Energy information estimation system and energy information estimation method

Abstract

To reduce the number of components for estimating energy information generated by the processing of a production facility during a production period.SOLUTION: An energy information estimation system is provided with: an operation state acquisition apparatus that is attached to a production facility or disposed in the vicinity of the production facility as an afterthought and has a detection unit and a transmission unit for outputting a detection signal indicative of an operation state of the production facility; and a production control apparatus that has a processing time energy information storage unit for storing processing time energy information acquired during a test operation of the production facility and generated during a processing time during which the production facility performs a predetermined processing for a processing object, and a facility operation information acquisition unit for acquiring facility operation information of the production facility including the processing time using a detection signal received from the operation state acquisition apparatus during a production period during which the production facility is produced, and an energy information estimation unit for estimating production time energy information generated by the processing of the production facility during the production period using the processing time energy information and the facility operation information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an energy information estimation system and an energy information estimation method.

Background Art

[0002] There is known an electricity meter including a first communication module having a communication function and providing meter data of power consumption as energy information to an electric utility, and a second communication module transmitting power consumption by wireless communication to a management device owned by a user for energy management by the user (for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] There may be a case where it is desired to grasp energy consumption such as power consumption for each production facility or for each predetermined range such as each production line including a plurality of production facilities. In this case, if devices for acquiring energy consumption such as electricity meters are provided for each of a plurality of production facilities or each production line, there is a problem that the number of parts increases.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The present disclosure can be realized in the following forms.

[0006] (1) According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, an energy information estimation system is provided that estimates energy information including at least one of the amount of energy consumed and greenhouse gas emissions generated by the production of a production facility. The energy information estimation system comprises an operating status acquisition device, which is an operating status acquisition device having a detection unit that is retrofitted to the production facility or retrofitted to the vicinity of the production facility and has a detection unit that outputs a detection signal indicating the operating status of the production facility and a transmission unit for transmitting the detection signal; and a production management device having a processing energy information storage unit that stores processing energy information acquired during a test run of the production facility, which is processing energy information generated during a processing time when the production facility performs a predetermined processing on a processing target; an equipment operation information acquisition unit that acquires equipment operation information of the production facility, including processing time, using the detection signal received from the operating status acquisition device during a production period in which the production facility is in operation; and an energy information estimation unit that estimates production energy information generated by the processing of the production facility during the production period using the processing energy information and the equipment operation information. This type of energy information estimation system allows for the estimation of energy information generated during production by the processing of production equipment during the production period, without requiring any equipment to acquire energy consumption during the production period, nor without acquiring energy consumption during the production period. (2) In the energy information estimation system of the above form, the production management device may further include a standby energy information storage unit that stores standby energy information acquired during a test run of the production equipment, which is standby energy information generated during the standby time when the production equipment is waiting to perform the processing. The equipment operation information acquisition unit may further acquire the standby time of the production period as equipment operation information using the detection signal. The energy information estimation unit may further estimate production loss energy information generated due to the standby of the production equipment during the production period using the standby energy information and the standby time acquired as equipment operation information. This type of energy information estimation system allows for the estimation of energy loss information during production caused by the standby status of production equipment during the production period, without requiring any equipment to acquire energy consumption during the production period, nor without acquiring energy consumption during the production period. (3) In the energy information estimation system of the above form, the standby energy information storage unit may store the standby power generated during the standby time when the production equipment is being tested as standby energy information. The energy information estimation unit may estimate the amount of CO2 emissions lost during production due to the standby of the production equipment during the production period as production loss energy information. The production management device may further include an index generation unit that generates a graph showing the correspondence between the CO2 emissions lost during production, the standby power, and the standby time of the production equipment during the production period. This type of energy information estimation system makes it easy to determine whether to improve standby power or standby time in production equipment when trying to reduce CO2 emissions lost during production. (4) In the energy information estimation system of the above form, the detection unit may output as the detection signal a first signal corresponding to the start of processing on the object to be processed by the production equipment, and a second signal different from the first signal, which corresponds to the stop of processing. This type of energy information estimation system allows for more accurate calculation of equipment operation information, such as processing time and waiting time, by acquiring the start and stop timings of production equipment, and enables a more detailed understanding of the energy information estimation results. This disclosure can also be implemented in various forms other than an energy information estimation system. For example, it can be implemented in the form of a production management device, an energy information estimation method, a control method for the production management device or energy information estimation system, a computer program that implements the control method, or a non-temporary recording medium that stores the computer program. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] A schematic diagram showing an energy information estimation system according to the first embodiment of this disclosure. [Figure 2] A block diagram showing the internal functional configuration of the production control system. [Figure 3] A block diagram showing the functional configuration of the operating status acquisition device. [Figure 4] An explanatory diagram showing an example of the arrangement of an operating status acquisition device equipped with an optical sensor as a detection unit. [Figure 5] A flowchart illustrating the energy information estimation method according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] A flowchart illustrating the detailed process for obtaining energy consumption data during testing. [Figure 7] A flowchart illustrating the processing routine for acquiring equipment operation information. [Figure 8] A timing chart showing the relationship between detection signals from the operational status acquisition device and the processing routines performed by the equipment operation information acquisition unit. [Figure 9] A second timing chart showing the relationship between the detection signal from the operating status acquisition device and the processing routine by the equipment operation information acquisition unit. [Figure 10] A flowchart illustrating the energy information estimation process in detail. [Figure 11] The first explanatory diagram shows an example of an index generated by the index generation unit. [Figure 12] A second explanatory diagram showing an example of an index generated by the index generation unit. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] A. First Embodiment: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing an energy information estimation system according to the first embodiment of this disclosure. The energy information estimation system (hereinafter also simply referred to as "estimation system 100") estimates energy information generated by the processing or standby of production equipment. In this disclosure, "energy information" includes information on the consumption of various energy sources by the production equipment 30, such as electricity, gas, and liquid fuels including kerosene and heavy oil, and information on the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) generated by the consumption of such energy. In this embodiment, electricity consumption is used as the energy consumption amount, and CO2 emissions are used as the greenhouse gas emissions. "Production equipment" may include not only the production equipment itself, but also a wider range of things than the production equipment, such as production lines including the production equipment, conveying equipment, factories, buildings, etc.

