WO2021044289A1

WO2021044289A1 - System for the safe management and generation of plant conduct reports in plants using fluorinated gases

Info

Publication number: WO2021044289A1
Application number: PCT/IB2020/058117
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michele PIROLA; Domenico MARGHERITI
Original assignee: Synecom S.R.L.
Priority date: 2019-09-05
Filing date: 2020-09-01
Publication date: 2021-03-11
Also published as: EP4025968A1; IT201900015635A1

Abstract

System for safe management and generation of plant conduct reports in plants using fluorinated gases, which system comprises: a plant operating based on a fluorinated gas or a mixture of fluorinated gases and comprising rooms for the containment and/or flow and/or generation of said gas; a density sensor of said gas in said plant; a central processing unit connected to said sensor, said processing unit being connected with a memory to store said data in a structured reporting database and said processing unit being provided with a processor executing a program with instructions for calculating a prediction of the plant conditions in a future time instant based on the density data of said gas acquired in several time instants according to a measurement and acquisition time sequence of said density data; such conditions being relative to the density of said gas at said future instant.

Description

"System for the safe management and generation of plant conduct reports in plants using fluorinated gases"

The present invention relates to a system for the safe management and generation of plant conduct reports in plants using fluorinated gases.

BACKGORUND OF THE INVENTION

The national and communitarian regulations currently in force establish rules in relation to the management and to the conduction of plants and apparatuses which use considerable quantity of fluorinated gases causing greenhouse effect.

The said rules establish arrangements in relation to the item of containment, use, recovery and destruction of the fluorinated gases having greenhouse effects and also accessory measures connected therewith; conditions for putting into trade products and specific apparatuses containing or which operation depends on fluorinated gases having greenhouse effects; conditions for particular uses of fluorinated greenhouse gases; checks for leaks from systems and equipment in relation to the fluorinated gases contained therein, drafting of reports that contain historical data of the performance of the system with reference to the tightness of the fluorinated gases used, any alarms, maintenance interventions and system shutdowns.

In particular, the plant operators are subject to the obligation to monitor and record the presence of any F-gas leaks from the plants or equipment that use these gases. The registers to be drawn up also require the recording of data such as: a) the quantity and type of fluorinated greenhouse gases; b) the quantities of fluorinated greenhouse gases added during installation, maintenance or service or due to leaks; c) whether the quantities of fluorinated greenhouse gases installed have been recycled or regenerated, including the name and address of the recycling or regeneration plant and, where appropriate, the certificate number; d) the quantities of fluorinated greenhouse gases recovered; e) the identity of the company that has provided for the installation, assistance, maintenance and, where appropriate, the repair or dismantling of the equipment including, where appropriate, the relevant certificate number; f) the dates and results of the checks carried out; g) if the equipment has been dismantled, the measures taken to recover and dispose of fluorinated greenhouse gases.

There are many equipment and systems that use this type of fluorinated gas and some non-exhaustive examples of these are: refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump systems; fire protection systems and fire extinguishers; high voltage switchgears and switchgears (switches);

Particle accelerators;

Equipments containing solvents that can generate fluorinated gases. Many companies, such as companies in the energy production and distribution sector, operate plants that use considerable quantities of fluorinated gases and which are in large numbers and often distributed over an extremely large territory. In these conditions it is difficult and burdensome to carry out the monitoring, maintenance and reporting activities required by law. At the state of the art, there is a lack of a system capable of providing a simple and efficient support for the execution of plant monitoring and management activities as well as the generation of reports required by law.

A first object of the present invention is to create a system that can be effective, efficient, quick and reliable for the execution of management activities in safety and the generation of plant management reports in plants that use fluorinated gases.

A further aspect is that of being able to create a centralized system that reduces the costs related to running and managing the system itself both from the hardware point of view and from the point of view of functionality .

Still a further object consists in being able to generate a system which can operate in advance of the possible alarm conditions and which is therefore capable of preventing crisis or danger conditions and allowing extraordinary maintenance activities before critical events occur.

According to a first aspect, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems with a system for safe management and generation of plant conduct reports in plants using fluorinated gases, or the like, which system comprises in combination: a plant operating based on a fluorinated gas or a mixture of said fluorinated gases and comprising rooms for the containment and/or flow and/or generation of said fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases; at least one density sensor of said fluorinated gas in said plant; a central processing unit to which said at least one sensor is connected, said processing unit being connected with at least one memory to store said data in a structured reporting database and said processing unit being provided with a processor executing a program in which the instructions for calculating a prediction of the plant conditions are encoded in at least one future time instant based on the density data of said at least one fluorinated gas and/or said mixture of fluorinated gases acquired in several time instants according to a measurement and acquisition time sequence of said density data; such conditions being relative to at least the density of said fluorinated gas and/or said mixture of fluorinated gases at said future instant.

