Environmentally friendly product proposal system

Abstract

To provide an environmentally friendly product proposal system for proposing the timing of replacement of products and components, taking into account CO2 emissions during production and use.SOLUTION: In an environmentally friendly product proposal system 1, an estimation evaluation unit 20 includes: a past power consumption (CO2) result calculation unit 21 for calculating and outputting CO2 emissions generated at this time in time series on the basis of operation information of devices stored in an operation information storage unit; a modification component proposal selection unit 27 for sequentially extracting data of modification component proposals by referring to a modification component proposal database; a power consumption (CO2) estimation unit 23 for estimating future CO2 emissions of modified appliances equipped with the modification components for every year; a production / procurement CO2 emission calculation unit 25 for referring to procurement CO2 and production CO2 information for each component from the data of modification component proposals of the devices stored in the modification component proposal database; and a CO2 emission evaluation display unit 26 for displaying the predicted results of the CO2 emissions on a monitor or the like.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an environmentally friendly product proposal system. [Background technology]

[0002] In particular, industrial equipment is inspected at appropriate intervals to ensure long-term use, and some parts of the equipment are updated and replaced.

[0003] On the other hand, due to the recent increase in environmental awareness, there is a demand for devices and their component parts to be designed with consideration given to the environmental load.

[0004] In this regard, Patent Document 1 proposes that, for the purpose of making it possible to effectively reduce the environmental load in accordance with the user's set goals by making a comprehensive judgment about the various types of equipment used by a user and proposing a reduction plan to the user including replacing or adding equipment, "the energy-saving server comprises: equipment specification information storage means for storing, for each piece of equipment, equipment specification information including the environmental load of each piece of equipment; a plan generation unit for generating a plurality of reduction plans for reducing the total environmental load by using, alone or in combination, equipment configurations when part of the configuration of the current equipment used by the user is replaced with other equipment having a lower environmental load than the current equipment, equipment configurations when other equipment is added which will reduce the total environmental load more than the current equipment, and control patterns as the operating states of the equipment; and a plan evaluation unit for calculating the total environmental load when the reduction plans generated by the plan generation unit are implemented, and selecting, from the reduction plans generated by the plan generation unit, a reduction plan whose total environmental load satisfies the set reduction goal." [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-222545 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] According to Patent Document 1, this object can be achieved.

[0007] In response to this, it is expected that there will be an emerging need for future equipment updates to minimize CO2 emissions based on operation information before the update and in accordance with customer usage (operation information).

[0008] However, depending on the frequency and usage of the product, it is necessary to consider whether to prioritize CO2 emissions during manufacturing or during use. Also, if the timing of updates is delayed, sudden breakdowns may lead to the replacement of parts other than the broken part, which may increase CO2 emissions.

[0009] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an environmentally friendly product proposal system that can propose products and timing for renewal that take into account CO2 emissions both during manufacture and use. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In view of the above, the present invention provides an environmentally friendly product proposal system that supports part replacement of equipment composed of a plurality of parts, comprising: a first CO2 emission estimation unit that estimates past CO2 emissions from chronological usage data of the equipment; a database that stores information on CO2 emissions related to proposed repair parts for parts; a second CO2 emission estimation unit that refers to the database and estimates CO2 emissions when the equipment is replaced for each proposed repair part; a third CO2 emission estimation unit that refers to the database and estimates CO2 emissions after the equipment is replaced for each proposed repair part; and a display unit that chronologically adds and displays the CO2 emission estimates from the first CO2 emission estimation unit, the CO2 emission estimates from the second CO2 emission estimation unit, and the CO2 emission estimates from the third CO2 emission estimation unit. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an environmentally friendly product proposal system that can propose products and timing for renewal taking into consideration CO2 emissions both during manufacture and use. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an environmentally friendly product proposal system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of operation information D1 stored in an operation information storage unit DB1 according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of modification part plan data D2 stored in a modification part plan database DB2. [Figure 4] A diagram showing the relationship between operation period and CO2 emissions. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the relationship between the operating state before and after repair. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an environmentally friendly product proposal system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of operation information D1 stored in an operation information storage unit DB1 according to the second embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an environmentally friendly product proposal system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a modified configuration example of the environmentally friendly product proposal system of FIG. 8. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an environmentally friendly product proposal system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 shows an example of a display of the amount of CO2 emissions associated with replacing a faulty part. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow when processing is performed using a computer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. EXAMPLES

[0014] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an environmentally friendly product proposal system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Since the environmentally friendly product proposal system is configured using a computer, Fig. 1 shows a configuration example using a database and processing functions executed by a calculation unit of the computer.