[0009] The estimation system 100 generates and manages equipment operation information for the production equipment 30, in addition to energy information. "Equipment operation information" refers to information related to the operating status of the production equipment. "Operating status of production equipment" includes, for example, the start and stop of processing for the objects processed by the production equipment, such as products. The operating status of production equipment may also include actions and operations related to processing, and states such as the start, execution, stop, and completion of such actions and operations.

[0010] Equipment operation information includes at least processing time. "Processing time" means the period during which the production equipment performs a predetermined process on a processing target, or the period during which it is estimated that such a process has been performed. "Processing time" is included in operating time and cycle time. In this embodiment, the number of processing targets that the production equipment 30 processes during processing time is one. However, the production equipment 30 is not limited to this, and may process two or more processing targets during processing time.

[0011] In this embodiment, the equipment operation information may include, in addition to the processing time, further waiting time, cycle time, operation time, production quantity, available time, availability, etc. "Waiting time" means the period during which the production equipment waits for processing. The waiting time is included in the operation time and the cycle time, and does not include the period during which no power is supplied to the production equipment. The waiting time can be said to be the period during which so-called energy loss occurs, that is, the production equipment does not contribute to the processing of the processing target during the operation time. "Cycle time" means the period from the start of processing on a processing target to the start of processing on the next processing target. The cycle time is the sum of the processing time and the waiting time. "Operation time" means the time from the start of operation of the production equipment to the end of operation. The operation time corresponds to the sum of the cycle times, and also corresponds to the sum of the cumulative processing time and the cumulative waiting time. "Production quantity" means the total number of processing targets that the production equipment has completed processing during a predetermined period. "Available time" means the cumulative period during which the production equipment executes processing on the processing target during the operation time. The available time corresponds to the cumulative processing time. "Availability" means the ratio of the available time to the operation time.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the estimation system 100 is provided in the factory 200. The factory 200 is provided with a plurality of production lines L1 to Ln, a power distribution line 70, and a distribution board 60. The "n" attached to the production line Ln is a natural number of 2 or more, indicating the number of production lines. Hereinafter, when explaining without distinguishing the plurality of production lines L1 to Ln, they will be referred to as "production line Ln".

[0013] The production line Ln includes, for example, a plurality of production equipment 30 and a transfer mechanism 41. The transfer mechanism 41 transfers, for example, processing targets such as processed parts and workpieces. The transfer mechanism 41 includes, for example, a belt conveyor, a transfer machine that moves on a predetermined track, etc. The production line Ln may be composed of a single production equipment 30 and may not include the transfer mechanism 41.

[0014] The production equipment 30 is, for example, equipment such as a metal processing machine, a welding machine, a resin molding machine, a painting machine, a hot forging machine, a finished product recovery machine, and a processed part supply machine. The production equipment 30 is equipped with a programmable logic controller (PLC) for executing production processing and machining processing on the processing target, and various sensors connected to the PLC. The various sensors are pre-arranged when installing and arranging the production line Ln and the production equipment 30 in order to operate the production line Ln and the production equipment 30.

[0015] The power distribution line 70 draws power from an external power source such as a grid power source into the factory 200. The power supplied to the power distribution line 70 is transformed, for example, by a transformer (not shown) from a special high voltage of 33 kV to a low voltage of 110 V, and the current of 200 A is transformed to a current of 5 A and supplied to the factory 200. The power supplied to the factory 200 is distributed to each of the plurality of production lines Ln by the distribution board 60.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 1, the estimation system 100 includes an operating state acquisition device 20 and a production management device 10. The operating state acquisition device 20 is retrofitted and mounted on or near the production equipment 30. In the present disclosure, "retrofitted" means that at the time of installation and arrangement of the production equipment 30, it is not mounted or incorporated on or near the production equipment 30, is not connected to the PLC that controls the operation of the production equipment 30, and is mounted and arranged on the production equipment 30 independently of the operation and control of the production equipment 30. The operating state acquisition device 20 may be mounted on the production line Ln, the transport mechanism 41, etc., on the premise that the operating state of the production equipment 30 can be detected.

[0017] The operating state acquisition device 20 detects the start timing of the processing on the processing target by the production equipment 30, generates a first signal as a detection signal, and transmits it to the production management device 10. In the present embodiment, the operating state acquisition device 20 further detects the stop timing of the processing by the production equipment 30, generates a second signal as a detection signal, and transmits it to the production management device 10.

[0018] The production management device 10 works in cooperation with the operating status acquisition device 20 to acquire equipment operation information of the production equipment 30 and estimates the production energy information of the production equipment 30 using the acquired equipment operation information. "Production energy information" means energy information generated by processing the target to be processed by the production equipment during the period in which production is carried out using the production equipment (hereinafter also referred to as the "production period"). In this embodiment, the production management device 10 estimates the amount of electricity consumed and CO2 emissions generated by processing the target to be processed by the production equipment as production energy information. The production management device 10 acquires equipment operation information of the production equipment 30 using the first signal and the second signal acquired from the operating status acquisition device 20.

