Control of heating, ventilation, air-conditioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hydronic balancing in HVAC installations is challenging in existing or historic buildings due to unknown hydraulic resistances and uncertainties in thermal energy demand, leading to inefficient operation, excessive flow, noise, and mechanical wear, as well as high energy consumption.
Innovation Solution
A control device communicates with HVAC valves to determine oversupply or undersupply, adjusting valve positions and pump pressure to achieve balanced thermal energy distribution without prior knowledge of circuit resistances, using a controller to read valve opening degrees and room temperatures, and optimizing valve positions based on statistical analysis of valve operation data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conservative estimates of heating requirements are used, then comfort is maintained, but thermal losses of boilers increase unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors actual flow rates and temperature differences across circuits, using this feedback to dynamically adjust valve positions and pump speed, replacing conservative static estimates with real-time adaptive control that maintains comfort while minimizing energy waste
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters (valve opening degrees, pump speed) based on measured flow and temperature data, transitioning from fixed conservative settings to dynamically optimized parameters that reduce thermal losses while maintaining required comfort levels
2Productivity
If proper hydronic balancing is achieved, then thermal energy distribution is optimized, but system complexity increases due to measurement and control requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The control device performs multiple functions: measuring flow rates, monitoring temperature differences, calculating hydraulic resistances, determining optimal valve positions, and controlling both valves and pump speed, consolidating these functions into a single multi-functional system that manages complexity internally while delivering optimized performance
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically measures flow and temperature, calculates optimal settings, and adjusts itself without external intervention, making the balancing process self-service rather than requiring manual commissioning or continuous operator input
3Reliability
If excessive flow is allowed in circuits, then heating demand is met, but mechanical wear of valves and pumps increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts valve positions and pump speed based on actual circuit requirements rather than maintaining excessive constant flow, using real-time feedback to optimize flow rates that satisfy heating demand while minimizing mechanical stress and wear on valves and pumps
4Ease of manufacture
If hydraulic resistances are estimated rather than measured, then system installation is simpler, but hydronic balancing becomes difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary automatic measurement and calculation of actual hydraulic resistances during commissioning, replacing manual estimation with automated measurement that maintains installation simplicity while achieving precise balancing through calculated optimal valve positions
Data Source
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AI summary
Control of heating, ventilation, air-conditioning. Control of an installation for heating and/or ventilation and/or air-conditioning, the installation comprising a supply (1) and at least two thermal energy exchangers (10 - 12) connected to a pump (2) operable to cause a flow through an exchanger (10 - 12), wherein the exchangers (10 - 12) each comprise a valve (7 - 9), wherein each of the valves (7 - 9) is operable to modulate flow through its thermal energy exchanger (10 - 12) between an open position affording flow and a closed position, wherein the valves (7 - 9) and the pump (2) are in communication with a controller (15) such that the controller (15) is configured to adjust and to monitor the valves (7 - 9) and to read operation signals from the pump (2), the control comprising: reading a time series of operation signals from the pump (2).