Air conditioning system and method performed by air conditioning system

Abstract

To provide an air conditioning system that exerts high energy efficiency.SOLUTION: An air conditioning system includes: a first system including a first indoor unit for conditioning indoor air and a first outdoor unit and circulating a refrigerant between the first indoor unit and the first outdoor unit; a second system including a second indoor unit for conditioning the indoor air and a second outdoor unit and circulating a refrigerant between the second indoor unit and the second outdoor unit; and a control device. The control device executes processing of performing operations of the first and second systems alternately in accordance with time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an air conditioning system and a method implemented in an air conditioning system. [Background technology]

[0002] As disclosed in Patent Document 1, air conditioning systems for conditioning buildings and the like are widely used. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2022-191031 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In a typical air conditioning system, air conditioners with a capacity of 100% or more are selected for the peak load of each air conditioning zone, but in reality, all air conditioners only operate at 100% simultaneously for a very short period of time, which can result in poor energy efficiency of the air conditioning system.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems in the conventional art, and has an object to provide an air conditioning system and method with good energy efficiency. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the problems described above, the present invention provides, in one aspect, an air conditioning system having a first indoor unit and a first outdoor unit for conditioning the air inside the room, a first system for circulating a refrigerant between the first indoor unit and the first outdoor unit, a second system for circulating a refrigerant between the second indoor unit and the second outdoor unit, and a control device, wherein the control device executes a process of alternately operating the first system and the second system depending on the time.

[0007] In addition, as one aspect, the present invention provides a method for an air conditioning system including a first system having a first indoor unit and a first outdoor unit for conditioning the air inside the room and circulating a refrigerant between the first indoor unit and the first outdoor unit, a second system having a second indoor unit and a second outdoor unit for conditioning the air inside the room and circulating a refrigerant between the second indoor unit and the second outdoor unit, and a control device, the method including causing the control device to execute a process of alternately operating the first system and the second system depending on time. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the above configuration, an air conditioning system and method with good energy efficiency can be provided. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioning system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioning system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] 4 is a table showing various conditions and operation systems determined in response to these conditions in an air conditioning system according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] 4 is a table and a graph showing an example of an operation performed by an air conditioning system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a comparison between an air conditioning system according to an embodiment and a conventional air conditioning system. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioning system according to a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] An air conditioning system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG.

[0011] As shown in Fig. 1, the air conditioning system 10 has two systems 1 and 2 that independently circulate a refrigerant, and a duct 16. In Fig. 1, the direction in which the refrigerant moves in the pipes 13 and 23 is indicated by arrows.

[0012] System 1 includes an indoor unit 11 that conditions the interior of each room R, an outdoor unit 12 that exchanges heat between the outside air and a refrigerant, and piping 13 that connects indoor unit 11 and outdoor unit 12 and circulates the refrigerant.

[0013] System 2 has a similar configuration to system 1. That is, system 2 includes an indoor unit 21 that conditions the interior of each room R, an outdoor unit 22 that exchanges heat between the outside air and the refrigerant, and a pipe 23 that connects the indoor unit 21 and the outdoor unit 22 and circulates the refrigerant.

[0014] A plurality of indoor units 11, 21 are disposed in room R on each floor of building B. Each of the indoor units 11, 21 is a device that exchanges heat between the air inside room R and a refrigerant, and supplies the air after heat exchange to the inside of room R via a duct 16 commonly connected to the indoor units 11, 21.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 2, the air conditioning system 10 further includes a control device 14 and a monitoring device 15, and is capable of controlling the operation of each of the systems 1 and 2.

[0016] The control device 14 has a control unit 141 that executes control, a memory unit 142 that stores various data such as a calendar, operating time (described later), and setting conditions of the main system, and a communication unit 143 that is communicatively connected to the monitoring device 15. Inside the control device 14, the control unit 141, the memory unit 142, and the communication unit 143 are communicatively connected to each other.

[0017] The control unit 141 and the storage unit 142 may be configured with an integrated circuit such as an ASIC. Alternatively, the control unit 141 may be configured with a processor such as a CPU, and the various functions of the control device 14 may be executed by, for example, reading and starting a program stored in the storage unit 142.

[0018] Examples of the storage unit 142 include a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), and a non-volatile semiconductor memory (Non Volatile RAM (NVRAM)).

