Cold Storage Bypass Control for Power Draw Scheduling
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Solution Overview
Problem
In industrial cold storage facilities, existing control systems often lack direct control over equipment outputs such as motor speed, valve position, or energy usage, limiting the ability to manage power draw efficiently, especially when existing systems only allow for environmental setpoints like temperature or pressure control.
Innovation Solution
A cloud scheduler creates a power draw prescription that is converted into environmental setpoints, such as temperature setpoints, by a bypass controller, which communicates these setpoints to the existing device or system controller, allowing for indirect control of equipment operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If a cloud scheduler creates power draw prescriptions and a bypass controller converts them to environmental setpoints, then energy use is optimized and power spikes are reduced, but device complexity increases due to the addition of cloud scheduler and bypass controller components
Solution Approach 1:
The bypass controller serves as an intermediary device between the cloud scheduler and the existing system controller. It receives power draw prescriptions from the cloud scheduler, converts them into environmental setpoints using a mathematical model, and outputs these setpoints to the system controller. This intermediary approach enables energy optimization without requiring modifications to the existing control system, thus resolving the contradiction between energy efficiency and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system is segmented into distinct functional components: the cloud scheduler that creates power draw prescriptions, the bypass controller that converts prescriptions to setpoints, and the existing system controller that executes control actions. This segmentation allows the optimization functionality to be added independently without complicating the existing control system architecture.
2Adaptability or versatility
If indirect control through environmental setpoints is used instead of direct equipment output control, then compatibility with existing control systems is maintained, but control precision deteriorates due to the indirect control mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The bypass controller acts as an intelligent intermediary that uses a mathematical model of the equipment to translate power draw prescriptions into precise environmental setpoints. This model-based approach maintains control precision despite the indirect control mechanism, while the bypass controller's ability to interface with existing systems preserves compatibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the control parameter from direct equipment output (e.g., motor speed, valve position) to environmental parameters (e.g., temperature, pressure). By using a mathematical model to convert between these parameter domains, the system maintains control precision while achieving broader compatibility with existing control systems that only accept environmental setpoints.
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 management of power draw and temperature control within cold storage facilities, reducing energy spikes and maintaining temperature within bounds, even with existing control systems that do not allow direct manipulation of equipment outputs.
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.