JP7576641B2 - Air conditioning equipment management system and air conditioning equipment management method - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an air conditioning equipment management system and an air conditioning equipment management method.

In recent years, from the perspective of preventing ozone layer destruction and global warming, there has been an accelerating movement to replace the refrigerants used in the refrigeration cycle of air conditioning equipment with R32, propane, or isobutane, which have low global warming coefficients. However, because these refrigerants are flammable, if a refrigerant leaks into an air-conditioned room during use, this must be detected and measures must be taken to prevent fire.

As a countermeasure, in a room that is the target of air conditioning by a multi-air conditioning system for buildings, if the specific charge amount (the ratio of the total amount of refrigerant to the volume of the space), which is the hypothetical maximum concentration if the total amount of refrigerant filled in the air conditioning system leaks into the room, exceeds the lower explosion limit (LFL) set for each type of refrigerant, it is mandatory to install a safety device that detects refrigerant leakage and shuts off the refrigerant.

Whether or not a safety device needs to be installed in the room to be air-conditioned is determined by the equipment installer at the time of installation of the air-conditioning equipment, based on the volume of the space to be air-conditioned, the amount of refrigerant used in the air-conditioning equipment, and the LFL of this refrigerant. If the equipment installer determines that a safety device needs to be installed, they install the safety device in the space to be air-conditioned and connect it to the indoor unit.

JP 2020-143800 A

If the use of the space in which the air conditioning equipment is installed is changed and a partition or other divider is installed, narrowing the space to be air-conditioned, or if the partition is removed and the space to be air-conditioned becomes larger, the need for safety devices may change.

However, there was a problem in that every time the size of the space to be air-conditioned changed, the equipment installer had to acquire new volume information for the space to be air-conditioned and determine whether or not a safety device was required, which was time-consuming.

In addition, even if the installation of safety devices was not required when the air conditioning equipment was first installed, if a user changes the use of the space and a partition is installed, narrowing the area to be air-conditioned, making it necessary to install safety devices, there is a problem in that the manager of the air conditioning equipment may not be aware of this and may not be able to respond appropriately.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide an air conditioning equipment management system and an air conditioning equipment management method that can easily determine whether or not it is necessary to install safety devices against leakage of refrigerant used in the air conditioning equipment, even when the size of the space to be air-conditioned changes.

To achieve the above objective, the air conditioning equipment management system manages air conditioning equipment that uses a refrigerant to condition the space to be air-conditioned, and includes a refrigerant information storage unit, a measurement sensor as a space capacity measurement unit, and a judgment unit. The refrigerant information storage unit stores information on the amount of refrigerant circulating within the air conditioning equipment and the lower flammability limit of the refrigerant. The measurement sensor measures the space capacity of the object to be air-conditioned by the air conditioning equipment. The judgment unit judges whether or not it is necessary to install a safety device to prevent leakage of refrigerant in the space to be air-conditioned, based on the measured information on the space capacity of the object to be air-conditioned and the information on the amount of refrigerant and the lower flammability limit of the refrigerant.

1 is an overall diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioning equipment management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an indoor control device and an outdoor control device in an air conditioning equipment management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing executed by an outdoor unit during operation of an air conditioning equipment management system according to one embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a flowchart showing processing executed by an indoor unit during operation of the air conditioning equipment management system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

An embodiment of the air conditioning equipment management system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Configuration of an Air Conditioning Equipment Management System According to an Embodiment
1 is an overall diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioning equipment management system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The air conditioning equipment management system 1 includes an air conditioning equipment 100 that uses a refrigerant to condition a space to be air-conditioned, and a refrigerant detection device 200 as a safety device installed inside the room that is the space to be air-conditioned. The refrigerant detection device 200 detects refrigerant that has leaked from the air conditioning equipment 100 into the space to be air-conditioned.

The air conditioning equipment 100 includes an indoor unit 10 installed in the space to be air-conditioned, a remote control device 20 communicatively connected to the indoor unit 10, and an outdoor unit 40 connected to the indoor unit 10 via a first communication line 31 and piping 32. The piping 32 circulates a refrigerant between the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 40.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 40. The indoor unit 10 has a measurement sensor 11 as a space capacity measurement unit, a first communication unit 12, a second communication unit 13, and an indoor control device 14.

