Air-conditioning controlling system

• US 6,454,177 B1
• Filed: 03/09/2001
• Issued: 09/24/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Nakajima, Tadakatsu, Sasao, Keiji
• Primary Examiner(s): WAYNER, WILLIAM E
• Application Number:
  US09/801,700
• Publication Number:
  US 20020033252A1
• Time in Patent Office: 564 Days
• Field of Search: 700/277, 700/291, 700/295, 307/39, 236/46.R, 236/51, 236/91.C, 236/94, 236/44.R
• US Class Current: 236/46.00R
• 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 11/54 using one central controller connected to several sub-controllers
• 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: F24F 11/64 using pre-stored data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/00 Control inputs relating to environmental factors not covered by group F24F2110/00
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2130/10 Weather information or forecasts
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 6/18 by injection of steam into the air
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 80/10 Efficient use of energy, e.g. using compressed air or pressurized fluid as energy carrier

Abstract

An air-conditioning operation management company provides control information concerning air-conditioning equipments to a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing factories. The air-conditioning operation management company stores a measured result of an outside-air condition measuring unit in a past outside-air condition record database and obtains forecasted maximum temperature information on-that day from a weather forecast providing system. An outside-air condition transition forecasting unit forecasts all, transition of the outside-air condition on that day on the basis of the forecasted maximum temperature information. Information stored in an air-conditioning thermal load database, an air-conditioning equipment characteristic database and a set-temperature-and-humidity-of-air-conditioning-equipment database are employed to provide an optimum operation method of the air-conditioning equipments to the semiconductor manufacturing factories. Further, a forecasted result of an outside-air condition transition, an analyzed result of an air-conditioning thermal load and an analyzed result of a controlling method are displayed in customer terminals.

Claims

1. An air-conditioning controlling system for providing a controlling method of an air-conditioning equipment including a number of control components to a factory or company provided with said air conditioning equipment from an operation management company, wherein air-conditioning loads in said factory or company are classified into loads depending on an outside-air condition and loads based on a product plan and said operation management company provides said control method of controlling said control components constituting said air-conditioning equipment with said loads depending on the outside-air condition on the basis of a forecasted outside-air condition on that day calculated from past outside-air condition records on and before the previous data at least and of controlling said control components constituting said air-conditioning equipment with said loads based on said product plan in substantially the same condition as on the previous day, to said factory or company.

2. An air-conditioning controlling system according to claim 1, wherein said operation management company includes a past outside-air condition record database in which past records of outside-air conditions on and before the previous day are stored and an air-conditioning thermal load database and predicts loads depending on outside-air conditions on that day on basis of a forecasted maximum temperature on that day obtained from weather forecast providing means through a network, past outside-air condition record data and load data on and before the previous day.

3. An air-conditioning controlling system according to claim 1, wherein said operation management company sequentially corrects a coefficient in a temporal variation term of a forecast equation for outside-air temperature and humidity on the basis of a time change rate of a measured value of an outside-air temperature on that day when a difference between the time change rate of the measured value of the outside-air temperature on that day and a time change rate of a transition value of a forecasted outside-air temperature is larger than a predetermined permissible value.

4. An air-conditioning controlling system in a semiconductor manufacturing factory connected to an operation management company through a network, wherein

said operation management company includes forecast means for forecasting a transition of an outside-air condition on that day, air-conditioning thermal load predicting means for predicting an air-conditioning thermal load, means for analyzing an air-conditioning controlling method, means for collecting and adding amounts of energy used, and a first local network for connecting said above-mentioned means;

and

said semiconductor manufacturing factory includes means for measuring an outside-air condition, customer terminals, means for measuring an amount of energy used, means for measuring an operating state of air-conditioning equipments, a second local network for connecting said measuring means, and air-conditioning equipments for air-conditioning semiconductor manufacturing facilities;

a past outside-air condition record database, an air-conditioning equipment characteristic database, a set-temperature-and-humidity-of-air-conditioning-equipment database and an air-conditioning thermal load database being connected to any of said first or second local network;

