Transport Refrigeration Voltage Monitoring for Coupling Fault Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Transport refrigeration systems face issues with electrical coupling degradation due to vibrations and corrosion, leading to potential excessive heat generation and electrical current transmission risks, necessitating effective detection of compromised electrical connections.
Innovation Solution
An electrical apparatus with a controller that monitors the supply voltage and load voltage, entering an error handling mode if a trigger criterion is met, including deactivation of the source and alert provision, to manage degraded or compromised electrical couplings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If electrical couplings are used to connect the voltage source to the load, then electrical power can be transmitted, but the couplings deteriorate due to vibrations and corrosion causing heat generation and safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
The controller continuously monitors the supply voltage and load voltage to detect voltage drops before they cause harmful effects. By performing preliminary detection of coupling degradation through voltage comparison, the system can trigger error handling modes to prevent excessive heat generation and safety incidents, rather than waiting for actual damage to occur.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If additional sensors are added to detect electrical coupling degradation, then detection capability improves, but apparatus complexity and size increase
Solution Approach 1:
The voltage source and load perform self-diagnosis by comparing their own voltage measurements. The controller uses existing voltage monitoring capabilities of the voltage source and load to detect coupling degradation, allowing the system to monitor its own health without requiring external sensors or additional detection equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The existing voltage monitoring function of the voltage source and load is made multi-functional. The same voltage measurement circuits that serve their primary function of power transmission and control are also used for detecting coupling degradation, eliminating the need for separate detection sensors and reducing overall system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to an electrical apparatus for a transport refrigeration system. The electrical apparatus includes: a voltage source configured to output a supply voltage; a load having an input electrically coupled to an output of the voltage source; and a controller. The controller is configured to: monitor the supply voltage output by the voltage source and a voltage received by the load at the input of the load; determine whether a trigger criterion has been met based on a comparison of the supply voltage and the voltage received by the load from the input of the load; and cause the electrical apparatus to enter an error handling mode in response to a determination that the trigger criterion has been met.