The measurement sensor 11 is configured using, for example, an ultrasonic flowmeter, a camera device, or LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), and measures the spatial capacity of the object to be air-conditioned by the indoor unit 10. The first communication unit 12 communicates information with the outdoor unit 40 via a first communication line 31. The second communication unit 13 is configured so that the second communication line 33 connected to the refrigerant detection device 200 is detachably connected, and communicates information with the refrigerant detection device 200 when the second communication line 33 is connected.

The indoor control device 14 has an operation control unit 141, a measurement information acquisition unit 142, a refrigerant information acquisition unit 143, a judgment unit 144, a connection detection unit 145, an interlock function unit 146, and a leakage detection information acquisition unit 147.

The operation control unit 141 controls each device in the indoor unit 10, such as a heat exchanger (not shown) and a blower (not shown). The measurement information acquisition unit 142 acquires information on the spatial capacity of the air-conditioned object measured by the measurement sensor 11. The refrigerant information acquisition unit 143 acquires information on the refrigerant, which will be described later, from the outdoor unit 40 via the first communication unit 12.

The determination unit 144 determines whether or not a safety device needs to be installed in the space to be air-conditioned by the indoor unit 10, based on the information on the spatial capacity of the air-conditioned object acquired by the measurement information acquisition unit 142 and the information on the refrigerant acquired by the refrigerant information acquisition unit 143. The connection detection unit 145 detects when the second communication line 33 is connected to the second communication unit 13.

The interlock function unit 146 has an interlock function that switches between a function ON state and a release state based on the judgment result of the judgment unit 144 and the detection result of the connection detection unit 145, thereby switching between enable/disable of operation of each device by the operation control unit 141.

Specifically, when the determination unit 144 determines that installation of a safety device is necessary and the connection detection unit 145 does not detect the connection of the second communication line 33, i.e., the refrigerant detection device 200 is not connected to the indoor unit 10, the interlock function unit 146 maintains the interlock function in the ON state if it is in the ON state, and switches the interlock function to the ON state if it is released, making it impossible for the operation control unit 141 to operate each device.

When the interlock function is switched to the ON state, the interlock function unit 146 generates an interlock ON notification indicating that the interlock function has been switched to the ON state and transmits the notification to the outdoor unit 40 and the remote control device 20.

In addition, when the connection detection unit 145 detects the connection of the second communication line 33 after the judgment unit 144 has determined that the installation of a safety device is necessary, that is, when the refrigerant detection device 200 is connected to the indoor unit 10, the interlock function unit 146 releases the interlock function and enables the operation control unit 141 to operate each device.

When the determination unit 144 determines that installation of a safety device is not necessary, the interlock function unit 146 releases the interlock function and enables operation of each device by the operation control unit 141, regardless of the detection result of the connection detection unit 145, that is, regardless of whether the refrigerant detection device 200 is connected to the indoor unit 10.

When the interlock function is released, the interlock function unit 146 generates an interlock release notification indicating that the interlock function has been switched to the released state, and transmits the notification to the outdoor unit 40 and the remote control device 20.

The leak detection information acquisition unit 147 acquires the detection results from the refrigerant detection device 200 when the second communication line 33 is connected to the second communication unit 13 and communication with the refrigerant detection device 200 is established.

The remote control device 20 has an input unit 21 that inputs operational information related to the operation of the indoor unit 10 by a user in the space to be air-conditioned and transmits it to the indoor unit 10, and a display unit 22 that serves as an output device that outputs information transmitted from the indoor unit 10.

The outdoor unit 40 has an outdoor display device 41 as an output device, a third communication unit 42, and an outdoor control device 43. The outdoor display device 41 displays predetermined information under the control of the outdoor control device 43. The third communication unit 42 communicates information with the indoor unit 10 via the first communication line 31.

The outdoor control device 43 has a refrigerant information storage unit 431 and an information processing unit 432. The refrigerant information storage unit 431 stores information on the refrigerant circulating within the air conditioning equipment 100, such as the total refrigerant amount m sealed in the air conditioning equipment 100 and the lower explosion limit (LFL) L of the refrigerant.

When the power supply of the outdoor unit 40 is turned ON or when a request is received from the indoor unit 10, the information processing unit 432 transmits the information stored in the refrigerant information storage unit 431 to the indoor unit 10 via the third communication unit 42. When the information processing unit 432 receives a predetermined notification from the indoor unit 10, it causes the outdoor display device 41 to display it.

