Drainage pumping station monitoring system and fuel supply planning system

Abstract

To efficiently reduce the risk that a drain pump may stop.SOLUTION: A monitoring system of a drainage pump station according to the present invention is used for monitoring a drainage pump station, comprising: a pump facility composed of a drain pump that has a rotation speed detector and is driven by a prime motor; a fuel tank that has an oil level sensor, and supplies fuel to the prime motor; and a communication device that communicates between the pump facility and fuel tank, and the outside. The monitoring system comprises a cloud with a calculation device that calculates a future fuel consumption using oil level data of the fuel tank received by the communication device and a rotation speed of the drain pump, and calculates the remaining operating time of the drain pump.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a drainage pumping station monitoring system and a fuel supply planning system. [Background technology]

[0002] As for a monitoring system for a drainage pumping station, Patent Document 1 discloses a fuel supply system and a fuel supply method.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a method for detecting the fuel level in a fuel tank that supplies fuel to a drainage pump engine and a private power generation device, controlling the operation of a transfer pump according to the fuel level, and sending an alarm to a remote operator via a network if a change in the fuel level over time indicates a fuel leak. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-073975 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, the fuel supply system and fuel supply method described in Patent Document 1 merely monitor the fuel oil level in the fuel dispensing tank, and do not notify an operator in a remote location of the fuel oil level in the fuel storage tank (large tank), i.e., the fuel shortage itself.

[0006] Therefore, in Patent Document 1, at drainage pumping stations where there are usually no on-site operators, if an incident occurs in which the power supply from outside is cut off, such as a power outage, the main motor or generator may suddenly stop due to a lack of fuel, and the drainage pump may stop.

[0007] When an operator rushed to the scene without knowing the cause, he would have to check the fuel level on-site before making fuel arrangements, which carried the risk of the drainage pump stopping.

[0008] Furthermore, because it was not easy to see the time-dependent changes in the fuel oil level and the rotation speed of the drainage pump, it was not possible to improve the accuracy of predictions of future fuel consumption and estimate the remaining operating time, which meant that there was a risk that the drainage pump would be stopped because refueling was not completed in time.

[0009] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and its object is to provide a drainage pumping station monitoring system and a fuel supply planning system that can efficiently reduce the risk of drainage pumps stopping. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the drainage pumping station monitoring system of the present invention is a drainage pumping station monitoring system that monitors a drainage pumping station equipped with a pumping equipment consisting of a drainage pump driven by a prime mover and having a rotation speed detector, a fuel tank having an oil level sensor and supplying fuel to the prime mover, and a communication device for communicating between the pumping equipment and the fuel tank and the outside, and is characterized by having a cloud with an arithmetic device that calculates future fuel consumption using the oil level data of the fuel tank received by the communication device and the rotation speed of the drainage pump and calculates the remaining operating time of the drainage pump.

[0011] In addition, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the fuel refueling planning system of the present invention is a fuel refueling planning system that utilizes monitoring data from a drainage pumping station monitoring system, and when the oil level height (remaining oil amount) from the bottom of the fuel tank falls below a certain amount (predetermined amount), a fuel low signal is generated along with the remaining oil amount and sent to a communication device as part of the oil level data, and the communication device sends this as a fuel low alarm (alert) to the cloud, and when the alert is reported, the cloud plans a fuel refueling plan that gives first priority to the drainage pumping station that reported the alert. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, the risk of the drainage pump stopping can be efficiently reduced. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a remote monitoring system for a drainage pumping station according to the present invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Hereinafter, a drainage pumping station monitoring system and a fuel supply planning system according to the present invention will be described based on the illustrated embodiments. [Example]

[0015] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a remote monitoring system 100 for a drainage pumping station according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] In Figure 1, for ease of explanation, three locations, the first drainage pumping station A, the second drainage pumping station B, and the third drainage pumping station C, are monitored. However, since the configurations of the first drainage pumping station A, the second drainage pumping station B, and the third drainage pumping station C are identical, only the configuration of the first drainage pumping station A is shown, and the configurations of the second drainage pumping station B and the third drainage pumping station C are not shown.