[0015] The environmentally friendly product proposal system 1 is configured with an estimation evaluation unit 20 that estimates the amount of environmental load (CO2 emissions) as a minimum component, and in this case utilizes operation information D1 of the equipment to be managed. The equipment operation information D1 is information acquired by an operation information acquisition unit 10 and stored in an operation information storage unit DB1. Note that in this case, the equipment to be managed and the operation information acquisition unit 10 may be the company's own equipment or another company's equipment, and the present invention is applicable in either case.

[0016] The operation information acquisition unit 10 measures the power of the device 11 to be managed using the power meter unit 12, grasps it as the amount of power, for example, per hour, in the power usage calculation unit 13, and accumulates and stores it in the operation information memory unit DB1 as operation information D1 of the device 11 to be managed.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of operation information D1 stored in the operation information storage unit DB1. The operation information D1 stores the amount of power in chronological order by storing the amount of power D13 during a usage time period D12 (e.g., one hour period) for each managed device name D11.

[0018] The estimation evaluation unit 20 uses the operation information D1 and the repair part plan information D2 stored in the repair part plan database DB2 to estimate the environmental load. Here, repair parts refer to multiple parts that make up the equipment 11. By replacing only the parts on occasions such as regular inspections, it is possible to extend the life of the equipment and improve the equipment performance. Note that it is desirable to have multiple types of repair parts with different specifications prepared for each part.

[0019] 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of repair part proposal data D2 stored in the repair part proposal database DB2, and includes information such as repair proposal D21, component part D22, CO2 at procurement (D23), CO2 at manufacturing (D24), and CO2 / electricity amount D25. According to the example of this component part D22, if part D22 of a device 11 currently in use is a motor A, structure A, in addition to motor A, structure A, motor B, structure B and motor A, structure B are also prepared as repair proposal candidates.

[0020] In the present invention, for each of these improvement plans, and therefore for each component part, information on the environmental load (CO2 emissions) during procurement, manufacturing, and operation of the part is stored. Here, the CO2 emissions during procurement D23 are the CO2 emissions required for the part manufacturer to manufacture this part, the CO2 emissions during manufacturing D24 are the CO2 emissions required for the equipment manufacturer to install this part in the equipment 11, and the CO2 emissions during operation D25 are the CO2 emissions generated during the subsequent operation of the equipment 11 incorporating this updated part.

[0021] Returning to Fig. 1, the estimation evaluation unit 20 estimates the environmental load using the above-mentioned equipment operation information D1 and repair part proposal data D2, and presents the environmental load estimation result for each repair part. In this case, the estimation result is presented as a series of transitions, with the equipment operation period evaluated in three stages: before repair T1, at the time of repair T2, and after repair T3, as shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between operation period and CO2 emissions.

[0022] In Fig. 4, the horizontal axis represents the number of years the equipment has been in use, and the vertical axis represents the amount of CO2 emissions for each year. In this estimation result, the change in T1 before renovation during the equipment operation period reflects the processing results in the past electricity usage (CO2) actual calculation section 21 in the estimation evaluation section 20 in Fig. 1, the change in T3 after renovation reflects the processing results in the electricity usage (CO2) estimation section 23, and the change in T2 at the time of renovation reflects the processing results in the CO2 emissions calculation section 25 for manufacturing and procurement.

[0023] The past power usage (CO2) calculation unit 21 in the estimation evaluation unit 20 in Fig. 1 calculates and outputs the environmental load (CO2 emissions) generated during the actual usage based on the equipment operation information D1 stored in the operation information storage unit DB1 in a chronological order. The transition before repair T1 in Fig. 4 shows the annual CO2 emissions as a cumulative value, so there is an increasing trend within the period T1. It is known that the environmental load (CO2 emissions) can be estimated from the power usage.

[0024] The modification part plan selection unit 27 in Fig. 1 sequentially extracts data D2 of modification part plans by referring to the modification part plan database DB2 illustrated in Fig. 3. For example, the same motor A, structure A parts as used until now, motor B, structure B parts which are candidates for the modification plan, and motor A, structure B which are also candidates for the modification plan are sequentially extracted.

[0025] Next, the CO2 emission calculation unit 25 for manufacturing and procurement refers to information on CO2 emissions at procurement (D23) and CO2 emissions at manufacturing (D24) for each part from the data D2 of proposed repair parts for equipment stored in the repair part proposal database DB2.