<Operation of the Air Conditioning Equipment Management System According to an Embodiment>
The operation of the air conditioning equipment management system according to this embodiment will be described. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing executed by the outdoor unit 40 while the air conditioning equipment management system is in operation, and Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing executed by the indoor unit 10. In this embodiment, in the initial state, the space X0 indicated by the solid line in Fig. 1 is the target of air conditioning by the air conditioning equipment 100.

The following describes the processing executed by the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 40 when the air conditioning equipment 100 is installed to air-condition the space X0. In the initial state, the air conditioning equipment 100 is shipped with the interlock function of the interlock function unit 146 of the indoor unit 10 in the ON state, and the operation control unit 141 cannot operate each device.

When the air conditioning equipment 100 is installed with the space X0 as the space to be air-conditioned and the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 40 are powered on, the indoor control device 14 of the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor control device 43 of the outdoor unit 40 recognize that the time has come to determine whether or not a safety device needs to be installed in the space to be air-conditioned (Figure 3; "YES" in S1, Figure 4; "YES" in S11).

When the outdoor control device 43 recognizes that the judgment timing has arrived, the information processing unit 432 acquires information on the refrigerant amount m and the lower flammability limit L stored in the refrigerant information storage unit 431 and transmits it to the indoor unit 10 via the third communication unit 42 (Figure 3; S2).

When the indoor control device 14 recognizes that the judgment timing has arrived, the measurement information acquisition unit 142 acquires information on the capacity of the space X0 measured by the measurement sensor 11 (FIG. 4; S12). At this time, the measurement information acquisition unit 142 may acquire design information of the building to be air-conditioned and use it as supplementary information regarding the information on the capacity of the space X0. The measurement information acquisition unit 142 may calculate the capacity of the space X0 measured by the measurement sensor 11 by appropriately combining information acquired from the design information and the measured information. For example, the height of the space X0 may be acquired from the design information of the building, and the area surrounded by the walls from the floor to a predetermined height may be acquired by the measurement sensor 11, and the product of these may be regarded as the capacity of the space X0. Alternatively, the measurement information acquisition unit 142 may measure the volume of the space surrounded by the walls from the floor to a predetermined height by the measurement sensor 11, and consider it to be the volume of the space X0.

When it is recognized that the judgment timing has arrived, the refrigerant information acquisition unit 143 acquires information on the refrigerant amount m and the lower flammability limit L transmitted from the outdoor unit 40 (Figure 4; S13).

The determination unit 144 determines whether or not a safety device needs to be installed in the space X0 based on the information on the volume of the space X0 acquired by the measurement information acquisition unit 142 and the information on the refrigerant acquired by the refrigerant information acquisition unit 143 (Figure 4; S14).

Specifically, if the specific charge amount, which is the hypothetical maximum concentration when the entire refrigerant amount m leaks into the room X0, exceeds the lower flammable limit L, the determination unit 144 determines that a safety device needs to be installed in the space X0. This specific charge amount is expressed as the ratio of the refrigerant amount m to the volume of the space X0.

Here, the judgment unit 144 judges that it is not necessary to install a safety device for the space X0 (FIG. 4; S14: "NO"), and checks whether the interlock function is ON (FIG. 4; S15).

At this time, the interlock function is in the initial ON state (FIG. 4; "YES" in S15), so the interlock function unit 146 releases the interlock function, allowing the operation control unit 141 to operate each device (S16).

When the interlock function is released, the interlock function unit 146 generates an interlock release notification and transmits it to the outdoor unit 40 and the remote control device 20 (S17).

In the outdoor unit 40, the information processing unit 432 acquires the interlock release notification transmitted from the indoor unit 10 via the third communication unit 42 (FIG. 3; "YES" in S3) and displays it on the outdoor display device 41 (FIG. 3; S4). In addition, in the remote control device 20, the interlock release notification transmitted from the indoor unit 10 is displayed on the display unit 22.

The worker can visually check the interlock release notification displayed on the outdoor display device 41 of the outdoor unit 40 or the display unit 22 of the remote control device 20 and recognize that the interlock function has been released and the air conditioning equipment 100 can be operated.