[0019] In this embodiment, the production management device 10 further estimates the production-time energy loss information of the production equipment 30. "Production-time energy loss information" refers to energy information (in this embodiment, power consumption and CO2 emissions) generated by the standby of the production equipment 30 during the production period. If production-time energy information and production-time energy loss information for the production line Ln are to be obtained instead of the production equipment 30, they can be obtained by acquiring and summing the production-time energy information and production-time energy loss information for each of the multiple production equipment 30 and conveying mechanisms 41 that constitute the production line Ln.

[0020] The production management device 10 and the operating status acquisition device 20 are capable of sending and receiving data wirelessly. Furthermore, the production management device 10 can transmit generated equipment operation information and energy information to the information processing device PC and terminal devices PD1 and PD2 via wireless communication in response to requests from these devices. In this embodiment, the production management device 10 also functions as a display control device for transmitting generated energy information, equipment operation information, and display data using indicators to the display unit of the production management device 10, an information processing device PC such as a personal computer, and terminal devices PD1 and PD2, and displaying them on the display units provided in these devices. Terminal devices PD1 and PD2 are, for example, smartphones, mobile phones, PHS phones, slate terminals, and tablet terminals.

[0021] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the internal functional configuration of the production management device 10. The production management device 10 comprises a CPU 11 as a central processing unit, a storage device 12, a communication unit 13, a display unit 14, and a timer 16 for time measurement, which are interconnected via a bus 17 for communication. The production management device 10 is a different device from the PLC that controls the operation of the production equipment 30, and the production equipment 30 is controlled by the PLC even if the production management device 10 is not used. The display unit 14 is a display for displaying data.

[0022] The CPU 11 functions as an equipment operation information acquisition unit 110, an energy information estimation unit 112, and an index generation unit 114 by executing various programs stored in the storage device 12. The equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 generates equipment operation information for the production equipment 30 using detection signals received from the operating status acquisition device 20 during the production period.

[0023] The energy information estimation unit 112 estimates production energy information using processing energy information and equipment operation information. "Processing energy information" refers to energy information generated during processing time during a test run of the production equipment. "Test run" refers to a state in which the production equipment is operated during a period other than the production period for which energy information is estimated. Test run does not depend on whether or not the equipment is actually processing the target. In this embodiment, the processing energy information is power consumption, and the unit is "kWh / piece" or "kWh". Power consumption as processing energy information can be obtained, for example, by operating the production equipment 30 during a period before production by the production equipment 30 starts, and measuring the amount of power consumed during the processing time of the production equipment 30 using a known measuring instrument such as a clamp meter. From the viewpoint of improving the estimation accuracy of production energy information, it is preferable that the number of measurements, or so-called N, of power consumption as processing energy information is large.

[0024] In this embodiment, the energy information estimation unit 112 further estimates production-time energy loss information using standby energy information and equipment operation information. "Standby energy information" refers to energy information generated during the standby time of the production equipment during the test run of the production equipment. In this embodiment, the standby energy information is power, and the unit is kW. Standby energy information as power is also called "standby power". Standby power can be obtained, for example, by operating the production equipment 30 before production by the production equipment 30 starts and measuring the power of the production equipment 30 in a standby state where no processing is being performed using a known power meter. Processing energy information and standby energy information are measured at all production equipment 30 for which energy information is to be estimated before production by the production equipment 30 starts. Processing energy information and standby energy information are collectively also called "test-time energy information".

[0025] The indicator generation unit 114 generates an indicator related to energy information using the energy information during production, the energy loss information during production, and the equipment operation information. In this embodiment, the indicator generation unit 114 generates display data, such as a graph related to the generated indicator, for display on the display unit 14.

[0026] The storage device 12 is, for example, RAM, ROM, or a hard disk drive (HDD). The HDD or ROM stores various programs for realizing the functions provided in this embodiment. The programs read from the HDD or ROM are loaded onto the RAM and executed by the CPU 11. The read / write area of ​​the storage device 12 includes an equipment operation information storage unit 120 for storing equipment operation information, a processing energy information storage unit 122 for storing processing energy information, a standby energy information storage unit 124 for storing standby energy information, a CO2 emission coefficient storage unit 126, and an index storage unit 128 for storing generated indexes.

[0027] The CO2 emission factor storage unit 126 stores CO2 emission factors for deriving CO2 emissions. The "CO2 emission factor" is the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of activity, and means the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per predetermined unit amount of energy consumption. In this embodiment, the CO2 emission factor corresponds to the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to generate 1 kWh of electricity, and the unit is, for example, g / kWh. In this embodiment, the emission factor is pre-stored in the CO2 emission factor storage unit 126 using the emission factors for electric utilities published by the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry based on the Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures. However, the CO2 emission factor is not limited to being stored as a fixed value in advance, and may be updated sequentially via a wide-area network such as the Internet. By configuring it in this way, CO2 emissions can be derived using the latest CO2 emission factor.

[0028] The communication unit 13 acquires the start timing of processing by the production equipment 30 and the stop timing of processing by the production equipment 30 by receiving the first signal and the second signal transmitted from the operating status acquisition device 20 via wireless communication. The communication unit 13 can acquire the first signal and the second signal from the operating status acquisition device 20 without being connected to the operating status acquisition device 20 by wire. With this configuration, the estimation system 100 can be introduced into an existing factory 200, etc., using a simple method of retrofitting or arranging the operating status acquisition device 20 to the production equipment 30. The communication unit 13 may also transmit various execution commands to the operating status acquisition device 20. The communication unit 13 may further transmit display data to terminal devices PD1, PD2 and the information processing device PC. The communication unit 13 may also receive command signals from terminal devices PD1, PD2 and the information processing device PC requesting the execution of various processes.

