Energy-saving and consumption-reducing control method and system for cooling tower

Abstract

The invention discloses an energy-saving and consumption-reducing control method and system for a cooling tower, and relates to the field of cooling equipment. The frequency conversion multi-split operation mode is adopted, the mode flexibly adjusts the operation states of the cooling towers according to the dynamic changes of the environment temperature and the cooling requirement, when the environment temperature is high and the cooling requirement is increased, the system automatically increases the frequency of the frequency converter, more cooling towers are started to be put into operation according to the actual situation, and the sufficient cooling capacity is ensured; the requirements of application scenes such as industrial production on cooling efficiency are met; and when the environment temperature is low and the cooling requirement is correspondingly reduced, the frequency of the frequency converter is reduced, the number of cooling towers in operation is reduced in time, unnecessary consumption of energy is avoided, the purposes of saving energy and reducing consumption are achieved, the intelligent and self-adaptive operation mode ensures the cooling effect, meanwhile, the energy utilization efficiency is remarkably improved, and the energy conservation and consumption reduction are achieved. And the overall performance of the system is optimized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of cooling equipment. Specifically, it particularly relates to a control method and control system for energy conservation and consumption reduction of cooling towers. Background Art

[0002] In industrial production and various application scenarios involving cooling requirements, as a key cooling equipment, the operating efficiency and energy consumption level of cooling towers directly affect the economic performance and operating stability of the entire system. The energy-saving optimization of cooling tower fans has always been a key concern in the industry. Through long-term practice and research, it has been found that controlling the fan speed is the core and effective way to achieve energy conservation of cooling tower fans. Specifically, by making targeted adjustments and optimizations to the motor control system, the operating speed of the motor can be accurately adjusted, and then the fan speed can be flexibly controlled. This measure provides a clear direction for solving the energy consumption problem of cooling towers. In the early stage, the traditional operating mode of cooling tower motors was relatively single, mainly relying on manual operation. The motor could only be started or stopped in the power frequency state. This extensive control method exposed obvious drawbacks in the actual operation process. To ensure that the outlet water temperature of the cooling tower reaches the preset standard, one or more fans often need to be continuously operated at the power frequency state. However, in some working conditions, this is likely to cause the water temperature to be too low, resulting in a large amount of unnecessary energy waste, increasing the operating cost, and reducing the overall economy of the system. With the continuous development of technology, the variable frequency speed regulation method emerged and has been widely used in the field of cooling tower energy conservation. This method breaks through the limitations of the traditional control mode and makes the operating mode of the motor more flexible and diverse. Especially in seasons with relatively low ambient temperatures such as autumn and winter, it is not necessary to keep all fans running at the power frequency state. Through variable frequency speed regulation, the fan speed can be accurately adjusted according to the actual cooling requirements, thus significantly reducing the operating energy consumption and achieving remarkable results in cost savings. Nevertheless, the currently commonly used control method of variable frequency 1-to-1 + PLC + touch screen gradually shows a series of problems that need to be solved in the actual application process. First of all, this control method requires a large investment in hardware equipment and software programming, significantly increasing the overall investment cost and debugging cost, and posing relatively high requirements for the enterprise's financial and technical resources. Secondly, from the perspective of control logic, this method has obvious defects. All cooling tower fans uniformly control the operating frequency of the motor based on the outlet water temperature. This "one-size-fits-all" control strategy lacks flexibility and pertinence, resulting in the motor often being in the low-frequency operating state for a long time. The long-term low-frequency operation of the motor will cause a series of problems such as poor heat dissipation and torque fluctuation, greatly shortening the service life of the motor, increasing the equipment maintenance cost and downtime risk, and seriously affecting the stable operation and economic benefits of the cooling tower system. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In view of the problems in the related art, the present invention proposes a control method and control system for energy saving and consumption reduction of a cooling tower to overcome the above-mentioned technical problems existing in the existing related art.

[0004] To solve the above technical problems, the present invention is realized through the following technical solutions:

[0005] The present invention provides a control method for energy saving and consumption reduction of a cooling tower. The specific steps are as follows:

[0006] According to the actual cooling demand, the user sets the number of cooling towers to be enabled in the parameter setting interface of the cooling tower intelligent controller. The cooling tower intelligent controller controls the start of the cooling tower water circulation systems in the corresponding number of cooling towers. At the same time, the cooling tower intelligent controller controls the opening of the fans in the corresponding cooling towers through frequency converters to cool the water in the cooling towers.