According to an embodiment, the processing unit of the system comprises at least one memory in which threshold values of the data relative to the density of said at least one fluorinated gas and/or said mixture of fluorinated gases are stored, and at least one comparator comparing the prediction value calculated in at least one future instant with said threshold, which comparator controls a signaling or warning generator which transmits to a receiving unit the information relative to the future time instant at which the predicted density value is above or below said threshold.

According to still a further embodiment, the sensors measure the purity of said at least one fluorinated gas and/or said mixture of fluorinated gases, whereas the processing unit comprises at least one memory in which at least one threshold value of said purity of said fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases and one comparison section of the calculated value of the purity of said fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases with the corresponding threshold value are stored, said comparison section generating a command to generate a signaling or warning and to transmit said signaling or said warning to a receiving unit, said signaling or said warning comprising the information relative to the future time instant at which the predicted purity value is above or below said threshold.

An embodiment of the above mentioned system provides a purification unit of said fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases is provided, such as for example at least one filter or a molecular sieve, or the like, said signaling or said warning representing a future time instant in which said purification unit must be subjected to cleaning and/or replacement.

According to an embodiment, for determining the density of said fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases, a plurality of sensors of physical state parameters of said plant and/or said gas or said gas mixture having influence on the density are provided, said density being calculated, as a function of said parameters, by the processing unit which is configured to execute said calculations. For this purpose, a density calculation program of said at least one fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases is provided and loaded on said processing unit and is executed by the same, said program comprising the instructions to calculate said density as a function of said further condition parameters.

An embodiment provides at least one pressure sensor of said fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases, at least one temperature sensor and/or at least one sensor of the so-called dew point, at least one density sensor.

According to still a further embodiment, the processing unit is a remote unit comprising one transmitting/receiving section with which it communicates with local units connected to the sensors of each of at least two or more plants, said processing unit executing software that comprises the instructions for configuring said processing unit as a remote unit operating independently with each of said local units of said two or more plants.

According to still a further embodiment, the processing unit comprises at least one memory in which a report generation program on the plant conditions over time is stored, which program generates a report for each of said two or more plants.

The term fluorinated gas or F-gas defines the gas which are exemplary disclosed in the annexed table identified as table 1.

The invention shows additional features and improvements that are the subject of the dependent claims.

These and other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the following description of some embodiments illustrated in the attached drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the system according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a functional diagram of an embodiment of the monitoring process performed with a system according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows a further embodiment of the monitoring process with a functional scheme similar to that of the previous figure.

With reference to figure one, an embodiment of the system of the present invention is illustrated in its application to at least one plant indicated with plant 1. The system can be extended to further include other plants as highlighted by the blocks with discontinuous lines and indicated with plant 2 and plant "m" in which "m" is a natural number.

Each plant is associated with a number of sensors as indicated by SI, Sin, S2, S2n, Sm, Smn respectively, where "n" is a natural number.

The number of sensors depends on the number of chemical-physical parameters and/or the definition of the functional conditions of the plant.

In particular, with reference to the present invention, the parameters measured by the sensors are those that identify the functional condition of the system with reference to the parameters defined by the legislation in relation to the use of the so-called F- gases, i.e. fluorinated gases that are used in the system to carry out the processes for which the plant is intended.

In particular, according to an embodiment, the parameters measured by the sensors can be chosen by one or more of the following parameters: Temperature, pressure, density, dew point of the gas used and contained within the system itself.

A processing unit 120 which can be constituted by a specific hardware or by a generic computer hardware which executes a specific program in which the instructions for configuring said hardware to operate according to the foreseen modes are encoded, receives from sensors SI, Sin, S2 , S2n, Sm, Smn the measurement signals. In particular, the measurements are repeated at predetermined time intervals according to a monitoring sequence indicated with 100 and controlled by the processing unit 120.

The data collected 110 in the monitoring sequences at different instants of time are supplied to the processing unit 120. The processing unit 120 processes the data received in two ways. In a first way, the density of the gas contained in the system is determined at the different moments in the detection sequence. This density is calculated on the basis of one or more of the parameters measured according to the physical laws as indicated by blocks 130 and 140.

The other mode that is specifically dedicated to high-energy systems such as particle accelerators provides for the detection of the gas dew point as indicated by block 160.