[0029] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the operating status acquisition device 20. The operating status acquisition device 20 comprises a detection unit 25, a first transmitting / receiving unit 21, a second transmitting / receiving unit 22, and a controller 23. The detection unit 25, the first transmitting / receiving unit 21, and the second transmitting / receiving unit 22 are connected to the controller 23 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0030] The detection unit 25 is a variety of sensors attached to the production equipment 30. In this embodiment, the detection unit 25 is an optical sensor. The sensors used as the detection unit 25 can also be sound sensors, heat sensors, current sensors, distance sensors, atmospheric pressure sensors, acceleration sensors, rotational speed sensors, humidity sensors, magnetic sensors, and pressure sensors. Each of these sensors is used to detect the operating status of the production equipment 30.

[0031] The detection unit 25 detects the start timing of processing on the object to be processed by the production equipment 30. In this embodiment, the detection unit 25 further detects the stop timing of processing on the object to be processed by the production equipment 30. For example, when the detection unit 25 detects the start of processing by the production equipment 30, it generates a pulse signal that rises from the reference state (on), and when it detects the stop of processing by the production equipment 30, it generates a pulse signal that falls from the on state (off). The generated pulse signals are output to the controller 23. The detection unit 25 may also generate a pulse signal that falls from the on state to the reference state (off) when it detects the start of processing by the production equipment 30, and a pulse signal that rises from the reference state (on) when it detects the stop of processing by the production equipment 30.

[0032] The controller 23 includes a central processing unit (CPU) and a memory device (not shown). The controller 23 generates a first signal and a second signal using the pulse signal received from the detection unit 25, and distributes and outputs them to the first transmitting / receiving unit 21 and the second transmitting / receiving unit 22, respectively. In this embodiment, the controller 23 detects the rising edge (on) of the pulse signal received from the detection unit 25, generates a first signal, and outputs it to the first transmitting / receiving unit 21. When it detects the falling edge (off) of the pulse signal received from the detection unit 25, it generates a second signal and outputs it to the second transmitting / receiving unit 22. In addition, if the detection unit 25 generates a pulse signal that falls from the ON state to the reference state (off) when it detects the start of processing by the production equipment 30, and a pulse signal that rises from the reference state (on) when it detects the stop of processing by the production equipment 30, the first signal may be generated by detecting the falling edge of the pulse signal and output to the first transmitting / receiving unit 21, and the second signal may be generated by detecting the rising edge of the pulse signal and output to the second transmitting / receiving unit 22. Alternatively, the detection unit 25 may generate the first and second signals and output them to the controller 23 instead of the controller 23.

[0033] The first transceiver unit 21 and the second transceiver unit 22 function as transmitters that transmit a first signal and a second signal to the production management device 10 via wireless communication according to an arbitrary communication protocol. In this embodiment, the first transceiver unit 21 functions as a first transmitter that transmits the first signal to the production management device 10, and the second transceiver unit 22 functions as a second transmitter that transmits the second signal to the production management device 10. The second transceiver unit 22 may be omitted if the operating status acquisition device 20 only detects the start timing of processing.

[0034] Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the arrangement of an operating status acquisition device 20 equipped with an optical sensor as a detection unit 25. A housing 310 housing a PLC is arranged adjacent to the production equipment 30. The housing 310 is equipped with a signal tower 40 that indicates the operating status of the production equipment 30 with three-color signal lights. The operating status indicated by the signal tower 40 is, for example, green for processing, yellow for processing stopped, and red for abnormal stop.

[0035] The optical sensor used as the detection unit 25 can be a photoelectric conversion element capable of detecting whether the signal light is on or off, such as a photodiode or phototransistor. The detection unit 25 is mounted, for example, on the light-emitting surface of the green signal light of the signal tower 40. By mounting the detection unit 25 on the signal tower 40, the start or stop of processing of the target to be processed by the production equipment 30, indicated by the signal tower 40, can be easily detected. In this embodiment, the detection unit 25 detects the start of processing by the production equipment 30 when the green signal light is on, and detects the stop of processing by the production equipment 30 when the green signal light is off. When the start of processing by the production equipment 30 is detected, the controller 23 generates a first signal using the pulse waveform from the detection unit 25 and outputs it to the first transmitting / receiving unit 21. When the stop of processing by the production equipment 30 is detected, the controller 23 generates a second signal using the pulse waveform from the detection unit 25 and outputs it to the second transmitting / receiving unit 22.

[0036] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the energy information estimation method according to the first embodiment. Step S10 is an energy information acquisition step, in which the energy consumption during testing is acquired and stored in the processing energy information storage unit 122 and the standby energy information storage unit 124.

[0037] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the details of the process for obtaining energy consumption during testing. In step S100, the user or manager of the estimation system 100 measures the amount of electricity consumed during the processing time of the production equipment 30 using a power meter or the like, before production by the production equipment 30 begins. In this embodiment, the average value of 12 measurements of the amount of electricity consumed during the processing time of the production equipment 30 is obtained as processing energy information.

[0038] In step S110, the user or manager of the estimation system 100 measures the power consumption of the production equipment 30 during standby time. In this embodiment, the average value of the power consumption of the production equipment 30 in standby mode measured over 5 minutes is obtained as standby energy information. In step S120, the user or manager stores the acquired processing energy information and standby energy information in the processing energy information storage unit 122 and the standby energy information storage unit 124.

[0039] Returning to Figure 5, in step S20, the production equipment 30 starts up, production by the production equipment 30 begins, and the estimation system 100 acquires equipment operation information. Figure 7 is a flowchart of the processing routine for the equipment operation information acquisition process. This flow can be executed repeatedly from the start up to the end of operation of the estimation system 100.