[0007] The inlet water temperature sensor and outlet water temperature sensor in the cooling tower are used to detect the inlet and outlet water temperatures of the cooling tower. When the outlet water temperature of the cooling tower cannot meet the pre-set temperature requirement, the cooling tower intelligent controller adjusts and increases the power of the fan through the frequency converter to increase the cooling capacity of the fan; when the outlet water temperature of the cooling tower is lower than the pre-set temperature requirement, the cooling tower intelligent controller adjusts and reduces the power of the fan through the frequency converter to reduce the cooling capacity of the fan.

[0008] Further, when the cooling tower starts, one cooling tower is started in a variable frequency manner to make it smoothly put into operation. During the operation process, if this cooling tower still cannot meet the pre-set temperature requirement when the frequency of the frequency converter reaches 50Hz, then this cooling tower will automatically switch to the industrial frequency operation mode to provide stronger cooling capacity. Subsequently, the frequency converter will start the next cooling tower according to the same process, and so on in turn until the actual working condition requirements are met.

[0009] Further, when the outlet water temperature of the cooling tower is lower than the pre-set temperature requirement, if the fan frequency drops to the pre-set minimum operating frequency value and the outlet tower temperature is still lower than the pre-set temperature, at this time the cooling tower intelligent controller will stop the currently operating cooling tower, and at the same time the remaining cooling towers operating at industrial frequency will be sequentially converted to the variable frequency operation mode. Through this orderly adjustment, until the outlet water temperature reaches the pre-set temperature, to ensure that the cooling system always works in the best operating state.

[0010] Further, the cooling tower intelligent controller is provided with a memory module. When the cooling system stops running, the cooling tower intelligent controller will automatically record the tower numbers of the currently operating cooling towers. When the cooling system is started next time, it will start running from the cooling tower with the next tower number, so that the cooling towers are used alternately.

[0011] Furthermore, the cooling system is provided with an automatic tower switching function. When the automatic tower switching time set by the user in the parameter settings is not zero, the intelligent controller of the cooling tower will automatically perform the tower switching operation at the set time interval to ensure that each cooling tower can work alternately. When the user sets the automatic tower switching time to zero, the system will not perform this tower switching action.

[0012] Furthermore, the intelligent controller of the cooling tower is provided with a function of automatically storing fault records. During the operation, once a fault occurs, the intelligent controller of the cooling tower will capture and record the relevant fault information in detail, including the time when the fault occurs, the equipment involved, and the type of the fault.

[0013] The present invention also discloses a control system for energy saving and consumption reduction of a cooling tower, which includes an intelligent controller of the cooling tower, a frequency converter, a fan arranged in the cooling tower, a water circulation system of the cooling tower, an inlet temperature sensor and an outlet temperature sensor. The inlet temperature sensor and the outlet temperature sensor are used to detect the inlet and outlet water temperatures of the cooling tower. The water circulation system of the cooling tower is used to drive the water circulation of the cooling tower. The fan is used to cool the water in the cooling tower by air cooling.

[0014] The present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0015] The present invention abandons the traditional one-to-one frequency conversion control method and innovatively adopts a one-drive-multiple frequency conversion operation mode. This mode flexibly adjusts the operation state of the cooling tower according to the dynamic changes of the environmental temperature and the cooling demand. When the environmental temperature is high and the cooling demand increases, the system automatically increases the frequency of the frequency converter and starts more cooling towers to operate according to the actual situation to ensure sufficient cooling capacity and meet the requirements of cooling efficiency in application scenarios such as industrial production. When the environmental temperature is low and the cooling demand decreases accordingly, the frequency of the frequency converter is reduced, and the number of operating cooling towers is appropriately reduced in a timely manner to avoid unnecessary energy consumption and achieve the goal of energy saving and consumption reduction. This intelligent and adaptive operation method significantly improves the energy utilization efficiency and optimizes the overall performance of the system while ensuring the cooling effect.

