Pump controller system and method

• US 9,328,727 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2010
• Issued: 05/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pentair Flow Technologies LLC (Pentair Plc (Ireland))
• Original Assignee: Pentair Water Pool And Spa Incorporated (Pentair Plc (Ireland))
• Inventors: Koehl, Robert M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bertheaud, Peter J
• Application Number:
  US12/973,778
• Publication Number:
  US 20110181431A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,961 Days
• Field of Search: 417/44.1, 417/44.11, 417/45
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 49/06 Control using electricity regulating by means of floats actuating electric switches F04B49/04
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 49/065 and making use of computers
• CPC Class Codes: F04B 49/10 Other safety measures
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 15/0066 by changing the speed, e.g. of the driving engine
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 15/0088 Testing machines
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 15/02 Stopping of pumps, or operating valves, on occurrence of unwanted conditions
• CPC Class Codes: F04D 15/0236 Lack of liquid level being detected by analysing the parameters of the electric drive, e.g. current or power consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/37371 Flow
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 16/202 actuated by an electric motor
• CPC Class Codes: H02H 7/0852 directly responsive to abnormal temperature by using a temperature sensor in a control circuit H02H7/0833
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 29/00 Arrangements for regulating or controlling electric motors, appropriate for both AC and DC motors arrangements for starting electric motors H02P1/00; arrangements for stopping or slowing electric motors H02P3/00; control of motors that can be connected to two or more different electric power supplies H02P4/00; regulating or controlling the speed or torque of two or more electric motors H02P5/00; vector control H02P21/00

Abstract

A method and apparatus for a pump control system. One or more embodiments of the invention include a pump controller that can perform a self-calibrating procedure, can provide precise motor speed control, can provide a limp mode before shutting down the motor when system parameters are exceeded and/or fault conditions occur, can detect fault conditions, and can store fault conditions for later retrieval.

Claims

1. A method of detecting a foreign object obstruction to fluid circulation in a pool or spa having a pump control system including a pump driven by a motor, the method comprising:

measuring a voltage and a current of the pump control system;

determining a power factor of the pump control system including operating a power factor correction module to correct the power factor to a substantially constant corrected value;

determining whether a fault condition has occurred due to the presence of a foreign object obstruction based on the voltage, the current, and the corrected power factor;

shutting down the motor when the fault condition has occurred; and

indicating to a user that the fault condition has occurred.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein measuring the voltage includes sensing an AC line voltage.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein measuring the current includes sensing an AC line current.

4. The method of claim 1 and further comprising indicating to a user that the fault condition has occurred using at least one light-emitting diode.

5. The method of claim 1 and further comprising sensing a pressure in order to determine whether the fault condition has occurred.

6. The method of claim 1 and further comprising sensing a temperature in order to determine whether the fault condition has occurred.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein operating the power factor correction module includes operating a power factor correction circuit to regulate the power factor.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the power factor correction circuit includes a converter and a rectifier module.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the power factor includes regulating the power factor to be 0.9 or greater.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the power factor includes regulating the power factor to be 0.98 or greater.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the power factor includes regulating a DC bus voltage associated with the motor to be a target DC bus voltage value over an operational range of the motor.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the target DC bus voltage value is about 350 V.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the target DC bus voltage value is about 380 V.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether a fault condition has occurred due to the presence of a foreign object obstruction based on the voltage, the current, and the corrected power factor includes determining whether a high-speed fault condition has occurred by determining a change in bus current with respect to time.

15. The method claim 1, further comprising sensing a pressure in an output line of the pump with a pressure sensor positioned between the pump and the pool or the spa, and wherein the pressure sensor is a 0-5V DC pressure sensor.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising sensing a flow in an output line of the pump with a flow sensor.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a temperature of a heatsink of a controller of the pump control system and shutting down the motor when the temperature of the heatsink exceeds a predetermined temperature value.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising shutting down the motor when an input is received from an automatic run-stop input switch, the automatic run-stop input switch providing the input when the automatic run-stop input switch is actuated.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising sensing a voltage of a DC bus line of the pump control system with a voltage sensor, and sensing a current of the DC bus line with a current sensor.

25. The method of claim 15, wherein the target bus voltage value is about 380 V.

20. A method of detecting a foreign object obstruction to fluid circulation with a pump control system including a controller and a pump driven by a motor, the method comprising:

the controller measuring a current being provided to the motor;

the controller regulating a bus voltage associated with the motor to a target bus voltage value over an operational range of the motor;

the controller regulating a power factor of the pump control system to a substantially constant corrected value;

the controller determining whether a fault condition has occurred due to the presence of a foreign object obstruction based on the regulated bus voltage at the target bus voltage, the measured current deviating outside of an acceptable range, and the regulated power factor; and

the controller shutting down a motor drive of the motor when the fault condition has occurred.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the step of shutting down the motor drive of the motor includes shutting down a variable speed motor drive of the motor.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the power factor is regulated to be 0.9 or greater.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the power factor is regulated to be 0.98 or greater.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the target bus voltage value is about 350 V.

26. The method of claim 20, further comprising sensing a pressure in an output line of the pump with a pressure sensor, and wherein the pressure sensor is at least one of a 4-20 mA pressure sensor and a 0-5V DC pressure sensor.