[0040] In step S200, the operating status acquisition device 20 confirms the input of a pulse signal from the detection unit 25. If no pulse signal is input from the detection unit 25 (S200: NO), the controller 23 waits for the input of a pulse signal. When a pulse signal is input from the detection unit 25 (step S200: YES), the controller 23 proceeds to step S210 and detects the rising edge (on) or falling edge (off) of the detected pulse signal. In this embodiment, if the controller 23 detects the rising edge of the pulse signal (S210: YES), it proceeds to step S211 and generates a first signal corresponding to the start timing of processing of the object to be processed by the production equipment 30 and outputs it to the first transmitting / receiving unit 21, and the first transmitting / receiving unit 21 transmits the acquired first signal to the production management device 10. If the controller 23 detects a falling edge of the pulse signal (S210:NO), it proceeds to step S212 and outputs a second signal corresponding to the timing of stopping processing of the object to be processed by the production equipment 30 to the second transceiver unit 22. The second transceiver unit 22 then transmits the acquired second signal to the production management device 10. The first and second signals transmitted from the operating status acquisition device 20 are received by the communication unit 13 of the production management device 10 via wireless communication.

[0041] In step S220, the equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 generates equipment operation information using the first signal and the second signal. The equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 generates equipment operation information each time it receives the first signal and the second signal.

[0042] In this embodiment, the equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 generates cycle time, production quantity, operating time, processing time, standby time, operational time, and operational rate as equipment operation information. In this embodiment, the equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 acquires the period from the first signal to the reception of the next first signal as the cycle time. Alternatively, the period from the second signal to the reception of the next second signal may be acquired as the cycle time. In this embodiment, for example, the equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 counts the number of times the cycle time has been acquired, and acquires the production quantity by multiplying the counted result by the number of processing targets processed by the production equipment 30 during the cycle time (1 in this embodiment). Alternatively, the production quantity may be the result of counting the number of times the processing time has been acquired. In this embodiment, for example, the equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 takes the timing when the first first signal is received after the production management device 10 is started as the start time of operation of the production equipment 30, and acquires the elapsed time until the timing when the first or second signal is received for the last time as the operating time. Furthermore, the timing at which the first or second signal is last received when the production control device 10 is stopped can be used as the end of operation time.

[0043] The methods for obtaining cycle time, processing time, and waiting time will be explained using Figures 8 and 9. Figure 8 is a timing chart showing the relationship between the detection signal from the operating status acquisition device 20 and the processing routine by the equipment operation information acquisition unit 110. The horizontal axis in Figure 8 is the time axis, and the vertical axis schematically shows the generation timing of the ON signal and OFF signal by the detection unit 25. Figure 8 shows the cycle time CT1, the processing time PT1, the cycle time reference value TG, and the threshold value TS for determining the waiting time.

[0044] The timing chart shown by the solid line G1 is an example of a case where the production equipment 30 completes processing normally without generating any waiting time. In the example in Figure 8, at time T1, the detection unit 25 detects the start of processing by the production equipment 30, and the controller 23 generates a first signal. At time T2, the detection unit 25 detects the stop of processing by the production equipment 30, and the controller 23 generates a second signal. At time T3, the production equipment 30 starts processing the next target, and the controller 23 generates the next first signal. The equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 acquires the period from receiving the first signal at time T1 to receiving the next first signal at time T3 as the cycle time CT1, and also accumulates the production quantity. In addition, in the example in Figure 8, since no waiting time occurs, the cycle time CT1 is acquired as the processing time PT1.

[0045] Figure 9 is a second timing chart showing the relationship between the detection signal from the operating status acquisition device 20 and the processing routine by the equipment operation information acquisition unit 110. The vertical and horizontal axes in Figure 9 are the same as in Figure 8. Figure 9 shows the cycle time CT2, processing time PT2, cycle time reference value TG, threshold TS, and waiting time ST.

[0046] The solid line G2 shown in Figure 9 is an example of a timing chart when the production equipment 30 experiences a waiting period. More specifically, the production equipment 30 stops at a predetermined timing after completing processing at time T2, and resumes processing for the next target at time T6, which is after time T5. In this case, the equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 estimates the processing time and waiting time using the first signal and the second signal.

[0047] In this embodiment, the equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 determines that a waiting time has occurred because the threshold TS has been exceeded at time T5, and calculates the waiting time. In this case, the equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 acquires the period from the time T1 when the first signal was first received to the time T6 when the first signal was received again as the cycle time CT2. The equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 also estimates the cycle time reference value TG (from time T1 to time T4) as the processing time PT2, and estimates the period from the cycle time reference value TG (time T4) to time T6 as the waiting time ST. Note that the method for calculating the waiting time is not limited to this and may be arbitrarily set according to the processing content of the production equipment 30. For example, the period from time T5 when the threshold TS has been exceeded to time T6 may be taken as the waiting time, in which case the period up to the threshold TS (from time T1 to time T5) may be estimated as the processing time. Alternatively, the period from time T2 when the second signal was received to time T6 may be taken as the waiting time. In this case, the processing time may be estimated as the period from time T1 to time T2 until the second signal is received. The waiting time may also be calculated using the following formula (1). Waiting time = Operating time - Production quantity × Processing time ... Equation (1)

[0048] The equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 acquires the cumulative processing time as the operational time. The equipment operational time may be calculated, for example, by subtracting the cumulative standby time from the operational time. The equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 acquires the operational rate by dividing the operational time by the operational time.