[0016] Of course, it is not necessary for any product implementing the present invention to achieve all the above-mentioned advantages at the same time. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the invention, the drawings required for describing the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0018] Figure 1 It is a block diagram of the cooling system of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 This is the control schematic diagram of the cooling tower of the present invention. Specific embodiments

[0020] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the invention.

[0021] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "opening", "upper", "lower", "top", "middle", "inner", etc. indicating the orientation or position relationship are only for the convenience of describing the invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the components or elements referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be construed as a limitation to the invention.

[0022] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 2 As shown, the present invention is a method for controlling energy saving and consumption reduction of a cooling tower. The specific steps are as follows:

[0023] The user sets the number of cooling towers to be enabled in the parameter setting interface of the cooling tower intelligent controller according to the actual cooling demand. The cooling tower intelligent controller controls the start of the cooling tower water circulation system in the corresponding number of cooling towers. At the same time, the cooling tower intelligent controller controls the opening of the fans in the corresponding cooling towers through the frequency converter to cool the water in the cooling towers.

[0024] The inlet water temperature sensor and outlet water temperature sensor in the cooling tower are used to detect the inlet and outlet water temperatures of the cooling tower. When the outlet water temperature of the cooling tower cannot meet the pre-set temperature requirement, the cooling tower intelligent controller adjusts and increases the power of the fan through the frequency converter to increase the cooling capacity of the fan; when the outlet water temperature of the cooling tower is lower than the pre-set temperature requirement, the cooling tower intelligent controller adjusts and reduces the power of the fan through the frequency converter to reduce the cooling capacity of the fan.

[0025] Specifically, when the cooling tower starts, one cooling tower is started in a variable frequency manner to make it smoothly put into operation. During the operation, if this cooling tower still cannot meet the pre-set temperature requirement when the frequency of the frequency converter reaches 50Hz, then this cooling tower will automatically switch to the industrial frequency operation mode to provide stronger cooling capacity. Subsequently, the frequency converter will start the next cooling tower according to the same process, and so on in turn until the actual working condition requirements are met.

[0026] Specifically, when the outlet water temperature of the cooling tower is lower than the pre-set temperature requirement, if the fan frequency drops to the pre-set minimum operating frequency value and the outlet tower temperature is still lower than the pre-set temperature, the intelligent controller of the cooling tower will stop the currently operating cooling tower. At the same time, the other cooling towers operating at industrial frequency will be sequentially converted to the variable frequency operation mode. Through this orderly adjustment, until the outlet water temperature reaches the pre-set temperature, to ensure that the cooling system always works in the best operating state, which not only guarantees the cooling effect but also realizes energy conservation and consumption reduction.

[0027] Specifically, the intelligent controller of the cooling tower is equipped with a memory module. When the cooling system stops running, the intelligent controller of the cooling tower will automatically record the tower numbers of the currently operating cooling towers. When the cooling system is started next time, it will start running from the cooling tower with the next tower number. In this way, the working time of each cooling tower is reasonably allocated, effectively avoiding the situation that some equipment is overused while some equipment is idle, and improving the reliability and economy of the entire cooling system.

[0028] Specifically, the cooling system is set with an automatic tower change function. When the automatic tower change time set by the user in the parameter setting is not zero, the intelligent controller of the cooling tower will automatically execute the tower change operation at the set time interval to ensure that each cooling tower can work alternately. When the user sets the automatic tower change time to zero, the system will not execute this tower change action. Similarly, through tower change and alternate use, the working time of each cooling tower is reasonably allocated, effectively avoiding the situation that some equipment is overused while some equipment is idle, and improving the reliability and economy of the entire cooling system.

[0029] Specifically, the intelligent controller of the cooling tower is set with a function of automatically storing fault records. During the operation process, once a fault occurs, the intelligent controller of the cooling tower will capture and record in detail the relevant fault information, including the time of fault occurrence, the equipment involved, and the fault type. These records can be viewed by the user at any time, providing detailed and reliable data support for fault diagnosis and equipment maintenance, helping to quickly locate the problem and take effective solutions to ensure the stable operation of the cooling system.