weather forecast providing means being connected to said first local network through the internet or a public network;

results measured by said outside-air condition measuring means being stored in said past outside-air condition record database;

said outside-air condition transition forecasting means forecasting a transition in future of an outside-air condition on the basis of information stored in said past outside-air condition record database and information provided by said weather forecast providing means;

information of thermal loads generated in said semiconductor manufacturing facilities being stored in said air-conditioning thermal load database;

said air-conditioning thermal load predicting means predicting a thermal load in future in said semiconductor manufacturing factory on the basis of information acquired from said outside-air condition transition forecasting means and said air-conditioning thermal load database through said first local network;

set values of temperature and humidity of said air-conditioning equipments being stored in said set-temperature-and-humidity-of-air-conditioning-equipment database;

said air-conditioning controlling method analyzing means analyzing said controlling method of said air-conditioning equipments on the basis of information acquired from said air-conditioning thermal load predicting means, said air-conditioning equipment characteristic database and said set-temperature-and-humidity-of-air-conditioning-equipment database;

said customer terminals displaying at least one of information acquired from said outside-air condition transition forecasting means, said air-conditioning thermal load predicting means and said air-conditioning controlling method analyzing means through the internet or the public network;

said outside-air condition measuring means, said past outside-air condition record database, said weather forecast providing means, said outside-air condition forecasting means, said air-conditioning thermal load database, said air-conditioning thermal load predicting means, said air-conditioning equipment characteristic database, said set-temperature-and-humidity-of-air-conditioning-equipment database, said air-conditioning controlling method analyzing means and said terminal units being connected through the internet or the public network.

5. An air-conditioning controlling system according to claim 4, wherein said semiconductor manufacturing factory includes controlling method storing means for storing an analyzed result of said air-conditioning controlling method analyzing means and controlling means for acquiring information stored in said controlling method storing means and controlling said air-conditioning equipment, and said controlling method storing means and said controlling means are connected to said second local network.

6. An air-conditioning controlling system according to claim 4, wherein said semiconductor manufacturing factory includes said past outside-air condition record database, said air-conditioning equipment characteristic database, and said set-temperature-and-humidity-of-air-conditioning-equipment database, and said databases are connected to said second local database, said operation management company being connected to the internet or the public network so that said management company can acquire information stored in said databases.

7. An air-conditioning controlling system according to claim 4, wherein said semiconductor manufacturing factory includes said means for measuring an amount of energy used in said air-conditioning equipment, and said operation management company includes amount-of-energy-used collection and addition means for collecting and adding a measured result of said amount-of-energy-used measuring means, said amount-of-energy-used measuring means and said amount-of-energy-used collection and addition means being connected through the internet or the public network, an amount of energy used collected and added by said amount-of-energy-used collection and addition means being capable of being displayed in said terminal unit.

8. An air-conditioning controlling system according to claim 4, wherein when a difference between information forecasted by said outside-air condition transition forecasting means and information measured by said outside-air condition measuring means exceeds a predetermined permissible value, said outside-air condition transition forecasting means corrects a forecasting method.

9. An air-conditioning controlling system according to claim 4, comprising selectively inputting means capable of changing display contents in said terminal unit.

10. An air-conditioning controlling system according to claim 4, wherein said semiconductor manufacturing factory pays an amount of money obtained by multiplying a difference between an amount of energy used in said semiconductor manufacturing factory, previously obtained before implementation of the air-conditioning control and an amount of energy used upon the air-conditioning control, obtained by said amount-of-energy-used collection and addition means by a charge rate as an operation management charge to said operation management company.

11. An air-conditioning controlling system according to claim 4, wherein said semiconductor manufacturing factory pays an amount of money corresponding to a value obtained by multiplication of a period that the air-conditioning control is implemented, the number of air-conditioning equipments and a predetermined charge rate to said operation management company.