[0017] The remote monitoring system 100 for a drainage pumping station of this embodiment shown in Figure 1 is roughly composed of a pump equipment 1 consisting of a drainage pump driven by a prime mover and having a rotation speed detector, a fuel tank 2 having an oil level sensor and supplying fuel to the prime mover, and a communication device 3 which communicates with the pump equipment 1 and the fuel tank 2 and with the outside world, and is characterized by having a cloud 4 which has an arithmetic device which calculates future fuel consumption using the oil level data of the fuel tank 2 received by the communication device 3 and the rotation speed of the drainage pump and calculates the remaining operating time of the drainage pump.

[0018] The pump equipment 1, the fuel tank 2, and the cloud 4 will be described in detail below. [Regarding Pump Equipment 1] The pump facility 1 includes a drainage pump and a prime mover that drives the drainage pump. The drainage pump is equipped with a rotation speed detector, and the rotation speed of the drainage pump measured by the rotation speed detector is transmitted to the cloud 4 via a communication device 3. The prime mover is an engine or a turbine, but may also be a combination of a motor and a generator. [About fuel tank 2] The fuel tank 2 is equipped with a fuel pump and an oil level sensor. The fuel pump supplies fuel to the prime mover, and the oil level sensor measures the oil level (amount of remaining oil) from the bottom of the tank. This oil level (amount of remaining oil) from the bottom of the tank is then transmitted to the communication device 3 as oil level data.

[0019] Furthermore, the communication device 3 transmits the oil level (amount of remaining oil) from the bottom of the tank to the cloud 4. When the oil level (amount of remaining oil) from the bottom of the tank is transmitted to the cloud 4, and when the amount of remaining oil falls below a certain level, for example, 20%, not only the amount of remaining oil but also a fuel low signal is generated in the fuel tank 2 and transmitted to the communication device 3 as part of the oil level data, and also to the cloud 4 as a fuel low alarm (alert).

[0020] Here, the oil level data (remaining oil amount and fuel low signal) is transmitted to the cloud 4 by the communication device 3, so that the rotation speed data and the oil level data are transmitted as data at the same time. [About Cloud 4] Cloud 4 is equipped with an application execution server and a database, and executes the following functions (1) to (3) using the application while appropriately importing database data (all data sent, including rotation speed data and oil level data).

[0021] (1) Calculation function for remaining operating time of drainage pump.

[0022] (2) Fuel supply planning function.

[0023] (3) Fuel ordering function.

[0024] These will be explained below. (1) Regarding the remaining operating time calculation function for drainage pumps.

[0025] The prime mover output P is calculated from the received rotation speed using a conversion table. The conversion table is created based on the results of in-plant tests when the prime mover is manufactured and stored in a database.

[0026] Next, the fuel consumption rate B of the prime mover and the density ρ of the fuel (heavy oil A) are retrieved from the database, and the fuel consumption amount Q is calculated and estimated by the calculation device provided in the cloud 4 based on the following equation (1).

[0027] Q=B·P·t0 / (1000·ρ)···(1) Here, B is the engine's fuel consumption rate (g / kW / h), P is the engine's output (kW), t is the operating time, and ρ is the density of the fuel (heavy oil A) (0.85 kg / L).

[0028] Normally, the fuel tank 2 is filled with fuel for approximately 24 hours or 36 hours of continuous operation, which is equivalent to one draining operation. Therefore, if the tank is filled to the brim after each draining operation, there should be no fuel shortage.

[0029] However, in reality, the drainage operation time is determined by the amount of rainfall, so if it is light rain, the operation time will often be shorter. While gasoline and other fuels can be refueled more frequently, the fuel used in the main engine of a drainage pumping station is heavy oil. Because this type of oil is not regularly stocked at gas stations, it is not possible to refuel more frequently due to cost reasons.

[0030] Therefore, until now, the timing of refueling had to be decided based on the forecast of future rain and the conditions at each airport under its jurisdiction.

[0031] Therefore, in this embodiment, the remaining operating time can be calculated from the oil level data.