[0049] Returning to Figure 5, in step S30, the energy information estimation unit 112 estimates energy information generated by the processing or standby of the production equipment. Figure 10 is a flowchart showing the details of the energy information estimation process. In the following example, we will explain using an example in which energy information is estimated from the start of operation of the production equipment 30 until the operating time TTp has elapsed.

[0050] In step S300, the energy information estimation unit 112 estimates the energy information during production. The energy information estimation unit 112 uses the energy information during processing stored in the energy information storage unit 122 and the processing time acquired as equipment operation information to calculate the energy information during production using the following equation (2). Energy information during production: TEpt1 = Ept·PN ... Equation (2) Ept: Energy information during processing (unit: kWh / piece) PN: Production quantity per operating time TTP (unit: pieces) In this embodiment, the processing energy information Ept is the amount of electricity consumed per processing time (unit: kWh / piece), and the energy information estimation unit 112 calculates the production energy information TEpt1 as the amount of electricity consumed (unit: kWh) using the above formula (2).

[0051] In this embodiment, the energy information estimation unit 112 further uses the CO2 emission coefficient stored in the CO2 emission coefficient storage unit 126 to calculate the production energy information TEpt2 as CO2 emissions (unit: kg) using the following equation (3). Energy information during production TEpt2 = TEpt1 · CC ... Equation (3) CC: CO2 emission factor (unit: kg / kWh)

[0052] In step S310, the energy information estimation unit 112 estimates the energy loss information during production. The energy information estimation unit 112 calculates the energy loss information TEloss1 during production using the following formula (4), which uses the standby energy information stored in the standby energy information storage unit 124 and the standby time acquired as equipment operation information. Energy loss information during production: TEloss1 = Eloss·Twt ···Equation (4) Eloss: Standby energy information (unit: kW) Twt: Total waiting time within the total operating time (TTp) (unit: hours) In this embodiment, the standby energy information is power (unit: kW), and the energy information estimation unit 112 calculates the production-time loss energy information TEloss1 as power consumption (unit: kWh) using the above formula (4). The production-time loss energy information TEloss1 is also called "production-time loss power consumption".

[0053] The energy information estimation unit 112 calculates the total waiting time Twt using the following equation (5). Total waiting time Twt = TTp - PT·PN ... Equation (5) TTp: Operating time (unit: hours) PT: Processing time (unit: hours) The total waiting time Twt may be obtained by acquiring and accumulating the waiting time for each cycle time of the production equipment 30.

[0054] In this embodiment, the energy information estimation unit 112 further uses the CO2 emission coefficient stored in the CO2 emission coefficient storage unit 126 to calculate the production-time loss energy information TEloss2 as CO2 emissions (unit: kg) using the following equation (6). The production-time loss energy information TEloss2 is also called "production-time loss CO2 emissions". Energy loss information during production: TEloss2 = TEloss1 · CC ... Equation (6) CC: CO2 emission factor (unit: kg / kWh)

[0055] In step S320, the energy information estimation unit 112 calculates the total energy information for the operating time TTp using the following equations (7) and (8). Total energy information Etotal1 = TEpt1 + TEloss1 ... Equation (7) Total energy information Etotal² = TEpt² + TEloss² ... Equation (8) Note that the total energy information Etotal1 represents the total electricity consumption (unit: kWh), and the total energy information Etotal2 represents the total CO2 emissions (unit: g).

[0056] Returning to Figure 5, in step S40, the indicator generation unit 114 generates an indicator related to energy information. The indicator may be generated with the aim of improving energy information. Examples of indicators related to energy information include the correspondence between processing time or production quantity and energy information, or the correspondence between waiting time and energy information. From the viewpoint of suppressing or preventing waste in the production performance of the production equipment 30, it is preferable that the indicator uses the amount of power consumption lost during production and the amount of CO2 emissions lost during production as energy information. In step S50, the indicator generation unit 114 outputs the generated indicator to the display unit 14 for display.

[0057] Figure 11 is a first explanatory diagram showing an example of an indicator generated by the indicator generation unit 114. The table TB shown in Figure 11 shows an example of the results generated when the operating time TTp has elapsed. Table TB is generated by the indicator generation unit 114 and displayed on the screen by the display unit 14.

[0058] Table TB shows the energy information during processing, energy information during standby, equipment operation information, energy information, and indicators related to energy information for each of the production facilities A to C, which are examples of production facilities 30. Table TB makes it easy to compare the energy information results between production facilities A to C, and facilitates the consideration of improving energy information. Alternatively, the results for each production line may be shown instead of the results for each production facility.

[0059] Table TB shows the production quantity, processing time, operating time, and availability rate as results of acquiring equipment operation information. The processing time item shows the average processing time acquired during operating time TTp. Equipment operation information may also display cycle time and the total waiting time during operating time TTp. Energy information shows the total power consumption as Etotal1 and production-time energy loss information TEloss1, and the total CO2 emissions as Etotal2 and production-time energy loss information TEloss2. By displaying production-time energy loss information as well, improvement targets for each production facility can be clearly defined.

[0060] Table TB shows the CO2 emissions per unit of product as an indicator of energy information. By showing the energy information per unit of product, the correlation between the production performance of the production facility 30 and CO2 emissions can be easily grasped. Both the target value and the actual value of the CO2 emissions per unit of product are displayed. The target value of the CO2 emissions per unit of product can be obtained, for example, by multiplying the processing energy information by the CO2 emission coefficient. The best value from past performance may also be used as the target value of the CO2 emissions per unit of product. The actual value of the CO2 emissions per unit of product can be obtained, for example, by dividing the total energy information Etotal2 by the number of units produced. In addition, the loss CO2 emissions per unit of product may be used as an indicator of energy information. Displaying the target value together can stimulate motivation for improvement.

