Method of distributing energy for a building, energy management system, system for satisfying the energy requirements of a building, and micro-cogeneration system
First Claim
1. A method of distributing energy for a building, the method comprising the steps of:
- A. generating energy including electrical energy, generated heat, and byproduct heat from energy sources selected from the group consisting of natural gas, solar energy assemblies, and an electric grid;
B. recovering at least a portion of the byproduct heat;
C. modeling a total energy profile for the building, the total energy profile including a thermal energy requirement and an electrical energy requirement;
D. assessing a total available heat stream, the total available heat stream including a stream of the generated heat and a stream of the byproduct heat;
E. routing the electrical energy and the streams of generated heat and byproduct heat to the building for use;
F. establishing a target total energy cost for a discrete time interval;
G. calculating an index of performance indicative of an actual total energy cost for the discrete time interval; and
H. optimizing the usage of the electrical energy and the streams of generated heat and byproduct heat over the discrete time interval through an optimizing scheme to thereby maintain a desired building environment at a minimum total energy cost, wherein the optimizing scheme comprises the steps of;
a. calculating a minimum electrical energy requirement;
b. setting an electrical energy output to meet the calculated minimum electrical energy requirement;
c. comparing the total available heat stream to the thermal requirement for the building;
d. if the total available heat stream exceeds the thermal requirement for the building, then one of;
i) storing an excess portion of the total available heat stream in a storage device;
ii) dumping the excess portion to the atmosphere;
or iii) decreasing the total available heat stream;
e. if the total available heat stream is less than the thermal requirement for the building, then at least one of;
i) extracting the stored excess portion from the storage device; and
ii) increasing the generated heat stream; and
f. optimizing the system by comparing the actual total energy cost to the target total energy cost and adjusting the usage of the electrical energy and the total available heat stream to thereby provide the minimum actual total energy cost.
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Abstract
An energy management system is provided for managing the generation and distribution of energy from an energy source to a building. The building has a desired building environment and a total energy profile including a thermal energy requirement and an electrical energy requirement. The energy management system comprises an energy generator arranged to convert energy from the energy source to thermal energy and electrical energy, a heat recovery unit arranged to recover byproduct heat from the energy generator, a cooling unit arranged to use a first portion of the thermal energy to drive a refrigeration unit, a heating unit arranged to use a second portion of the thermal energy to drive a heating unit, a heat storage unit arranged to store excess heat, and an energy optimizing controller. The energy optimizing controller includes a thermal flow controller and an electrical flow controller, with the thermal flow controller being arranged to distribute the thermal energy and the recovered byproduct heat to at least one of the cooling unit, the heating unit, and the heat storage unit. The electrical flow controller is arranged to distribute electrical energy to at least one of a plurality of electrical components, with the energy optimizing controller being arranged to establish a target total energy cost, calculate an index of performance indicative of an actual energy cost based on an actual electrical load and an actual thermal load, compare the actual energy cost to the target total energy cost, and adjust the distribution of the thermal and electrical energy to thereby obtain a minimum total cost.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of distributing energy for a building, the method comprising the steps of:
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A. generating energy including electrical energy, generated heat, and byproduct heat from energy sources selected from the group consisting of natural gas, solar energy assemblies, and an electric grid;
B. recovering at least a portion of the byproduct heat;
C. modeling a total energy profile for the building, the total energy profile including a thermal energy requirement and an electrical energy requirement;
D. assessing a total available heat stream, the total available heat stream including a stream of the generated heat and a stream of the byproduct heat;
E. routing the electrical energy and the streams of generated heat and byproduct heat to the building for use;
F. establishing a target total energy cost for a discrete time interval;
G. calculating an index of performance indicative of an actual total energy cost for the discrete time interval; and
H. optimizing the usage of the electrical energy and the streams of generated heat and byproduct heat over the discrete time interval through an optimizing scheme to thereby maintain a desired building environment at a minimum total energy cost, wherein the optimizing scheme comprises the steps of;
a. calculating a minimum electrical energy requirement;
b. setting an electrical energy output to meet the calculated minimum electrical energy requirement;
c. comparing the total available heat stream to the thermal requirement for the building;
d. if the total available heat stream exceeds the thermal requirement for the building, then one of;
i) storing an excess portion of the total available heat stream in a storage device;
ii) dumping the excess portion to the atmosphere;
or iii) decreasing the total available heat stream;
e. if the total available heat stream is less than the thermal requirement for the building, then at least one of;
i) extracting the stored excess portion from the storage device; and
ii) increasing the generated heat stream; and
f. optimizing the system by comparing the actual total energy cost to the target total energy cost and adjusting the usage of the electrical energy and the total available heat stream to thereby provide the minimum actual total energy cost. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An energy management system for managing the generation and distribution of energy from an energy source to a building, the building having a desired building environment and a total energy profile including a thermal energy requirement and an electrical energy requirement, the energy management system comprising:
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an energy generator arranged to convert energy from the energy source to thermal energy and electrical energy;
a heat recovery unit arranged to recover byproduct heat from the energy generator;
a cooling unit arranged to use a first portion of the thermal energy to drive a refrigeration unit;
a heating unit arranged to use a second portion of the thermal energy to drive a heating unit;
a heat storage unit arranged to store excess heat; and
an energy optimizing controller, the energy optimizing controller including a thermal flow controller and an electrical flow controller, the thermal flow controller being arranged to distribute the thermal energy and the recovered byproduct heat to at least one of the cooling unit, the heating unit, and the heat storage unit, the electrical flow controller being arranged to distribute electrical energy to at least one of a plurality of electrical components, the energy optimizing controller being arranged to establish a target total energy cost, calculate an index of performance indicative of an actual energy cost based on an actual electrical load and an actual thermal load, compare the actual energy cost to the target total energy cost, and adjust the distribution of the thermal and electrical energy to thereby obtain a minimum total cost. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A system for satisfying the energy requirements of a building comprising the steps of:
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generating electrical energy and byproduct heat from one or more energy sources selected from the group consisting of natural gas, solar heating assemblies, and an electric grid;
determining the available amount of electrical energy;
determining the available amount of byproduct heat;
determining the energy requirements of the building, the energy requirements of the building including building heating requirements and building electrical energy requirements;
using the electrical energy and the byproduct heat to meet the energy requirements of the building; and
optimizing the using of the electrical energy and the byproduct heat through an optimizing scheme to minimize a total energy cost, wherein the optimizing scheme comprises the steps of;
establishing a target total energy cost;
calculating an index of performance indicative of an actual energy cost;
comparing the actual energy cost to the target total energy cost; and
adjusting the usage of the electrical energy and the byproduct heat.
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25. A micro-cogeneration system comprising:
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a gas fired micro-turbine for providing electrical and thermal energy;
means for recovering byproduct heat from the micro-turbine;
a heat exchanger system for converting a first portion of the thermal energy into useable heat;
an absorption cooler system for converting a second portion of the thermal energy into useable energy to drive a refrigeration cycle; and
means for distributing the electrical and thermal energy to a building for use.
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Specification