[0032] The remaining oil volume in fuel tank 2 and the pump rotation speed are collected from pump equipment 1 at the first drainage pumping station A, the second drainage pumping station B, and the third drainage pumping station C to cloud 4. The fuel consumption for one hour (t=1), two hours (t=2), etc. is calculated based on the current remaining oil volume, and the remaining operating time of the first drainage pumping station A, the second drainage pumping station B, and the third drainage pumping station C is calculated.

[0033] The calculation results change depending on the operating speeds of the first drainage pumping station A, the second drainage pumping station B, and the third drainage pumping station C, so the calculation is recalculated and the data updated after a certain period of time. At this time, the remaining oil amount in the fuel tank 2 and the operating speed are transmitted at the same time, so processing is possible without the need for time-based matching, which was not possible with conventional technology. (2) Fuel supply planning function.

[0034] The fuel supply plan creation function first checks whether or not there is a low fuel alert on Cloud 4. In other words, if there is a low fuel alert, the fuel supply plan is created so that the airport with the alert is given first priority. If there is no low fuel alert, the fuel supply plan is created using the following logic:

[0035] The fuel supply planning function sets the departure point of the tank truck 5, which can be arranged in advance (the current location if there is fuel in the tank of the tank truck 5, or a heavy oil supply base for the tank truck 5 if there is no fuel in the tank of the tank truck 5), as the departure point of the tank truck 5, and creates a fuel refueling plan that reduces the risk of the drainage pumping station being shut down based on the time required to travel to each target drainage pumping station and the remaining operating time of the drainage pump.If the departure point cannot be identified, the exit of an interchange (IC) on a highway close to the target drainage pumping station is provisionally set as the departure point.

[0036] Next, an example of a fuel supply plan based on the fuel supply plan creation function will be described. [Fuel supply plan example 1] If there are two target drainage pumping stations, and (1) the remaining operating time (A) and running time (B) of the target drainage pumping station (A) are satisfied, and (2) the remaining operating time (C) and running time (D) of the target drainage pumping station (B), and the remaining operating time (A) - running time (B) < the remaining operating time (C) - running time (D), then the target drainage pumping station (A) is the station with a higher risk of shutdown, a fuel supply plan is drawn up so that fuel is supplied from the target drainage pumping station (A). [Fuel supply plan example 2] If there are three or more pumping stations in question, it may be more efficient to take the route via the nearest pumping station. Calculations will also be made in this case.

[0037] If the remaining operating time (A) and running time (B) of the target drainage pumping station (A) are taken as the remaining operating time (C) and running time (D) of the target drainage pumping station (B), and the remaining operating time (E) and running time (F) of the target drainage pumping station (C), then if (remaining operating time (A) - running time (B) < remaining operating time (C) - running time (D) < remaining operating time (E) - running time (F)), the order will be target drainage pumping station (A) → target drainage pumping station (B) → target drainage pumping station (C).

[0038] However, there are cases where the distance between the target drainage pumping stations is such that target drainage pumping station (A) and target drainage pumping station (C) are adjacent to each other. Therefore, the travel time from target drainage pumping station (A) to the remaining drainage pumping station is calculated, and if remaining operating time (E) - travel time (G) < remaining operating time (C) - travel time (H), the target drainage pumping station (C) will be refueled first before heading to target drainage pumping station (B).

[0039] In addition, if there is room for improvement, such as if the remaining oil volume is more than half, it is possible to change the route individually through consultation between the driver of the tank truck 5 and the manager of the drainage pumping station, and in that case, the route change information is registered in the system. (3) Regarding fuel ordering functions.

[0040] Next, when the remaining fuel level exceeds a certain value, an order instruction for fuel supply is automatically sent by email (in Figure 1, it is sent from Cloud 4 to the gasoline supply company 6). The reason for sending the order by email is to keep a record of the order.

[0041] It is assumed that a contract for distribution services has been concluded in advance with the fuel supply company (gasoline supply company 6) that distributes the data. The order data to be distributed will display the name of the drainage pumping station to be supplied, the required quantity, and the requested time. After the fuel is supplied, payment will be made by mailing a separate paper invoice from the gasoline supply company 6 to the pumping station management office (pumping station management office 7).