[0026] Accordingly, the transition of T2 at the time of modification in Figure 4 can be found by adding the latest value of the transition of T1 before modification to the CO2 at procurement (D23) and the CO2 at manufacturing (D24). Note that this modification may use the same Motor A and Structure A parts that have been used up until now, in which case the same parts of the same model are simply replaced as is, so the CO2 at manufacturing (D24) will be a relatively low value. In contrast, when using parts of Motor B and Structure B or parts of Motor A and Structure B, which are candidates for the modification plan, it is considered that modifications to the equipment 11 side will be required for installation, which generally involves more work than replacing parts of the same model, and therefore the CO2 at manufacturing (D24) will often be a relatively high value.

[0027] In the transition of post-renovation T3 in Fig. 4, the processing results in the power usage (CO2) estimation unit 23 in Fig. 1 are referenced, but in order to do so, a CO2 emission estimation model 22 is first configured. The CO2 emission estimation model 22 uses the operation information D1 of the equipment 11 stored in the operation information storage unit DB1 to estimate future CO2 emissions from the equipment 11 (pre-renovation equipment) on the premise that the same operating state as the past operating state will be executed in the future.

[0028] Thereafter, the power consumption (CO2) estimation unit 23 estimates the future environmental load (CO2 emission) of the equipment (modified equipment) equipped with the modified part for each year, taking into consideration the CO2 emission D25 during operation of the modified part obtained from the modification part proposal selection unit 27. This estimation is performed for each modification part proposal.

[0029] The CO2 emission estimation model 22 estimates future usage, for example, by linear estimation or average value estimation from past usage. In the above explanation, the future CO2 emission of the equipment (pre-renovation equipment) is estimated on the assumption that the same operating conditions as in the past will be implemented in the future. However, if there are special operational circumstances in the operation plan for the future operation method, it is better to set the operation condition to reflect this operation plan.

[0030] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the operating state before renovation and the operating state after renovation. For example, in the example on the left, the plant was operated at a constant power before renovation, and it is assumed that the operating state after renovation will also be at a constant power. In the example in the center, the plant was operated such that the power consumption increased each year before renovation, and it is assumed that the operating state after renovation will continue with the same increasing trend. Furthermore, in the example on the right, the plant was operated such that the power consumption decreased each year before renovation, and it is assumed that the operating state after renovation will maintain the previous stagnant operation, or will operate with an increasing trend reflecting the efficiency improvement due to parts replacement, or will operate in the same cycle.

[0031] The power consumption (CO2) estimation unit 23 in Fig. 1 estimates the future environmental load (CO2 emissions) for each year according to the power consumption according to the estimated operation. In response to this, the CO2 emissions comparison evaluation unit 24 in Fig. 1 compares and evaluates the future characteristics of the current parts (motor A, structure A) for renewal and the candidate parts for the improvement plan (motor B, structure B parts and motor A, structure B parts).

[0032] FIG. 4 shows equipment characteristics L1 when parts with the same performance as the original are used as future characteristics, and equipment characteristics L2 when parts with high efficiency are used. In the former case, since it is a simple replacement, it shows a situation where almost no CO2 (D24) is generated during manufacturing. According to the method of the above-mentioned embodiment 1, multiple improvement plans are assumed, and all CO2 emissions are calculated. In addition, it is preferable to estimate the operation information D1 from the actual power usage.

[0033] In the CO2 emission evaluation display unit 26 in FIG. 1, for example, by displaying the predicted results of the CO2 emission in FIG. 4 on a monitor or the like, it is possible to provide the user of the environmentally friendly product proposal system 1 with information for selecting parts from an environmentally friendly perspective, and to assist the user in making a decision on which parts to repair.

[0034] According to the first embodiment described above, it is possible to provide an environmentally friendly product proposal system that can propose products and timing for renewal in consideration of the amount of CO2 emissions during both manufacturing and procurement. EXAMPLES

[0035] In the first embodiment, the case has been described where the operation information D1 of the device 11 stored in the operation information storage unit DB1 used in the environmentally friendly product proposal system 1 is the amount of power generated (electricity consumption) of the device 11.

[0036] In contrast, in the second embodiment, it is proposed to take into account information other than the amount of power generation. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an eco-product proposal system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 6, the configuration of the estimation evaluation unit 20 remains the same, but the information acquired by the operation information acquisition unit 10 is enriched to include more information than just the amount of power generation.