[0019] The communication unit 143 is a wired or wireless communication interface that realizes communication with other devices, and is, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card), a wireless communication module, a USB (Universal Serial Interface) module, a serial communication module, or the like.

[0020] The monitoring device 15 has sensors that monitor the humidity and temperature inside each room R, and can transmit information on the measured humidity and temperature to the control device 14.

[0021] 〔control〕 The control executed in the air conditioning system 10 will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0022] 3, the control device 14 determines whether or not to operate and which system to operate according to conditions stored in advance in the storage unit 142, and causes the determined system to operate. The operating system is determined according to three conditions: "operating time," "main system," and "thermal load on the main system."

[0023] "Operating hours" are conditions used to determine whether it is within the hours during which the air conditioning system 10 should be operated. For example, if it is a weekday from Monday to Friday and the time is after 7:00 and before 17:00, it is set as "within operating hours," which is the time during which operation can be performed, and any other time is set as outside operating hours (i.e., time during which operation is not performed).

[0024] The "main system" refers to the system that is primarily in operation when air conditioning is performed. Systems other than the main system are suspended if not necessary. The main system is switched at regular intervals. In the example of FIG. 3, the main system is switched every day, with system 1 being the main system on even days and system 2 being the main system on odd days. Note that switching the main system every day is just one example, and the main system may also be switched at set times, such as every two days or every week.

[0025] "Thermal load on the main system" indicates the thermal load on the main system as a percentage of the air conditioning capacity of the main system. If the thermal load exceeds 100% of the air conditioning capacity, one system cannot handle it, so both systems 1 and 2 are operated. Also, if the thermal load is less than 100% of the air conditioning capacity, air conditioning can be handled by operating one system, so air conditioning is performed by operating only the main system. Calculation of the thermal load and determination of the operating system are performed by the control device 14 based on the measurement values ​​of the monitoring device 15.

[0026] The system to be operated is determined according to the above conditions. In "operating system" in Fig. 3, the system to be operated is shown, which is determined according to three conditions: "operating time", "main system", and "heat load on the main system". For example, during the operating time of 10:00 on a weekday, when the date is an even day, and the heat load on the main system is 100% or less, the operating system is system 1. As another example, during the operating time of 13:00 on a weekday, when the date is an odd day, and the heat load on the main system is more than 100% of the air conditioning capacity, the operating systems are system 1 and system 2, and the control device 14 operates both systems.

[0027] A specific example of operation is shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 4 shows a specific example in time series when air conditioning is performed according to the conditions in Fig. 3. As shown in the items "Schedule" and "Operation Status", the control device 14 switches the main system every day, so the system that is in constant operation during operating hours is different between the first and second days. Note that in Fig. 4, the time period from Monday to Friday on weekdays, and from 7:00 to 17:00, is defined as "within operating hours", and other times are defined as "outside operating hours".

[0028] The item "Heat Load" in Fig. 4 shows the heat load on the air conditioning equipment in a time series graph with the vertical axis being the percentage of the air conditioning capacity of the main system. As can be seen from the time series graph of heat load exceeding 100% of the main system air conditioning capacity (indicated by the thick dotted line in the figure) between 10:00 and 16:00 on the second day, the heat load of the main system (system 2) exceeds 100%. For this reason, the control device 14 also puts system 1, which had been inactive, into operation. At this time, the control device 14 causes system 1 to perform load following operation, that is, an operation that changes the output in accordance with the heat load of room R. During this time, system 2 operates at 100% output.

[0029] The reverse is also true. In other words, when the main system is system 1 and system 2 is also operating because its thermal load exceeds 100%, the control device 14 causes system 2 to perform an operation that changes the output in accordance with the thermal load of room R, i.e., a load following operation. During this time, system 1 operates at 100% output.

[0030] During operation hours, the user can manually control the operation, such as stopping / starting the operation and setting the temperature, as shown in "User Manual Operation" in Fig. 4. In the example of Fig. 4, the user can manually control the operation from the time the user arrives at work until the time the user leaves work.

[0031] <Effects> In the above embodiment, the following aspects are disclosed.