Next, we will explain the process of determining whether or not a safety device needs to be installed in the space to be air-conditioned, which is executed at predetermined intervals, for example once a month, after the installation of the air-conditioning equipment 100. Here, during the one month period since the previous execution of the process of determining whether or not a safety device needs to be installed, a partition P is installed in the space X0 as shown by the dashed dotted line in Figure 1, dividing the space X0 into spaces X1 and X2, and the space to be air-conditioned by the air-conditioning equipment 100 becomes the space X1.

When the indoor control device 14 and the outdoor control device 43 recognize that the time has come to determine whether or not a safety device needs to be installed in the space to be air-conditioned (FIG. 3; "YES" in S1, FIG. 4; "YES" in S11), the information processing unit 432 acquires information on the refrigerant amount m and the lower flammability limit L stored in the refrigerant information storage unit 431 and transmits it to the indoor unit 10 via the third communication unit 42 (FIG. 3; S2).

Here, the indoor control device 14, recognizing that the judgment timing has arrived, may send a refrigerant information request to the outdoor control device 43, and in response to this request, the information processing unit 432 of the outdoor control device 43 may obtain information on the refrigerant amount m and the lower flammability limit L stored in the refrigerant information storage unit 431 and send it to the indoor unit 10.

When the indoor control device 14 recognizes that the judgment timing has arrived, the measurement information acquisition unit 142 acquires information on the volume of the space X1 measured by the measurement sensor 11 (FIG. 4; S12). In addition, the refrigerant information acquisition unit 143 acquires information on the refrigerant amount m and the lower flammability limit L transmitted from the outdoor unit 40 (FIG. 4; S13).

The determination unit 144 determines whether or not a safety device needs to be installed in the space X1 based on the information on the spatial capacity of the air-conditioned object acquired by the measurement information acquisition unit 142 and the information on the refrigerant acquired by the refrigerant information acquisition unit 143 (Figure 4; S14).

Here, the determination unit 144 determines that a safety device needs to be installed in the space X1 (FIG. 4; "YES" in S14). When the determination unit 144 determines that a safety device needs to be installed in the space X1, the interlock function unit 146 determines whether or not the refrigerant detection device 200 is connected to the indoor unit 10 based on the detection result of the connection detection unit 145 (FIG. 4; S18).

Here, the interlock function unit 146 determines that the refrigerant detection device 200 is not connected to the indoor unit 10 ("NO" in S18) and determines whether the interlock function is ON (S19).

Here, the interlock function is deactivated (NO in S19), so the interlock function unit 146 switches the interlock function to the ON state (S20), and generates and transmits an interlock ON notification to the outdoor unit 40 and the remote control device 20 (S21).

In the outdoor unit 40, the information processing unit 432 acquires the interlock ON notification transmitted from the indoor unit 10 via the third communication unit 42 (FIG. 3; "NO" in S3 → "YES" in S5), and displays it on the outdoor display device 41 (FIG. 3; S4). In the remote control device 20, the interlock ON notification transmitted from the indoor unit 10 is displayed on the display unit 22.

The worker visually checks the interlock ON notification displayed on the outdoor display device 41 of the outdoor unit 40 and the display unit 22 of the remote control device 20, determines that a safety device needs to be installed, and connects the second communication line 33 connected to the refrigerant detection device 200 to the second communication unit 13 of the indoor unit 10. This connects the refrigerant detection device 200 to the indoor unit 10.

When the refrigerant detection device 200 is connected to the indoor unit 10, the connection detection unit 145 detects this ("YES" in S22). Based on the detection result of the connection detection unit 145, the interlock function unit 146 releases the interlock function, enabling operation of each device by the operation control unit 141. Furthermore, when the interlock function unit 146 releases the interlock function, it generates an interlock release notification and transmits it to the outdoor unit 40 and the remote control device 20 (S23).

The worker can visually check the interlock release notification displayed on the outdoor display device 41 of the outdoor unit 40 and the display unit 22 of the remote control device 20 and recognize that the interlock function has been released and the air conditioning equipment 100 can be operated.

After that, when the air conditioning equipment 100 starts operating and the refrigerant is detected by the refrigerant detection device 200, the corresponding detection information is acquired by the leakage detection information acquisition unit 147.

When the refrigerant detection device 200 detects an amount of refrigerant that exceeds 25% of the LFL of the refrigerant used in the air conditioning equipment 100, it determines that the refrigerant has leaked. When the refrigerant detection device 200 determines that the refrigerant has leaked, it generates leakage detection information and transmits it to the indoor unit 10.