Based on this parameter, the system performs the maintenance management of the filters or molecular sieves for cleaning the gas of the system as indicated by block 180.

Following the determined density values and/or the determined dew point values, the system calculates a prediction of when the density or dew point values are no longer below pre-established maximum thresholds beyond which operating conditions exist of the system that do not comply with regulations or indicate malfunctions, leaks, or a condition of exhaustion or saturation of the filters.

Thanks to predictive algorithms encoded with a program executed by the processor 120, the system calculates the temporal evolution of the density or dew point at future instants of time and compares these values with corresponding threshold values. This comparison allows to identify the future instant in time in which an irregular operating situation occurs in relation to gas leaks and/or the operating condition of the filters.

Based on this comparison, the system issues at least an alarm or future block warning at a certain time or of a future suspension of operation at a future time of the plant as indicated in block 150.

At the same time, the data relating to the measurements and the time instants in which they occurred, and to the calculation of the density and/or the dew point and alarms, or warnings, as well as the blocks or suspensions of operation of the system are recorded in a database from which it is possible to generate reports of the functional history of the plant as established by current legislation.

When more plants are foreseen, this report includes all or at least part of said plants.

As shown in Figure 1, the processing unit can be a central unit that serves several plants that are distributed in different points of a territory. Each system can be equipped with a local TX/RX communication unit, not shown, for remote connection to a central server which constitutes the system processing unit.

With reference to the processing unit 120 and to the programs loaded and executed by it, at least one program consists in the instructions which configure said processing unit to execute at least one predictive algorithm which determines the temporal evolution in future periods of time on the basis of the sequence of data measured by one or more sensors.

It is possible to use one or more predictive algorithms in combination with each other such as neural networks, classification algorithms, genetic algorithms linear and non-linear regressions and other predictive algorithms known in the state of the art.

Figure 2 shows a functional diagram of an embodiment of the invention in which the sensors monitor physical quantities from which the density of the fluorinated gas or the mixture of fluorinated gases present in the system can be calculated analytically at each instant of the sequence of measurements.

The example is limited to a single plant, but considering Figure 1 the person skilled in the art is able to extend the concept to a condition in which there are two or more plants.

Plant 200 is subject to monitoring the density of the gas or the mixture of fluorinated gases according to one or more of the variants described above. Monitoring 210 consists in the acquisition of a temporal sequence of parameters indicated with 220 measured at different moments in time and from which for each moment of time it is possible to determine the density of the gas or mixture of fluorinated gases in the system.

From the temporal sequence of values relating to the density of the gas or of the mixture of fluorinated gases in each instant of time of the temporal sequence, thanks to a predictive algorithm, a corresponding density value of said gas or said gas mixture is calculated for one or more instants in a future period of time.

Therefore, in step 230 a forecast is quantitatively determined on the future trend of the density of said gas or said gas mixture.

These values are compared with a threshold value and if the density falls below said threshold value in a future instant, the corresponding instant in time is determined at which said density value is forecast and a warning or an alarm is generated relative to the danger of blocking the plant or expiry of a maintenance term on the date corresponding to the instant in time for which the density value lower than said threshold has been predicted as indicated in step 240.

This alarm or warning is transmitted in step 250 to the plant manager or operator.

The operator can suspend the activity of the plant for the time necessary to carry out the maintenance or restoration work as indicated in step 260. The duration foreseen for the said suspension is transmitted to the system and for the said duration of the maintenance the monitoring the density of the gas or of the mixture of fluorinated gases is also suspended as indicated in step 270.

At the end of the maintenance activities, the manager or operator of the system reactivates the system at step 280 and the system reactivates the monitoring as indicated with 290.

In parallel with the data acquisition and density calculation activity, the system stores these measurement data and the density values calculated for each instant of the sequence and for future instants by the prediction algorithm. It also stores the instant in which the density value falls below the threshold and the maintenance and suspension of monitoring activities, as well as the restoration of plant activity and monitoring activities. The data are stored in step 291 in a database from which it is possible to generate, as indicated with 292, a final report that describes the trend over time of the plant with reference to the density of gases and maintenance or repair activities.

Figure 3 shows an example of a functional diagram of the monitoring process applicable in the case of high energy or voltage plants and apparatus, such as for example particle accelerators or the like.

In this case, the flow of operational steps is substantially similar to the previous example. However, the dew point of the gas or the mixture of fluorinated gases present in the system 300 is measured as a parameter.

Also in this case the measurements are performed at each instant of a time sequence that describes the evolution over time of the dew point as indicated by steps 310 and 320.

