as an abnormal value.
• a time window 6 (which may be a runtime window or a calendar time window, and which may be chosen and configured based on specific application requirements) is set, and the number of the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature with positive values (the number is two in the embodiment of Fig. 4) or the number of the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature with negative values (the number is eight in the embodiment of Fig. 4) within the time window 6 is counted.
• a sum of the number of positive values exceeds a preset value T (which can be chosen and set according to specific application requirements), i.e., the circumstance illustrated by Fig. 5, in which if a dot P has already exceeded the preset value T, it can be determined that a fault has been occurred in the HVAC system, wherein the fault is likely to be a fault of fast occurrence in the HVAC system (e.g., an operation abnormality occurs to a compressor capacitor), or a fault caused by slow performance degeneration of the HVAC system (e.g., a refrigerant leak, or pipe blocking of a heat exchanger) or others alike.
• T which can be chosen and set according to specific application requirements
• the method of the present invention allows using various other approaches to determine a HVAC system default based on the above- described rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature.
• the values of the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperature i.e., the values of abnormal dots
• appearing within the time window 6 may be processed to obtain a processed value, and then it is determined whether a fault occurs in the HVAC system based on whether the obtained processed value exceeds a set value (which can be chosen and set according to specific application requirements). That is, if the processed value exceeds the set value, it can be determined that a fault has occurred in the HVAC system.
• Fig 5 illustrates such a determination circumstance as well.
• various calculation ways may be employed for processing the values of abnormal dots, and they may include, but not be limited to: calculating a sum of the values of these abnormal dots, calculating an arithmetic mean value of the values of these abnormal dots, and calculating a weighted mean value of the values of these abnormal dots. It should be understood that, the method of the present invention completely allows using more other possible calculating ways to process values of abnormal dots. Such a value processing result can reflect serious circumstances of these abnormal dots deviating from a normal value or a normal range. Further, the result may be compared with a set value to determine the possibility of fault occurrence in a HVAC system.
• report information may be output, which may include, but not be limited to, alerting in the forms such as text, images, sound and/or light so as to urge relevant staff be aware of the fault of the HVAC system and thus can go for fixing the fault as early as possible.
• the above- described information may be uploaded to a cloud server via a wireless network (such as Wi Fi, 4G, BT or ZigBee network). In this manner, staff may conveniently and quickly identify, from a cloud server, the HVAC system terminal that has outputted the report information and possibly has a problem.
• the HVAC system terminal possibly having a problem can be inspected and repaired as soon as possible, and at this time, the owner of the HVAC system might know nothing about that a problem has occurred to the HVAC system (such as refrigerant leaks and damages to compressor capacitor) and that adverse influences might be caused by it momentarily. Therefore, this will extremely increase user satisfaction and can increase security and reliability of the HVAC system.
• the present invention further provides a system for detecting a fault of a HVAC system.
• a system of the present invention may be provided with a processor, which is configured to perform the steps of: firstly, obtaining room air temperatures during the operation of the HVAC system (e.g., from a controller for controlling the HVAC system), and obtaining compressor equivalent runtime during the operation of the HVAC system (e.g., by the means exemplarily discussed above).
• the above-described processor may also be configured to perform the steps of: setting value properties of the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperatures when the HVAC system operates in a cooling mode and a heating mode to be negative values (or positive ones) and positive values (or negative ones), respectively, and distributing along a time axis the rate of change per unit time of the room air temperatures when they are determined as abnormal values;
• a time window (which may be a runtime window or a calendar time window, and which may be chosen and configured according to requirements of specific applications);
• the above-described processor may be further configured to: output report information after the fault is determined to have occurred in the HVAC system.
• the report information may be uploaded to a cloud server via a wireless network (such as Wi-Fi, 4G, BT or ZigBee network) such that relevant staff can be informed in time and then inspection, repair and the like can be carried out.
• a wireless network such as Wi-Fi, 4G, BT or ZigBee network
• the present invention further provides a storage for storing instructions, wherein the instructions, when being executed, to implement the method for detecting a fault of a HVAC system according to the present invention, so as to present advantages of the invention over prior arts as mentioned above.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Fuzzy Systems (AREA)
• Mathematical Physics (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Air Conditioning Control Device (AREA)

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Citations (5)

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• 2018
  • 2018-07-09 CN CN201810744283.9A patent/CN110701727B/zh active Active
• 2019
  • 2019-07-02 US US17/058,411 patent/US20210199325A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2019-07-02 WO PCT/US2019/040217 patent/WO2020014033A1/en unknown
  • 2019-07-02 EP EP19745011.7A patent/EP3821176B1/en active Active

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