Monitoring apparatus and monitoring method

• US 9,995,498 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2015
• Issued: 06/12/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Azbil Corporation (Azbil BioVigilant Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Azbil Corporation (Azbil BioVigilant Incorporated)
• Inventors: Harayama, Kazuya, Miura, Mayumi, Tanaka, Masato
• Primary Examiner(s): Atkisson, Jianying
• Assistant Examiner(s): Schwarzenberg, Paul
• Application Number:
  US14/978,673
• Publication Number:
  US 20160187021A1
• Time in Patent Office: 903 Days
• Field of Search: 236 94, 165 111, 700276, 700278
• 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 11/46 Improving electric energy efficiency or saving
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/52 Indication arrangements, e.g. displays
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/523 for displaying temperature data
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/61 using timers
• 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 11/63 Electronic processing
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/77 by controlling the speed of ventilators
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/83 by controlling the supply of heat-exchange fluids to heat-exchangers
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/84 using valves
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/10 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2140/60 Energy consumption

Abstract

A monitoring apparatus includes an information obtaining unit that obtains, from a target VAV air conditioning system to be monitored, a room temperature and a variable air volume; a room temperature display processing unit that displays, in a form of a graph, the room temperature obtained from the target VAV air conditioning system to be monitored; a controllable range calculating unit that calculates a length of a bar of a bar graph indicating a controllable range on the basis of the variable air volume; and a controllable range display processing unit that displays the bar graph including the bar having the length calculated by the controllable range calculating unit such that the bar graph is overlapped with the room temperature.

Claims

1. A monitoring apparatus for monitoring a system state of a room-temperature-fluctuation air conditioning system that performs air conditioning by controlling a heating medium flow rate and a heating medium temperature and that changes a room temperature set value in accordance with a predetermined schedule or a room-temperature-fluctuation heating medium transport system that controls a heating medium flow rate and a heating medium temperature and that changes a room temperature set value in accordance with a predetermined schedule, the monitoring apparatus comprising:

processing circuitry configured to

obtain, from a target system to be monitored, a room temperature and a heating medium flow rate or an operation amount for controlling the heating medium flow rate;

control a display to display a graph, the graph including at least a time axis and a temperature axis, the graph including the room temperature obtained from the target system to be monitored, the room temperature changing in the temperature axis along the time axis reflecting a temporal change of the room temperature;

calculate a length of a bar to be overlapped on the graph, the bar indicating a controllable range of the heating medium flow rate or a controllable range of the operation amount; and

control the display to overlap the bar on the graph, the bar being provided to at least a time point in the time axis, the bar extending in the temperature axis, a first location of one edge of the bar in the temperature axis corresponding to a first temperature when the heating medium flow rate or the operation amount is 0% of the controllable range, a second location of another edge of the bar in the temperature axis corresponding to a second temperature when the heating medium flow rate or the operation amount is 100% of the controllable range.

2. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

obtain predetermined schedule information about a room temperature set value from the target system to be monitored; and

control the display to display, on the basis of the schedule information, estimated fluctuation of the room temperature set value for a coming certain time period.

3. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to calculate the length of the bar on the basis of the heating medium flow rate or the operation amount, by using a conversion rate at which the heating medium flow rate or the operation amount is to be converted to a room temperature.

4. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

obtain a heating medium temperature from the target system to be monitored; and

calculate the length of the bar on the basis of the heating medium flow rate or the operation amount, by using the conversion rate corresponding to the heating medium temperature.

5. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to calculate, in advance, a conversion rate on the basis of a room temperature and a heating medium flow rate or an operation amount that have previously been obtained.

6. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the target system to be monitored is a variable air volume air conditioning system, and

the heating medium flow rate is a variable air volume and the heating medium temperature is a supply air temperature.

13. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second temperatures change as an air conditioning load of the room-temperature-fluctuation air conditioning system changes.

7. A monitoring method for monitoring a system state of a room-temperature-fluctuation air conditioning system that performs air conditioning by controlling a heating medium flow rate and a heating medium temperature and that changes a room temperature set value in accordance with a predetermined schedule or a room-temperature-fluctuation heating medium transport system that controls a heating medium flow rate and a heating medium temperature and that changes a room temperature set value in accordance with a predetermined schedule, the monitoring method comprising:

obtaining, from a target system to be monitor a room temperature and a heating medium flow rate or an operation amount for controlling the heating medium flow rate;

controlling a display to display a graph, the graph including at least a time axis and a temperature axis, the graph including the room temperature obtained from the target system to be monitored, the room temperature changing in the temperature axis along the time axis reflecting a temporal change of the room temperature;

calculating, using processing circuitry, a length of a bar to be overlapped on the graph, the bar indicating a controllable range of the heating medium flow rate or a controllable range of the operation amount; and

controlling the display to overlap the bar on the graph, the bar being provided to at least a time point in the time axis, the bar extending in the temperature axis, a first location of one edge of the bar in the temperature axis corresponding to a first temperature when the heating medium flow rate or the operation amount is 0% of the controllable range, a second location of another edge of the bar in the temperature axis corresponding to a second temperature when the heating medium flow rate or the operation amount is 100% of the controllable range.

8. The monitoring method according to claim 7, further comprising:

obtaining predetermined schedule information about a room temperature set value from the target system to be monitored; and

controlling the display to display, on the basis of the schedule information, estimated fluctuation of the room temperature set value for a coming certain time period.

9. The monitoring method according to claim 7, wherein the calculating includes calculating the length of the bar on the basis of the heating medium flow rate or the operation amount, by using a conversion rate at which the heating medium flow rate or the operation amount is to be converted to a room temperature.

10. The monitoring method according to claim 9, further comprising:

obtaining a heating medium temperature from the target system to be monitored; and

calculating the length of the bar on the basis of the heating medium flow rate or the operation amount, by using the conversion rate corresponding to the heating medium temperature.

11. The monitoring method according to claim 7, further comprising:

calculating, in advance, a conversion rate on the basis of a room temperature and a heating medium flow rate or an operation amount that have previously been obtained.

12. The monitoring method according to claim 7, wherein

the target system to be monitored is a variable air volume air conditioning system, and

the heating medium flow rate is a variable air volume and the heating medium temperature is a supply air temperature.