Water heating system
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Solution Overview
Problem
In linked water heating systems, abnormal communication failures between control devices and water heaters can lead to incorrect determination of operational water heaters, resulting in unreliable system control and potential backflow of exhaust, compromising safety and reliability.
Innovation Solution
A water heating system with a non-volatile storage unit to record and store information on communicating water heaters, allowing the control device to reliably sense communication abnormalities and turn off all water heaters, preventing control failures and exhaust backflow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If communication monitoring is performed only at system startup, then the system can initialize properly, but communication abnormalities occurring during operation cannot be detected
Solution Approach 1:
The control device stores communication status information in a non-volatile storage unit before system shutdown. This preliminary recording of communication states allows the system to detect abnormalities that occur during operation by comparing current status with previously recorded status, enabling continuous monitoring without adding complex real-time monitoring hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a copy of the communication status information and stores it in a non-volatile storage unit. This copied data serves as a reference for detecting communication abnormalities, allowing the system to monitor communication states without requiring complex continuous monitoring mechanisms during system operation.
2Reliability
If the control device continuously monitors communication status, then communication abnormalities can be detected, but system complexity and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The control device performs communication monitoring at periodic intervals rather than continuously. Communication status information is stored in the non-volatile storage unit at each monitoring cycle, and abnormalities are detected by comparing current status with previously stored status. This periodic approach reduces energy consumption while maintaining reliable abnormality detection capability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If fans of non-combusting water heaters are rotated to prevent exhaust backflow, then exhaust safety is improved, but communication abnormalities may go undetected
Solution Approach 1:
The control device receives feedback information from each water heater's control unit through bidirectional communication. By storing this communication status information in a non-volatile storage unit and comparing it with current status, the system can detect communication abnormalities. This feedback mechanism allows the control device to identify when a water heater's control unit fails to communicate, enabling reliable abnormality detection while maintaining exhaust safety protocols.
Data Source
AI summary
A water heating system includes a plurality of water heaters of which exhaust paths are connected in common to an exhaust path assembly, a control device configured for centralized control of the plurality of water heaters, and a non-volatile storage unit. The plurality of water heaters include control units configured to control hot water supply operations based on communication with the control device, respectively. The storage unit is configured to store information on the water heater of which control unit is recorded to have established communication with the control device. The control device turns off all of the plurality of water heaters when information on the water heater of which control unit has currently established communication with the control device does not match with the information stored in the storage unit.