Failure detection and compensation in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment
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Solution Overview
Problem
HVAC equipment failures in facilities lead to deviations from setpoints, causing uncomfortable conditions and potential critical situations, as existing systems lack efficient automated detection and compensation mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method and apparatus that monitor HVAC equipment and confined areas, detect failures, and automatically instruct adjacent equipment to compensate by adjusting environmental conditions, such as air pressure and airflow, to maintain setpoints.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If HVAC equipment is monitored and failure detection is implemented, then reliability of environmental control is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional monitoring and control systems
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors environmental conditions and equipment status, comparing actual values against setpoints and thresholds. When deviations are detected, the system automatically adjusts adjacent HVAC equipment to compensate, creating a closed-loop feedback mechanism that maintains reliability without requiring complex manual intervention systems
Solution Approach 2:
The HVAC system performs self-diagnosis and self-correction by automatically detecting failures through monitoring and instructing adjacent equipment to compensate. This autonomous operation eliminates the need for complex manual service systems while maintaining reliable environmental control
2Productivity
If automated failure compensation is implemented, then productivity is improved by preventing critical situations, but device complexity increases due to automatic control mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The system proactively detects equipment failures before they lead to critical situations by continuously monitoring environmental conditions against thresholds. Adjacent equipment is instructed to compensate in advance, preventing productivity loss from critical failures while using straightforward monitoring and control logic
Solution Approach 2:
Adjacent HVAC equipment serves as an intermediary to compensate for failures in one unit. The system uses simple control signals to instruct neighboring equipment to adjust their operation, providing automated compensation through existing infrastructure rather than complex new control mechanisms
3Ease of operation
If additional HVAC equipment is brought in to mitigate failures, then comfort is improved for occupants, but loss of energy increases due to additional equipment operation
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial compensation by instructing adjacent HVAC equipment to operate at increased capacity only to the extent needed to maintain setpoints during failure conditions. This avoids the energy waste of full-scale redundant equipment operation while still maintaining occupant comfort through targeted adjustments
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided for controlling heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment configured to control environmental conditions in confined areas of a facility. The method includes monitoring at least one of the HVAC equipment or the confined areas. The method includes detecting a failure of a first of the HVAC equipment to control an environmental condition in a first of the confined areas to a setpoint for the environmental condition, with the environmental condition including at least one of temperature, humidity or air quality. The method includes controlling at least one of the first or a second of the HVAC equipment to cause additional conditioned air to permeate to the first of the confined areas from an adjacent, second of the confined areas to move the environmental condition in the first of the confined areas closer to the setpoint to compensate for the failure, automatically as a direct result of detection of the failure.