[0037] In FIG. 6, further provided is a rotation speed calculation unit 14, an operation time calculation unit 15, and a load calculation unit 16, which calculate operation information and power usage from the rotation speed, running time, and load elements, and these results are obtained by an operation information calculation unit 17 and a power usage calculation unit 13, and finally the obtained information is stored and saved in the operation information storage unit DB1 in the format of FIG. 7.

[0038] In the operation information storage unit DB1 in Fig. 7, a rotation speed D14, a running time D15, and a load D16 are added in addition to the data in Fig. 2. Regarding the addition of these data, the operation information may be used to determine whether the motor capacity can be changed, for example, and it is possible to reflect the intention to check whether the load information or the rotation speed is being used at a value lower than the rated specifications, leading to a more detailed proposal.

[0039] Furthermore, according to these additional information, the operating state of the equipment can be classified in detail, so that the operation information can be utilized for candidate selection by the repair plan selection unit 27. For example, detailed measures such as classification into low operation, medium operation, and high operation, or classification into high rotation-high load, high rotation-low load, low rotation-high load, and low rotation-low load can be performed from the operation information, and repair plans can be selected by narrowing down the targets from repair plans set in advance. EXAMPLES

[0040] In the first embodiment, it was explained that the equipment 11 to be managed and the operation information acquisition unit 10 may be the company's own equipment or another company's equipment. However, in the third embodiment, it is assumed that the estimation evaluation unit 20 and the operation information acquisition unit 10 are connected via the Internet or the like, and it is proposed that a data server should be installed between them.

[0041] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an eco-product proposal system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 8, operation information D1 is registered in a data server 30, and the device 11 is configured not to have an information storage function, but instead has an operation information communication unit 18. This makes it possible to deal with the difference in required capacity depending on the operating status. Also, it is possible to avoid having excessive capacity on the device side.

[0042] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a modified example of Fig. 8 showing a configuration example of an eco-product proposal system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. It is assumed that one estimation evaluation unit 20 and a plurality of operation information acquisition units 10 are connected via the Internet or the like, and a data server 30 is installed between them.

[0043] According to this configuration, the operation information of all devices to be maintained is registered in the data server 30, and the accuracy of the CO2 emission estimation model can be improved from the operation information (for example, 10B) including the post-repair operation information of other devices. EXAMPLES

[0044] In the fourth embodiment, it is proposed to take into consideration maintenance plan information. For this reason, in Fig. 10 showing an example of the configuration of an environmentally friendly product proposal system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, a maintenance plan information unit 28 is added to the estimation evaluation unit 20.

[0045] In the explanations so far, the timing for part replacement (for example, period T2 in Figure 4) has been intentionally determined to be the time for regular inspections, but during long-term equipment operation spanning several decades, part failures can occur at any time in addition to regular inspections at intervals of several years or several decades.

[0046] Since the occurrence probability of this part failure can be grasped in advance, the future CO2 emission estimation process takes into account the maintenance information due to part failure from the maintenance plan information unit 28, and estimates the characteristics by adding the CO2 emission amount associated with part replacement when an appropriate future anticipated failure occurs. Figure 11 shows an example of the characteristics by adding the CO2 emission amount due to part failure.

[0047] In this way, in Example 4, maintenance plans due to part failure are taken into account in the estimation of CO2 emissions, an evaluation is performed including the CO2 emitted by the maintenance plans, and a proposal is made including the timing of renewal based on CO2 over the entire life cycle.

[0048] The timing of maintenance can be expected to be periodic, time-based, or due to breakdowns. Of these, the number of periodic maintenance operations will remain the same before and after updates due to periodic maintenance, meaning that there will be a reduction in CO2 emissions from transportation during remote maintenance. For time-based maintenance, the number of maintenance operations may increase the replacement time before and after updates depending on the item being updated. In contrast, for maintenance operations due to breakdowns, updating should reduce the frequency of breakdowns.

[0049] Regarding the idea of ​​replacement due to a breakdown, rather than waiting until a part breaks down, it is appropriate to consider the timing of replacement to be before a breakdown occurs, from the perspective of part lifespan management.

[0050] Reflecting these circumstances, the display of CO2 emissions associated with replacing a faulty part in Fig. 11 should be able to present the timing of replacement and make it possible to compare the impact assessment of CO2 emissions due to future estimated failures. This will enable it to be used to show when it is best to replace the part, and to suggest using it until the next replacement due to failure. EXAMPLES

[0051] In the fifth embodiment, an example of a processing flow when the above-mentioned embodiment is processed using a computer will be described with reference to FIG.

