Cloud-Based Bypass Control for Cold Storage Power Draw Management
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing control systems in industrial facilities, such as cold storage facilities, often lack direct control over equipment outputs like motor speed or valve position, and may only allow setting environmental parameters like temperature, limiting the ability to optimize energy use based on power or energy requirements.
Innovation Solution
A cloud scheduler creates a power draw prescription for cold storage equipment, which is converted into environmental setpoints by a bypass controller and communicated to the existing system controller, allowing indirect control of equipment through power management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a cloud scheduler creates power draw prescriptions and a bypass controller converts them to environmental setpoints, then power draw management efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases due to the addition of bypass controller and communication infrastructure
Solution Approach 1:
The bypass controller serves as an intermediary device that receives power draw prescriptions from the cloud scheduler and converts them into environmental setpoints that the existing controller can execute. This mediator enables indirect control of power draw without modifying the existing controller, resolving the contradiction by adding a intermediate layer that bridges the cloud-based optimization and the legacy control system.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system is segmented into distinct functional components: the cloud scheduler for power draw optimization, the bypass controller for conversion and translation, and the existing controller for execution. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in its function, improving overall power draw management efficiency while containing complexity in modular units rather than a monolithic system.
2Adaptability or versatility
If indirect control through environmental setpoints is used, then compatibility with existing control systems is improved, but control precision deteriorates due to the inability to directly manipulate equipment outputs
Solution Approach 1:
The bypass controller continuously monitors the relationship between environmental setpoints and actual power draw, using this feedback to refine the conversion algorithm. By learning from actual system responses, the bypass controller compensates for the indirect control mechanism, maintaining control precision while preserving compatibility with existing systems that only accept environmental setpoints.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the control parameter from direct equipment outputs to environmental setpoints, which are then converted to equivalent power draw effects through the bypass controller's mathematical model. This parameter transformation enables compatibility with existing systems while the model-based conversion maintains control precision by accounting for the thermal and mechanical dynamics of the cold storage system.
3Loss of energy
If power draw prescriptions are converted to environmental setpoints using mathematical models, then energy efficiency is improved, but measurement and modeling difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mathematical model of the cold storage system is developed and validated in advance, capturing the relationships between environmental parameters and power draw before actual operation. This preliminary modeling work enables the bypass controller to directly convert power draw prescriptions into effective environmental setpoints without requiring complex real-time calculations, reducing online computational burden while maintaining energy efficiency.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables efficient energy use by optimizing power draw and maintaining environmental parameters within set thresholds, reducing power spikes and energy costs, even with existing control systems that do not allow direct output control.
Implementation Method 1
converting the power draw prescription to a temperature setpoint for a portion of the cold storage facility based on a mathematical model of the one or more items of cold storage equipment
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments include a control bypass system for industrial cold storage facilities. In some embodiments, the control bypass system includes a cloud scheduler and a bypass controller. The cloud scheduler may be located in a remote location. The cloud scheduler may create a power draw prescription for one or more items of cold storage equipment at the industrial cold storage facility. The power draw prescription, for example, can include a desired power draw level for one or more items of cold storage equipment at the industrial cold storage facility and the desired power draw level changes over a period of time. The bypass controller can be located at the industrial cold storage facility and receives the power draw prescription from the cloud scheduler, produces an environmental setpoint for the one or more items of equipment, and outputs the environmental setpoint to a device or system controller.