27. The method of claim 20, further comprising the controller communicating with an external device using a serial communication link, the external device allowing a user to read a plurality of parameters stored in an EEPROM memory of the controller.

28. The method of claim 20, further comprising determining a temperature of the controller and shutting down the motor when the temperature of the controller exceeds a predetermined temperature value and a voltage to the motor falls below a predetermined voltage level.

29. The method of claim 20, further comprising the controller shutting down the motor drive when a foreign object detection sensor provides an input to the controller indicating a foreign object obstruction.

30. The method of claim 20, wherein the controller includes a DSP, the DSP determining an AC bus current from a sensed DC bus line current using a plurality of conversion factors.

31. A method of detecting a foreign object obstruction to fluid circulation with a pump control system including a pump driven by a motor, the method comprising:

regulating a power factor of the pump control system to a constant value under varying pump loads;

regulating a DC bus voltage associated with the motor to a target DC bus voltage value over an operational range of the motor;

determining whether a fault condition has occurred due to the presence of a foreign object obstruction by determining a change in bus current with respect to time; and

shutting down a variable speed motor drive of the motor when the fault condition has occurred.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the power factor is regulated to be 0.9 or greater.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the power factor is regulated to be 0.98 or greater.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the target DC bus voltage value is about 350 V.

35. The method of claim 31, wherein the target DC bus voltage value is about 380 V.

36. The method of claim 31, further comprising sensing a pressure in an output line of the pump with a pressure sensor, and sensing a flow in the output line with a flow sensor.

37. The method of claim 31, further comprising determining a temperature correlated to a controller in the pump control system, and shutting down the variable speed motor drive of the motor when the temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature value, wherein the temperature is determined using a temperature sensor coupled to a heatsink of the controller, and further wherein the temperature sensor is at least one of a thermistor, a resistance temperature detector, and a thermocouple.

38. The method of claim 31, further comprising detecting a short circuit at an output to the motor, and shutting down the variable speed motor drive of the motor when the short circuit is detected.

39. The method of claim 31, further comprising driving the motor with the variable speed motor drive using a space vector pulse-width modulation technique.

40. The method of claim 31, wherein an over-pressure relief valve provides an input to a controller, and wherein the controller shuts down the variable speed motor drive when the input from the over-pressure relief valve is received.

41. A pump control system for detecting a foreign object obstruction in a pool or a spa fluid circulation system, the pump control system comprising:

an electric motor;

a pump driven by the electric motor;

a controller in communication with the electric motor, the controller comprising;

a current sensor operating to sense a current being provided to drive the electric motor; and

a module operating to regulate a voltage of the pump control system to a substantially constant target voltage during operation and to regulate a power factor of the pump control system to a substantially constant corrected value during operation; and

wherein the controller shuts down the electric motor when the sensed current is outside of a predetermined range of operational currents.

42. The pump control system of claim 41, further comprising a pressure sensor positioned between the pump and the pool or the spa to sense a pressure in an output line of the pump, wherein the pressure sensor is a 4-20 mA pressure sensor.

43. The pump control system of claim 41, further comprising a flow sensor positioned between the pump and the pool or the spa to sense a flow in an output line of the pump.

44. The pump control system of claim 41, wherein the pump control system is electrically connected to an AC power source and further wherein the electric motor is an AC induction motor.

45. The pump control system of claim 41, wherein the controller includes a digital signal processor and a microcontroller.

46. The pump control system of claim 41, further comprising a temperature sensor coupled to a heatsink of the controller, the temperature sensor providing an output signal corresponding to a temperature of the controller to an input of the controller, wherein the controller shuts down the electric motor when the temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature value.

47. The pump control system of claim 46, wherein the predetermined temperature value is 70 degrees Celsius.

48. The pump control system of claim 41, further comprising a run-stop input switch, the run-stop input switch providing an input signal to the controller, wherein the controller shuts down the electric motor when the run-stop input switch is actuated.

49. The pump control system of claim 48, wherein the run-stop input switch is a foreign object detection sensor.

50. The pump control system of claim 41, wherein the module is connected to a neutral line of an AC bus line, the module able to be operated at at least one of 115V AC and 230V AC.

51. The pump control system of claim 41, further comprising a plurality of drives electrically connected to the module via a DC bus line for driving the electric motor, the plurality of drives providing a three-phase output to the electric motor.

52. The pump control system of claim 51, further comprising a plurality of sensors, the plurality of sensors sensing at least one of a voltage on the DC bus line and a current on the DC bus line.

53. The pump control system of claim 51, wherein the controller can control the plurality of drives using a pulse width modulation output, wherein the pulse width modulation output has a switching frequency of 7.2 kHz.

54. The pump control system of claim 41, further comprising an external control device, the external control device allowing a user to configure a plurality of parameters of the pump control system.

55. The pump control system of claim 54, wherein the external control device further allowing the user to manually run the electric motor, manually stop the electric motor, and read a plurality of operating parameters associated with the pump control system.

56. The pump control system of claim 41, further comprising a terminal having a motor select switch to select a motor type, wherein each selectable motor type is associated with a plurality of default settings.

57. The pump control system of claim 56, wherein the plurality of default settings include at least one of a V/Hz curve, a voltage limit, a current limit, and a power limit.