[0042] After the fuel ordering instruction is given, the fuel supply company (gasoline supply company 6) will send an email reply to the sender, cloud 4, with the estimated arrival time, and the system will display the estimated fuel supply times for the first drainage pumping station A, the second drainage pumping station B, and the third drainage pumping station C.

[0043] This allows the operators at the target terminal to automate a series of tasks that previously required them to periodically visually check the fuel level gauge, report the remaining fuel level to the terminal management office 7, call the fuel supply company (gasoline supply company 6) to issue fuel supply instructions, wait for notification of the arrival time of the tank truck 5, and contact the terminal management office 7 after filling, and allows them to concentrate on drainage operation.

[0044] In this embodiment, the oil level data of the fuel tank 2 is transmitted using the communication device 3, and the time-based matching of the oil level data and the operation data of the drainage pump is completed at the data transmission stage, and the future fuel consumption amount and the remaining operation time of the drainage pump can be calculated in a short time, so the risk of the drainage pump stopping can be efficiently reduced. Also, there is an effect that a fuel shortage can be notified to an operator in a remote location.

[0045] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all of the described configurations. Furthermore, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Furthermore, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 1...Pump equipment, 2...Fuel tank, 3...Communication equipment, 4...Cloud, 5...Tanker truck, 6...Gasoline supply company, 7...Pumping station management office, 100...Remote monitoring system for drainage pumping station.

Claims

1. A monitoring system for a drainage pumping station that monitors the pumping station, the pumping station having a rotation speed detector and consisting of a drainage pump driven by a prime mover, a fuel tank having an oil level sensor and supplying fuel to the prime mover, and a communication device that communicates between the pumping station and the fuel tank and the outside, A drainage pumping station monitoring system characterized by comprising a cloud having a computing device that calculates future fuel consumption using the fuel tank oil level data received by the communication device and the rotation speed of the drainage pump, and calculates the remaining operating time of the drainage pump.

2. The drainage pumping station monitoring system according to claim 1, The fuel tank is equipped with a fuel supply pump and the oil level sensor, the fuel supply pump supplies fuel to the prime mover, the oil level sensor measures the oil level (amount of remaining oil) from the bottom of the fuel tank, the oil level (amount of remaining oil) from the bottom of the fuel tank is transmitted to the communication device as oil level data, and the communication device transmits the amount of remaining oil in the fuel tank to the cloud.

3. The drainage pumping station monitoring system according to claim 2, A drainage pumping station monitoring system characterized in that when the communication device transmits the remaining oil amount in the fuel tank to the cloud, when the remaining oil amount falls below a certain amount (predetermined amount), a fuel low signal is generated along with the remaining oil amount and transmitted to the communication device as part of the oil level data, and the communication device transmits this as a fuel low alarm (alert) to the cloud.

4. The drainage pumping station monitoring system according to claim 3, A drainage pumping station monitoring system characterized in that the oil level data is transmitted as data at the same time as the rotation speed data of the drainage pump.

5. The drainage pumping station monitoring system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The cloud is a drainage pumping station monitoring system that is equipped with an application execution server and a database, and performs the remaining operating time calculation function of the drainage pump, fuel supply planning function, and fuel ordering function using an application while appropriately importing data from the database.

6. A fuel refueling planning system that utilizes monitoring data in a drainage pumping station monitoring system, A fuel supply planning system characterized by the fact that, when the oil level (amount of remaining oil) from the bottom of the fuel tank falls below a certain amount (predetermined amount), a fuel low signal is generated along with the amount of remaining oil and sent to a communication device as part of the oil level data, and the communication device sends this as a fuel low warning (alert) to a cloud, and when the alert is reported, the cloud creates a fuel supply plan that gives first priority to the drainage pumping station that reported the alert.

7. 7. The fuel supply planning system according to claim 6, A fuel supply planning system characterized by automatically placing an order for refueling with a fuel supply company based on the fuel supply plan planned on the cloud.

8. The fuel supply planning system according to claim 6 or 7, A fuel supply planning system characterized by using the remaining operating time of the drainage pumps that make up the pump equipment and the travel time to the drainage pumping station to create a fuel supply plan that reduces the risk of each drainage pump at multiple drainage pumping stations stopping if the alert does not occur.

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