[0061] Figure 12 is a second explanatory diagram showing an example of an indicator generated by the indicator generation unit 114. The screen DP1 shown in Figure 12 shows an example of an indicator generated using data for 7 working days. Screen DP1 is generated by the indicator generation unit 114 and displayed on the screen by the display unit 14.

[0062] At the top of screen DP1, graphs G11 to G14 are displayed, showing the CO2 emissions (in kg) during production for each production facility P to S. Graphs G11 to G14 allow for easy comparison of production facilities by displaying production energy loss information graphically for each facility.

[0063] At the bottom of screen DP1, graphs G21-G24 are shown, illustrating the relationship between CO2 emissions during production, standby power, and standby time as a percentage of operating time TTp. More specifically, graphs G21-G24 plot the standby time for 7 days against standby power, which is standby energy information Eloss1, for each of production facilities P-S, which are examples of production facilities 30. Graphs G31-G33 show CO2 emissions during production as contour lines at predetermined intervals. According to graphs G21-G24 and G31-G33, for example, production facility P shows good results with low standby power and low CO2 emissions during production, but it is possible to identify an area for improvement in that the standby time is inconsistent. Furthermore, while production facilities Q and S show less variation in standby time, it is possible to recognize areas for improvement in that their standby power is higher than that of production facility P, resulting in higher CO2 emissions during production. Production equipment R has a large variation in standby time and high standby power consumption, which allows us to identify areas for improvement, such as the highest CO2 loss during production.

[0064] As described above, according to the energy information estimation system 100 of this embodiment, the production management device 10 includes: a processing energy information storage unit 122 that stores processing energy information Ept acquired during a test run of the production equipment 30; an equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 that acquires equipment operation information of the production equipment 30 using detection signals received from the operation status acquisition device 20 during the production period in which the production equipment 30 is in operation; and an energy information estimation unit 112 that estimates the production energy information TEpt1 and TEpt2 generated by the processing of the production equipment 30 during the production period using the processing energy information Ept and processing time. The energy information estimation system 100 can estimate the production energy information generated by the processing of the production equipment 30 during the production period, more specifically, the production energy information TEpt1 as power consumption and the production energy information TEpt2 as CO2 emissions, without providing a device for acquiring energy consumption during the production period and without acquiring energy consumption during the production period.

[0065] According to the energy information estimation system 100 of this embodiment, the energy information estimation unit 112 further estimates the production-time energy loss information TEloss1 and TEloss2 generated by the standby of the production equipment 30 during the production period, using the standby energy information Eloss1 and the total standby time Twt. Therefore, the energy information estimation system 100 can estimate the production-time energy loss information generated by the standby of the production equipment 30 during the production period, more specifically, the production-time energy loss information TEloss1 as power consumption and the production-time energy loss information TEloss2 as CCO2 emissions, without providing a device for acquiring energy consumption during the production period or acquiring energy consumption during the production period.

[0066] According to the energy information estimation system 100 of this embodiment, the production management device 10 further includes an index generation unit 114 that generates a graph G11 showing the correspondence between CO2 emissions lost during production, standby power, and the standby time ST of the production equipment 30 during the production period. Therefore, when improving CO2 emissions lost during production, it is easy to determine whether to improve standby power or the standby time generated by the production equipment 30.

[0067] B. Other embodiments: (B1) In the above embodiment, the operating status acquisition device 20 transmits a first signal corresponding to the start timing of processing by the production equipment 30 and a second signal corresponding to the stop timing of processing to the production management device 10, and the production management device 10 uses the first signal and the second signal to generate equipment operation information and indicators. In contrast, the production management device 10 may be configured to acquire only the start timing of processing by the production equipment 30, i.e., only the first signal, and generate equipment operation information and indicators using only the start timing. In this case, the detection unit 25 of the operating status acquisition device 20 detects the start timing of processing by the production equipment 30, and the controller 23 may generate only the first signal using the pulse signal received from the detection unit 25. The operating status acquisition device 20 may be equipped with only one of the first transmitting / receiving unit 21 and the second transmitting / receiving unit 22 for transmitting the first signal to the production management device 10. By doing so, the operating status acquisition device 20 can be made simpler in configuration, and the processing in the production management device 10 can be simplified. The production management device 10 may be configured to acquire only the second signal and generate equipment operation information and indicators using only the stop timing. When generating equipment operation information and indicators using only the start timing, the equipment operation information acquisition unit 110 may acquire the period from the first signal to the reception of the next first signal as the cycle time.

[0068] (B2) In the above embodiment, the energy consumption status of the production equipment was described using the amount of electricity consumed by the production equipment 30 as an example. However, the energy to be detected is not limited to electricity, but may be various other energies such as gas, kerosene, and heavy oil. For example, when detecting the amount of gas consumed by the production equipment 30, the same effects as in the above embodiment can be obtained by acquiring energy information during processing and energy information during standby by using a gas consumption meter to measure gas consumption instead of a power meter or clamp meter.

