Indoor Unit Group Control for Uneven Thermal Loads
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air conditioning systems face challenges in uniformly distributing temperature across spaces due to extreme differences in refrigerant distribution between indoor units, leading to non-uniform temperature distribution, which cannot be sufficiently improved by simply adjusting refrigerant circulation.
Innovation Solution
An air conditioning control apparatus that designates indoor units into groups and adjusts their operations based on thermal loads, where units with higher loads perform cooling or heating operations, and those with lower loads perform fan or ventilation operations to stir and circulate air, thereby addressing temperature disparities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If refrigerant circulation is adjusted to equalize distribution between indoor units, then temperature uniformity in space is improved, but the system cannot sufficiently address extreme differences in thermal loads between units
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the operational mode of each indoor unit based on real-time thermal load conditions. When thermal load difference exceeds a threshold, the system switches one unit to fan operation mode and another to cooling/heating operation mode, enabling adaptive response to varying thermal demands and sufficiently addressing extreme load differences.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of indoor units by switching between different operation modes (cooling operation, heating operation, fan operation, ventilation operation) based on thermal load conditions. This parameter change allows the system to handle extreme thermal load differences effectively while maintaining temperature uniformity.
2Productivity
If all indoor units perform cooling or heating operations, then thermal loads are processed efficiently, but non-uniform temperature distribution occurs in the space
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different operational qualities to different indoor units based on their local thermal load conditions. One unit performs cooling/heating operation while another performs fan/ventilation operation, creating local quality differences that collectively achieve uniform temperature distribution across the entire space while maintaining overall thermal load processing efficiency.
3Temperature
If indoor units operate in fan or ventilation mode, then air circulation is improved, but thermal load processing capacity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by having one indoor unit perform fan/ventilation operation to improve air circulation and temperature distribution, while another unit performs cooling/heating operation to process the thermal load. This partial division of functions allows the system to achieve both temperature uniformity and sufficient thermal load processing capacity.
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 effectively improves non-uniform temperature distribution by actively managing thermal loads and air circulation within the space, ensuring more even temperature conditions across the target area.
Implementation Method 1
causes a second indoor unit belonging to the indoor unit group to perform a fan operation or a ventilation operation... to stir and circulate air
Data Source
AI summary
An air conditioning control apparatus controls a plurality of indoor units. The air conditioning control apparatus sets the indoor units having been designated among the plurality of indoor units as one group. The air conditioning control apparatus causes a first indoor unit belonging to the group to perform a cooling operation or a heating operation and causes a second indoor unit belonging to the group to perform a fan operation or a ventilation operation when a difference of a certain level or more occurs in thermal loads to be processed by each of the indoor units belonging to the group.