Control of heating, ventilation, air-conditioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
HVAC systems face inefficiencies due to varying hydraulic resistances, leading to inadequate heating or cooling supply in some areas, excessive flow, noisy valves, mechanical wear, and energy wastage, which existing control methods fail to address effectively without temperature and flow measurements.
Innovation Solution
A control device and method that determine characteristic valve positions based on deviation measures from target values, using a proportional-integral-derivative control algorithm, allowing continuous adjustments without prior knowledge of flow or temperature drop values, and reporting system imbalances and component inadequacies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional hydronic balancing methods are used with temperature and flow measurements, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential control function from complex measurement systems by using only position signals from valves and target values from sensors, eliminating the need for complex temperature drop and flow rate measurements while maintaining adequate control precision
Solution Approach 2:
The control device acts as an intermediary that processes simple position signals and target values to determine optimal valve positions, mediating between basic sensor inputs and hydronic balancing outcomes without requiring direct temperature and flow measurements
2Adaptability or versatility
If valve positions are fixed initially, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability to system changes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adaptability by continuously determining optimal valve positions based on current position signals and target values, allowing the system to automatically adjust to occupancy changes, system characteristics evolution, and outdoor temperature variations without increasing hardware complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The control device uses feedback from position signals and target values to continuously optimize valve positions, creating a closed-loop system that adapts to changing conditions while maintaining relatively simple device architecture
3Use of energy by moving object
If pump capacity is reduced to minimum, then energy consumption is lowered, but productivity of heat supply deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality optimization by determining individual optimal positions for each valve in the system based on zone-specific requirements, allowing the pump to operate at higher capacity only where needed rather than uniformly reducing all flows, thus balancing energy consumption with heat supply productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of valve positions dynamically based on measured target values and position signals, enabling the pump to maintain higher flow rates when system conditions require increased heat supply while still achieving energy efficiency through optimized valve positioning
Data Source
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AI summary
Control of heating, ventilation, air-conditioning. A characteristic position is determined for each valve 7 - 9 and/or for each zone of a structure. Normalised positions are produced by referring each characteristic position to its limit value. Also, measures indicative of comfort are determined for each zone of the structure. The determined measures are used to produce deviation measures. A control algorithm relies on the deviation measures as input values. The control algorithm yields equal comfort in each zone. Also, the output values of the control algorithm for the individual valves 7 - 9 are combined with the limit values of each individual valve 7 - 9 to produce combined individual values. New limit positions for the valves 7 - 9 are finally determined as a function of the combined individual values. It is envisaged to either rely on a single such value or to average a time series of such values.