Systems and methods for display case turndown
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Solution Overview
Problem
Display cases with limited cooling capacity face challenges in efficiently managing cooling operations, leading to inadequate temperature maintenance, especially when the cooling system's capacity is overwhelmed, causing critical products to be at risk of spoilage.
Innovation Solution
A display case management system that includes a controller with processing circuitry to receive operational data and ambient temperature readings, allowing it to determine a 'limp level' for each display case, which prioritizes cooling operations based on criticality, reducing cooling for non-critical cases to maintain maximum cooling for critical ones, and shutting off non-essential cases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the cooling system operates at full capacity to maintain optimal temperatures for all display cases, then temperature maintenance reliability is improved, but energy consumption increases and the system becomes overwhelmed when capacity is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different cooling priorities to different display cases based on their criticality. Critical display cases receive full cooling capacity to maintain optimal temperatures, while non-critical cases receive reduced cooling. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by ensuring reliable temperature maintenance for critical cases without wasting energy on non-critical cases.
Solution Approach 2:
When the cooling system is overwhelmed, it provides partial cooling action to critical display cases and reduced or no cooling to non-critical cases. This partial action approach ensures that the most important cases receive sufficient cooling to maintain reliability, while accepting that non-critical cases will experience temperature deviations.
2Use of energy by moving object
If the cooling system reduces operation to decrease energy consumption, then energy efficiency is improved, but temperature maintenance capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system selectively reduces cooling only in non-critical display cases while maintaining full cooling capacity in critical cases. This localized reduction approach decreases overall energy consumption without compromising temperature maintenance capability for products that require strict temperature control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses priority levels and operational data to dynamically adjust cooling allocation. When energy reduction is needed, the feedback mechanism identifies which display cases can tolerate reduced cooling based on their criticality, allowing the system to maintain temperature capability for critical cases while reducing energy consumption overall.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the system shuts off non-essential display cases to extend operational capability, then system adaptability is improved, but the number of active cooling zones decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the number of active cooling zones based on operational conditions, ambient temperature, and criticality requirements. During peak load conditions, non-essential display cases are shut off to extend operational capability. When conditions improve, these zones can be reactivated. This dynamic adjustment improves system adaptability while accepting variable complexity in the number of active zones.
Data Source
AI summary
A controller for a refrigerated display case includes processing circuitry configured to receive operational data from multiple refrigerated display cases and an ambient temperature reading from an ambient temperature sensor. The processing circuitry is configured to determine a limp level for a rack that includes the multiple refrigerated display cases based on the operational data and the ambient temperature reading. The processing circuitry is configured to determine an operational cooling parameter for each of the multiple refrigerated display cases based on the limp level. The operational cooling parameter indicates an amount of cooling or a corresponding cooling operation for each refrigerated display case. The processing circuitry is configured to operate each of the multiple refrigerated display cases using the operational cooling parameter.