[0030] The present invention also discloses a control system for energy conservation and consumption reduction of a cooling tower, including an intelligent controller of the cooling tower, an inverter, a fan arranged in the cooling tower, a cooling tower water circulation system, an inlet water temperature sensor, and an outlet water temperature sensor. The inlet water temperature sensor and the outlet water temperature sensor are used to detect the inlet and outlet water temperatures of the cooling tower. The cooling tower water circulation system is used to drive the water circulation of the cooling tower. The fan is used to cool the water in the cooling tower by air cooling.

[0031] In the description of this specification, the descriptions referring to the terms "one embodiment", "example", "specific example", etc. mean that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner.

[0032] The preferred embodiments of the invention disclosed above are only used to help illustrate the invention. The preferred embodiments do not describe all the details in detail, nor do they limit the invention to the specific embodiments described. Obviously, many modifications and variations can be made according to the content of this specification. These embodiments are selected and specifically described in this specification in order to better explain the principles and practical applications of the invention, so that those skilled in the art can well understand and utilize the invention.

Claims

1. A cooling tower energy saving and consumption reduction control method, characterized in that: The specific steps are: The user sets the number of cooling towers to be activated in the parameter setting interface of the cooling tower intelligent controller according to the actual cooling needs. The cooling tower intelligent controller controls the cooling tower water circulation system in the corresponding number of cooling towers to start. At the same time, the cooling tower intelligent controller controls the fans in the corresponding cooling towers to start through the inverter to cool the water in the cooling towers. The inlet and outlet water temperatures of the cooling tower are detected by the water inlet temperature sensor and the water outlet temperature sensor in the cooling tower. When the outlet water temperature of the cooling tower cannot meet the preset temperature requirement, the cooling tower intelligent controller increases the power of the fan through the frequency converter to increase the cooling capacity of the fan; and when the outlet water temperature of the cooling tower is lower than the preset temperature requirement, the cooling tower intelligent controller reduces the power of the fan through the frequency converter to reduce the cooling capacity of the fan.

2. A cooling tower energy saving and consumption reduction control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the cooling tower is started, a cooling tower is started in frequency conversion mode to allow it to run smoothly. During operation, if the cooling tower still cannot meet the pre-set temperature requirements when the inverter frequency reaches 50Hz, then this cooling tower will automatically switch to the industrial frequency operation mode to provide stronger cooling capacity. Subsequently, the inverter will start the next cooling tower according to the same process, and start it in a cycle until the actual working conditions are met.

3. A cooling tower energy saving and consumption reduction control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the outlet water temperature of the cooling tower is lower than the preset temperature requirement, if the fan frequency drops to the preset minimum operating frequency value, if the outlet tower temperature is still lower than the preset temperature, the cooling tower intelligent controller will stop the currently running cooling tower, and the remaining cooling towers running at the industrial frequency will be converted to variable frequency operation mode in turn. Through this orderly adjustment, until the outlet water temperature reaches the preset temperature, it can ensure that the cooling system always works in the best operating state.

4. A cooling tower energy saving and consumption reduction control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cooling tower intelligent controller is equipped with a memory module. When the cooling system stops running, the cooling tower intelligent controller will automatically record the tower number of the cooling tower currently in operation. When the cooling system is started next time, it will start running from the cooling tower with the next tower number so that the cooling towers can be used alternately.

5. A cooling tower energy saving and consumption reduction control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cooling system is equipped with an automatic tower inversion function. When the automatic tower inversion time set by the user in the parameter setting is not zero, the cooling tower intelligent controller will automatically perform the tower replacement operation at the set time interval to ensure that each cooling tower can work alternately. When the user sets the automatic tower inversion time to zero, the system will not perform the tower inversion action.

6. A cooling tower energy saving and consumption reduction control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cooling tower intelligent controller is equipped with the function of automatically storing fault records. During operation, once a fault occurs, the cooling tower intelligent controller will capture and record the relevant fault information in detail, including the time when the fault occurred, the equipment involved and the type of fault.

7. A cooling tower energy saving and consumption reduction control system, characterized in that: It includes a cooling tower intelligent controller, a frequency converter, a fan arranged in the cooling tower, a cooling tower water circulation system, an inlet temperature sensor and an outlet temperature sensor. The inlet temperature sensor and the outlet temperature sensor are used to detect the inlet and outlet water temperatures of the cooling tower. The cooling tower water circulation system is used to drive the cooling tower to circulate water. The fan is used to cool the water in the cooling tower by air.

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