[0032] (Modes 1 and 5) An air conditioning system 10 includes a system 1 having an indoor unit 11 and an outdoor unit 12 that perform air conditioning of the room R and that circulates a refrigerant between the indoor unit 11 and the outdoor unit 12, a system 2 having an indoor unit 21 and an outdoor unit 22 that perform air conditioning of the room R and that circulates a refrigerant between the indoor unit 21 and the outdoor unit 22, and a control device 14. The control device 14 executes a method including a process of alternately operating systems 1 and 2 according to time (time of day, date, day of the week, continuous operating time, accumulated operating time, etc.).

[0033] In the above configuration, since only one of the systems is used, the partial load characteristics of the equipment are maintained at a high level, resulting in good energy efficiency. In addition, since unnecessary equipment such as outdoor units 12 and 22 can be suspended, it is possible to extend the life of the equipment. As shown in Figure 5, conventionally, the outdoor units shared the responsibility of air conditioning for each floor, so that when air conditioning operation was performed on a certain floor, the corresponding outdoor unit was always in operation. On the other hand, in the above configuration, outdoor units other than the main system can be suspended, which is expected to save energy and extend the life of the equipment as described above.

[0034] (Aspect 2) In aspect 1, the control device 14 executes a process of monitoring the heat load in the room R, and a process (first process) of further operating the system 2 when the heat load exceeds the capacity of the system 1 during operation of the system 1. The control device 14 also executes a process (second process) of further operating the system 1 when the heat load exceeds the capacity of the system 2 during operation of the system 2.

[0035] In the above configuration, the present system is capable of operating multiple systems simultaneously during times of high heat load in midsummer or midwinter, and can also perform air conditioning during peak load times.

[0036] (Aspect 3) In aspect 1 or 2, in the first process, system 2 executes the load following operation, and in the second process, system 1 executes the load following operation.

[0037] In the above configuration, systems 1 and 2 provide output according to the load, and therefore have high energy efficiency.

[0038] (Mode 4) In any of modes 1 to 3, the control device 14 alternates between the system 1 and the system 2 to be operated every day.

[0039] In the above configuration, instead of frequently repeating operation and shutdown, the main system is switched on a daily basis, so energy consumption at the start of operation can be reduced. In addition, since the equipment is rested for a sufficient amount of time, the equipment's lifespan can be extended. Maintenance of the equipment that is shut down can be carried out with sufficient time regardless of the season.

[0040] <Modification> In the embodiment, as shown in Fig. 1, indoor units 11, 21 are installed in each of systems 1, 2. Here, as a modified example, an indoor unit 11 belonging to both systems 1, 2 may be installed as shown in Fig. 6. In Fig. 6, the indoor unit 11 receives refrigerant from both systems 1, 2. Even in this case, the indoor unit 11 receives refrigerant from the system that is operating, and supplies air by exchanging heat with the air inside room R. In this way, each of systems 1, 2 can perform air conditioning operation for room R.

[0041] In the embodiment, the main system is switched based on the time, the day of the week, or the date. Alternatively, the main system may be switched based on, for example, the continuous operation time or the accumulated operation time of each system. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] Air Conditioning System 10 Lineage 1, 2 Indoor unit 11, 21 Outdoor unit 12, 22

Claims

1. a first system including a first indoor unit and a first outdoor unit for conditioning air in a room, and circulating a refrigerant between the first indoor unit and the first outdoor unit; a second system including a second indoor unit and a second outdoor unit for conditioning the room, and circulating a refrigerant between the second indoor unit and the second outdoor unit; A control device, The control device includes: A process of switching an operating system between the first system and the second system according to time; Air conditioning system that runs.

2. The control device includes: monitoring the heat load in the room; a first process of further operating the second system when the heat load exceeds the capacity of the first system during the operation of the single system; a second process of further operating the first system when the heat load exceeds the capacity of the second system during the dual system operation; The air conditioning system of claim 1 further comprising:

3. In the first process, the second system performs a load following operation, In the second process, the first system performs a load following operation.

3. An air conditioning system according to claim 2.

4. The control device includes: The first system and the second system are alternately operated every day. An air conditioning system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. a first system including a first indoor unit and a first outdoor unit for conditioning air in a room, and circulating a refrigerant between the first indoor unit and the first outdoor unit; a second system including a second indoor unit and a second outdoor unit for conditioning the room, and circulating a refrigerant between the second indoor unit and the second outdoor unit; In an air conditioning system comprising: The control device A process of switching the operation of the first system and the second system depending on time; How to make it run.

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