HVAC SYSTEM REMOTE MONITORING AND DIAGNOSIS

• US 20140266755A1
• Filed: 03/14/2014
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emersub Cxiii Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Emerson Electric Company
• Inventors: ABIPROJO, Priotomo, ARENSMEIER, Jeffrey N., HEMMELGARN, Gregg M., ALSALEEM, Fadi M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,638,436 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/679
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/32 Responding to malfunctions or emergencies
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/38 Failure diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/49 ensuring correct operation, e.g. by trial operation or configuration checks
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/52 Indication arrangements, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/163 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart, intelligent house
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2614 HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2642 Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/024 Quantitative history assessment, e.g. mathematical relationships between available data; Functions therefor; Principal component analysis [PCA]; Partial least square [PLS]; Statistical classifiers, e.g. Bayesian networks, linear regression or correlation analysis; Neural networks
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0262 Confirmation of fault detection, e.g. extra checks to confirm that a failure has indeed occurred
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0286 Modifications to the monitored process, e.g. stopping operation or adapting control

Abstract

A monitoring system for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a building includes a monitoring device installed at the building, a monitoring server located remotely from the building, and a review server. The monitoring device measures an aggregate current supplied to components of the HVAC system and transmits current data based on the measured aggregate current. The monitoring server receives the transmitted current data and, based on the received current data, assesses whether failures have occurred in first and second components of the HVAC components. The monitoring server generates a first advisory in response to determining that the failure has occurred in the first component. The review server provides the first advisory to a technician for review and, in response to the technician verifying that the failure has occurred, transmits a first alert.

Claims

1. A monitoring system for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a building, the monitoring system comprising:

a monitoring device installed at the building, wherein the monitoring device is configured to (i) measure an aggregate current supplied to a plurality of components of the HVAC system and (ii) transmit current data based on the measured aggregate current;

a monitoring server, located remotely from the building, configured to receive the transmitted current data and, based on the received current data, (i) assess whether a failure has occurred in a first component of the plurality of components of the HVAC system and (ii) assess whether a failure has occurred in a second component of the plurality of components of the HVAC system, wherein the monitoring server generates a first advisory in response to determining that the failure has occurred in the first component; and

a review server that provides the first advisory to a technician for review, wherein the review server, in response to the technician verifying that the failure has occurred in the first component, transmits a first alert.

2. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring server (i) selectively predicts an impending failure of the first component based on the received current data and (ii) generates a second advisory in response to the prediction of impending failure of the first component.

3. The monitoring system of claim 2 wherein the monitoring server (i) selectively predicts an impending failure of the second component based on the received current data and (ii) generates a third advisory in response to the prediction of the impending failure of the second component.

4. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the review server transmits the first alert to at least one of a customer and a contractor.

5. The monitoring system of claim 4 wherein the review server transmits the first alert to the contractor regardless of a first piece of data, and only selectively transmits the first alert to the customer based on the first piece of data.

6. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein:

a second advisory is generated in response to the monitoring server determining that the failure has occurred in the second component,

the review server provides the second advisory to one of a plurality of technicians for review,

the plurality of technicians includes the technician,

the review server, in response to the technician verifying that the failure has occurred in the second component, transmits a second alert.

7. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring device samples the aggregate current over a time period, performs a frequency domain analysis on the samples over the time period, and transmits frequency domain data to the monitoring server.

8. The monitoring system of claim 7 wherein the monitoring server identifies transition points in the current data and analyzes the frequency domain data around the identified transition points.

9. The monitoring system of claim 7 wherein the monitoring server determines whether the failure has occurred in the first component by comparing the frequency domain data to baseline data.

10. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring device records control signals from a thermostat and transmits information based on the control signals to the monitoring server.

11. The monitoring system of claim 1 further comprising a second monitoring device located in close proximity to a second enclosure of the HVAC system,

wherein the second enclosure includes at least one of a compressor and a heat pump heat exchanger,

wherein the second monitoring device (i) measures an aggregate current supplied to a plurality of components of the second enclosure and (ii) transmits second current data based on the measured aggregate current to the monitoring device, and

wherein the monitoring device transmits the second current data to the monitoring server.

12. The monitoring system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of components of the HVAC system includes at least two components selected from:

a flame sensor, a solenoid-operated gas valve, a hot surface igniter, a circulator blower motor, an inducer blower motor, a compressor, a pressure switch, a capacitor, an air filter, a condensing coil, an evaporating coil, and a contactor.

13. A method of monitoring a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of a building, the method comprising:

using a monitoring device installed at the building, measuring an aggregate current supplied to a plurality of components of the HVAC system;

transmitting current data based on the measured aggregate current to a monitoring server located remotely from the building;

at the monitoring server, assessing whether a failure has occurred in a first component of the plurality of components of the HVAC system based on current data received from the monitoring device;

at the monitoring server, assessing whether a failure has occurred in a second component of the plurality of components of the HVAC system;

generating a first advisory in response to determining that the failure has occurred in the first component;

providing the first advisory to a technician for review; and

in response to the technician verifying that the failure has occurred in the first component, transmitting a first alert.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

selectively predicting an impending failure of the first component based on the received current data; and

generating a second advisory in response to the prediction of impending failure of the first component.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

selectively predicting an impending failure of the second component based on the received current data; and

generating a third advisory in response to the prediction of impending failure of the second component.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the first alert is transmitted to at least one of a customer and a contractor.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the first alert is transmitted to the contractor regardless of a first piece of data, and only selectively transmitted to the customer based on the first piece of data.

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

generating a second advisory in response to determining that the failure has occurred in the second component;

providing the second advisory to one of a plurality of technicians for review, wherein the plurality of technicians includes the technician; and

in response to the technician verifying that the failure has occurred in the second component, transmitting a second alert.

19. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

sampling the aggregate current over a time period;

performing a frequency domain analysis on the samples over the time period; and

transmitting frequency domain data to the monitoring server.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

identifying transition points in the current data; and

analyzing the frequency domain data around the identified transition points.

21. The method of claim 19 further comprising determining whether the failure has occurred in the first component by comparing the frequency domain data to baseline data.

22. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

recording control signals from a thermostat; and

transmitting information based on the control signals to the monitoring server.

23. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

at a second monitoring device located in close proximity to a second enclosure of the HVAC system, measuring an aggregate current supplied to a plurality of components of the second enclosure, wherein the second enclosure includes at least one of a compressor and a heat pump heat exchanger;

transmitting second current data based on the measured aggregate current from the second monitoring device to the monitoring device; and

transmitting the second current data to the monitoring server.

24. The method of claim 13 wherein the plurality of components of the HVAC system includes at least two components selected from:

a flame sensor, a solenoid-operated gas valve, a hot surface igniter, a circulator blower motor, an inducer blower motor, a compressor, a pressure switch, a capacitor, an air filter, a condensing coil, an evaporating coil, and a contactor.