[0052] 12, first in process step S11, a user accesses the environmentally friendly product proposal system 1 via a user interface and selects a device to be modified. In process step S12, the estimation evaluation unit 20 of the environmentally friendly product proposal system 1 accesses the operation information acquisition unit 10 and acquires operation data D1 of the selected device 11.

[0053] In process step S13, the past power consumption calculation unit 21 estimates the amount of CO2 emissions up to the present time. In process step S14, the repair part plan selection unit 27 accesses the repair part plan database DB2 and sequentially extracts repair part plans.

[0054] In process step S15, information on procurement CO2 (D23) and manufacturing CO2 (D24) for each of the extracted repair part proposals is referenced. In process step S16, the CO2 emission estimation model 22 and the power usage estimation unit estimate the future CO2 emission of the equipment 11 to which the repair part proposal is attached.

[0055] In processing step S17, the CO2 emission comparison and evaluation unit 24 compares and evaluates the CO2 emission of the refurbished equipment estimated for each proposed refurbishment part, and in processing step S18, the life cycle CO2 emission comparison display unit 26 displays the comparison results of time-series CO2 emission, for example, as shown in Figure 4.

[0056] This makes it possible to provide an environmentally friendly product proposal system that can propose products and timing for renewal that take into account CO2 emissions both during manufacture and use. [Explanation of symbols]

[0057] 1: Environmentally friendly product proposal system DB1: Operational information storage unit DB2: Repair parts proposal database 10: Operation information acquisition unit 11:Equipment 12: Power meter side 13: Power consumption calculation section 20: Estimation evaluation section 21: Past electricity usage (CO2) calculation section 22:CO2 Emissions Estimation Model 23: Power consumption (CO2) estimation part 24: CO2 Emissions Comparison and Evaluation Section 25: CO2 Emissions Calculation for Manufacturing and Procurement 26: Comparison display of CO2 emissions over the life cycle 27: Repair Parts Selection Department

Claims

1. An environmentally friendly product proposal system that supports part replacement of a device that is composed of a plurality of parts, comprising: an environmentally friendly product proposal system comprising: a first CO2 emission estimation unit that estimates past CO2 emissions from chronological usage data of the equipment; a database that stores information on CO2 emissions related to proposed repair parts for the parts; a second CO2 emission estimation unit that refers to the database and estimates the CO2 emissions when the equipment is replaced for each proposed repair part for the parts; a third CO2 emission estimation unit that refers to the database and estimates the CO2 emissions after the equipment is replaced for each proposed repair part for the parts; and a display unit that chronologically adds and displays the CO2 emission estimates from the first CO2 emission estimation unit, the CO2 emission estimates from the second CO2 emission estimation unit, and the CO2 emission estimates from the third CO2 emission estimation unit.

2. The environmentally friendly product proposal system according to claim 1, The database holds data on the amount of CO2 emissions during procurement when manufacturing each proposed modified part for the part, and the amount of CO2 emissions during manufacturing and assembly when the part is incorporated into the equipment, and is used by the second CO2 emission estimation unit in this environmentally friendly product proposal system.

3. The environmentally friendly product proposal system according to claim 1, The database holds data on the CO2 emissions of each proposed modification part for the part from the time the part is installed in the equipment and operation is started, and uses the data in the third CO2 emission estimation unit.

4. The environmentally friendly product proposal system according to claim 1, The time-series data on actual usage of the device is the power consumption of the device.

5. The environmentally friendly product proposal system according to claim 4, 1. An environmentally friendly product proposing system, wherein the time-series usage record data of the equipment further includes data on the rotation speed, operation time, and load of the equipment.

6. The environmentally friendly product proposal system according to claim 1, The time-series usage record data of the device is acquired by an operation information acquisition unit provided in the device.

7. The environmentally friendly product proposal system according to claim 6, An environmentally friendly product proposal system characterized in that the multiple operation information acquisition units provided for the multiple devices store the acquired information in a shared server, and a first CO2 emission estimation unit acquires chronological usage data of the devices from the shared server.

8. The environmentally friendly product proposal system according to claim 1, The environmentally friendly product proposal system is characterized by displaying estimated CO2 emissions values ​​that are added up over time, with the timing of equipment part replacement being determined as either periodic, time-based maintenance, or due to breakdown.

9. The environmentally friendly product proposal system according to claim 8, The environmentally friendly product proposal system is characterized in that, when determining that the failure is the timing for replacing a device part, the timing for replacement is determined to be a stage before the part reaches a failure from the viewpoint of part life management.

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