The dew point is an indication of the cleanliness conditions of the gas or of the mixture of fluorinated gases in the system and of the filters or of the molecular screens that are provided for cleaning the said gas or the said gas mixture.

Said parameter therefore constitutes an indicator of whether or not it is necessary to clean or replace said filters or screens.

Similarly to the previous example in step 330, the trend of the dew point is calculated in a future period of time and a minimum threshold is set for the said dew point value. A comparison between the measured values and/or those predicted in step 330 allows to determine the future moment in time in which such a cleaning or replacement of the filters or sieve is absolutely necessary in order to keep the system active. .

At step 340 the system then generates a warning or an alarm relating to the possible condition of blocking or suspension of the plant's activities at a certain time in the future.

This warning or alarm is provided to the manager or operator of the plant in step 350. The manager can plan to carry out the maintenance activities within and before said blocking or suspension instant is reached and in step 360 the manager provides the system with the indication of when the maintenance intervention will be carried out and its duration. In step 360, the system suspends the plant activities for maintenance and simultaneously suspends the monitoring activities during this maintenance period as indicated in step 370.

At the end of the maintenance operations it is possible to reactivate the system as indicated with 380 and also the monitoring of the dew point as indicated with 390. Similarly to the previous example, all the information detected and calculated as well as received by the operator and the related activities are stored at step 391 in a database from which activity reports can be generated as indicated in step 392.

The advantages of the present invention clearly appear from the foregoing.

Different variants of the system and of the process steps are possible and the above description constitutes only an example among the possible variant embodiments. However, these variants obviously derive from the more general concept of the present invention or constitute constructive improvements or further specifications which are obvious variants or developments of the examples described above.

Table 1

Claims

1. System for safe management and generation of plant conduct reports in plants using fluorinated gases, or the like, which system comprises in combination: a plant operating based on a fluorinated gas or a mixture of said fluorinated gases and comprising rooms for the containment and/or flow and/or generation of said fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases; at least one density sensor of said fluorinated gas in said plant; a central processing unit to which said at least one sensor is connected, said processing unit being connected with at least one memory to store said data in a structured reporting database and said processing unit being provided with a processor executing a program in which the instructions for calculating a prediction of the plant conditions are encoded in at least one future time instant based on the density data of said at least one fluorinated gas and/or said mixture of fluorinated gases acquired in several time instants according to a measurement and acquisition time sequence of said density data; such conditions being relative to at least the density of said fluorinated gas and/or said mixture of fluorinated gases at said future instant.

2. System according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit of the system comprises at least one memory in which threshold values of the data relative to the density of said at least one fluorinated gas and/or said mixture of fluorinated gases are stored, and at least one comparator comparing the prediction value calculated in at least one future instant with said threshold, which comparator controls a signaling or warning generator which transmits to a receiving unit the information relative to the future time instant at which the predicted density value is above or below said threshold.

3. System according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the sensors measure the purity of said at least one fluorinated gas and/or said mixture of fluorinated gases, whereas the processing unit comprises at least one memory in which at least one threshold value of said purity of said fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases and one comparison section of the calculated value of the purity of said fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases with the corresponding threshold value are stored, said comparison section generating a command to generate a signaling or warning and to transmit said signaling or said warning to a receiving unit, said signaling or said warning comprising the information relative to the future time instant at which the predicted purity value is above or below said threshold.

4. System according to one or more of the preceding claims wherein a purification unit of said fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases is provided, such as for example at least one filter or a molecular sieve, or the like, said signaling or said warning representing a future time instant in which said purification unit must be subjected to cleaning and/or replacement.

5. System according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein for determining the density of said fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases, a plurality of sensors of physical state parameters of said plant and/or said gas or said gas mixture having influence on the density are provided, said density being calculated, as a function of said parameters, by the processing unit which is configured to execute said calculations.

6. System according to claim 5, wherein a density calculation program of said at least one fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases is provided and loaded on said processing unit and is executed by the same, said program comprising the instructions to calculate said density as a function of said further condition parameters.

7. System according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it provides at least one pressure sensor of said fluorinated gas or said mixture of fluorinated gases, at least one temperature sensor and/or at least one sensor of the so-called dew point, at least one density sensor.

8. System still according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the processing unit is a remote unit comprising one transmitting/receiving section with which it communicates with local units connected to the sensors of each of at least two or more plants, said processing unit executing software that comprises the instructions for configuring said processing unit as a remote unit operating independently with each of said local units of said two or more plants.

9. System according to one or more of the preceding claims wherein the processing unit comprises at least one memory in which a report generation program on the plant conditions over time is stored, which program generates a report for each of said two or more plants.