[0069] (B3) In the above embodiment, the processing energy information is obtained as a single processing energy information by taking the average value of 12 measurements of the amount of electricity generated during the processing time of the production equipment 30 in the period before production by the production equipment 30 starts, and the standby energy information is obtained as a single standby energy information by operating the production equipment 30 before production by the production equipment 30 starts and taking the average value of the power of the production equipment 30 in standby state measured for 5 minutes using a known power meter. In contrast, the processing energy information and standby energy information may be obtained at any timing during the test run of the production equipment. Furthermore, the processing energy information and standby energy information are not limited to one, and multiple processing energy information and standby energy information may be obtained for each factor that causes fluctuations in the processing energy information and standby energy information. Examples of "factors that cause fluctuations in processing energy information and standby energy information" include the following. (1) Weekdays and holidays (2) Daytime and nighttime (3) Season (4) Weather for 200 factories, including sunshine hours and temperature. (5) Operational plans for 200 factories (6) Types of items to be processed The "operational plan for factory 200" may include information such as the rest and working hours of employees working at factory 200, the long-term shutdown of factory 200, and the operational plans for production line Ln and production equipment 30. Multiple processing energy information and standby energy information may be acquired for each piece of information that includes at least some of the above-mentioned information. Furthermore, if production energy information and production loss energy information for production line Ln are prepared instead of production equipment 30, it is preferable to consider the operational plans for each of the multiple pieces of production equipment 30 that constitute production line Ln. For example, if the operational plan is such that only some of the production equipment 30 are in a standby state during certain time periods such as rest periods, it is preferable to acquire the processing energy information and standby energy information for production line Ln during rest periods and the processing energy information and standby energy information for production line Ln during working hours separately. Furthermore, if multiple processing energy information and standby energy information are acquired at different time intervals, the energy information estimation unit 112 estimates production energy information and production loss energy information for each time interval by relating the time intervals during which the processing energy information and standby energy information were acquired with the time intervals during which the acquired equipment operation information was acquired. This configuration suppresses the problem of reduced estimation accuracy of production energy information and production loss energy information due to fluctuations in processing energy information and standby energy information caused by the above factors.

[0070] This disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented in various configurations without departing from its spirit. For example, the technical features in the embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each form described in the summary of the invention can be replaced or combined as appropriate in order to solve some or all of the above-described problems, or to achieve some or all of the above-described effects. Furthermore, if a technical feature is not described as essential in this specification, it can be deleted as appropriate. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0071] 10…Production management device, 11…CPU, 12…Storage device, 13…Communication unit, 14…Display unit, 16…Timer, 17…Bus, 20…Operating status acquisition device, 21…First transmitting / receiving unit, 22…Second transmitting / receiving unit, 23…Controller, 25…Detection unit, 30…Production equipment, 40…Signal tower, 41…Transportation mechanism, 60…Distribution board, 70…Power distribution line, 100…Energy information estimation system, 110…Equipment operation information acquisition unit, 112…Energy information estimation unit, 114…Indicator generation unit, 120…Equipment operation information storage unit, 122…Processing energy information storage unit, 124…Standby energy information storage unit, 126…CO2 emission coefficient storage unit, 128…Indicator storage unit, 200…Factory, 310…Enclosure, DP1…Screen, L1~Ln…Production line, PC…Information processing device, PD1,PD2…Terminal device, TB…Table

Claims

1. An energy information estimation system that estimates energy information including at least one of the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions generated by the production of production equipment, A device for acquiring operating status, A detection unit that is retrofitted to production equipment or retrofitted to the vicinity of said production equipment, the detection unit that outputs a detection signal indicating the operating status of said production equipment, An operating status acquisition device having a transmitting unit for transmitting the detection signal, It is a production control device, Processing energy information storage unit that stores processing energy information acquired during a test run of the production equipment, which is generated during a processing time when the production equipment performs a predetermined processing on the object to be processed. During the production period in which the production equipment is manufactured, the equipment operation information acquisition unit acquires equipment operation information of the production equipment, including processing time, using the detection signal received from the operating status acquisition device. A production management device comprising: an energy information estimation unit that estimates the energy information generated by the processing of the production equipment during the production period using the processing energy information and the equipment operation information, The production management device further includes a standby energy information storage unit that stores standby energy information acquired during a test run of the production equipment, which is standby energy information generated during the standby time when the production equipment is waiting to perform the processing. The equipment operation information acquisition unit further acquires the waiting time during the production period as equipment operation information using the detection signal. The energy information estimation unit further estimates the energy loss information generated during production due to the standby of the production equipment during the production period, using the standby energy information and the standby time acquired as equipment operation information. Energy information estimation system.

2. An energy information estimation system according to claim 1, The standby energy information storage unit stores the standby power generated during the standby time when the production equipment is being tested as standby energy information. The energy information estimation unit estimates the amount of CO2 emissions lost during production due to the standby status of the production equipment during the production period as the production-time energy loss information. The production management device further includes an indicator generation unit that generates an indicator graph showing the correspondence between the CO2 emissions lost during production, the standby power, and the standby time of the production equipment during the production period. Energy information estimation system.

3. An energy information estimation system according to claim 1, The detection unit outputs a first signal corresponding to the start of processing on the object to be processed by the production equipment, and a second signal different from the first signal, which corresponds to the stop of processing, as the detection signals. Energy information estimation system.

4. An energy information estimation method for estimating energy information that includes at least one of the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions generated by the production of production equipment, During a test run of the production equipment, an energy information acquisition step is performed to acquire processing energy information generated during the processing time when the production equipment performs a predetermined processing on the object to be processed. During the production period in which the production equipment is manufactured, a process for acquiring equipment operation information of the production equipment, including processing time, is performed using a detection signal indicating the operating status of the production equipment. The system includes an energy information estimation step that estimates the energy information generated by the processing of the production equipment during the production period, using the processing energy information and the equipment operation information. The energy information acquisition step further includes a step of acquiring standby energy information generated during the waiting time when the production equipment is waiting to perform the processing during a test run of the production equipment. The equipment operation information acquisition step further includes a step of acquiring the waiting time during the production period as equipment operation information using the detection signal, The energy information estimation step further includes a step of estimating production-time energy loss information generated during the production period due to the standby of the production equipment, using the standby energy information and the standby time acquired as equipment operation information. Energy information estimation method.

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