In the indoor unit 10, the leakage detection information acquisition unit 147 acquires the leakage detection information transmitted from the refrigerant detection device 200. When the leakage detection information acquisition unit 147 acquires the leakage detection information, it transmits it to the outdoor unit 40 and the remote control device 20, and the operation control unit 141 executes safety measures against refrigerant leakage.

Specifically, the operation control unit 141 closes a safety shutoff valve (not shown) that shuts off the refrigerant supplied from the pipe 32 to the outdoor unit 40, or operates a ventilation device (not shown) that ventilates the room X1 to be air-conditioned.

In step S15 of the above-mentioned process, if the determination unit 144 determines that the interlock function is not ON (disabled) ("NO" in S15), the process returns to step S11.

Also, in step S18, if the interlock function unit 146 determines that the refrigerant detection device 200 is connected to the indoor unit 10 ("YES" in S18), the process returns to step S11.

Also, in step S19, if the interlock function unit 146 determines that the interlock function is ON ("YES" in S19), the process proceeds to step S22.

According to the above embodiment, even when the size of the space to be air-conditioned is changed, it is possible to easily determine whether or not a safety device against leakage of the refrigerant used in the air-conditioning equipment needs to be installed, and to make the operator aware of this.

In the above embodiment, the measurement sensor 11 is installed in the indoor unit 10, but the installation position is not limited to this and may be any position where the indoor unit 10 can measure the volume of the space to be air-conditioned. In addition, measurement information measured by a measuring means such as other measuring equipment or a mobile terminal installed outside the air conditioner, rather than being connected to the indoor unit 10, may be obtained as the volume of the space to be air-conditioned.

In the above embodiment, the measurement information acquisition unit 142, the refrigerant information acquisition unit 143, the determination unit 144, the connection detection unit 145, the interlock function unit 146, and the leakage detection information acquisition unit 147 are provided in the indoor unit 10, but this is not limited to the above, and they may be provided in a remote monitoring device that remotely monitors the outdoor unit 40 and the air conditioning equipment 100, or in resources in the cloud. The remote monitoring device or resources in the cloud and the indoor unit 10 may be connected via the outdoor unit 40.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which after the air conditioning equipment 100 is installed, a process for determining whether or not a safety device needs to be installed in the space to be air-conditioned is executed at predetermined intervals. However, the process may be executed when an operator performs an operation to instruct the execution of the determination process. The determination timing in the above embodiment may be various timings, such as a periodic timing, an arbitrary timing instructed by an operator or air conditioning user via a remote control or other terminal, or a timing linked to the operation of other devices installed in the building.

Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described above, this embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. This new embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. This embodiment and its modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims.

1...Air conditioning equipment management system, 10...Indoor unit, 11...Measurement sensor, 12...First communication unit, 13...Second communication unit, 14...Indoor control device, 20...Remote control device, 21...Input unit, 22...Display unit, 31...First communication line, 32...Pipe, 33...Second communication line, 40...Outdoor unit, 41...Outdoor display device, 42...Third communication unit, 43...Outdoor control device, 141...Operation control unit, 142...Measurement information acquisition unit, 143...Refrigerant information acquisition unit, 144...Determination unit, 145...Connection detection unit, 146...Interlock function unit, 147...Detection information acquisition unit, 200...Refrigerant detection device, 431...Refrigerant information storage unit, 432...Information processing unit

Claims (4)

Manage air conditioning equipment that uses refrigerant to condition the space to be conditioned;
A refrigerant information storage unit that stores information on the amount of refrigerant circulating in the air conditioning equipment and the lower flammability limit of the refrigerant;
A space capacity measurement unit that measures a space capacity of an object to be air-conditioned by the air-conditioning equipment;
a determination unit that determines whether or not a safety device needs to be installed to prevent leakage of the refrigerant in the space, based on information about the space capacity of the air-conditioned object measured by the space capacity measurement unit and information about the refrigerant amount and the lower flammability limit of the refrigerant stored in the refrigerant information storage unit;
a connection detection unit that detects when the safety device is connected to the air conditioning equipment;
an interlock function unit having an interlock function of switching between operable and inoperable state of the air conditioning equipment based on a determination result of the determination unit and a detection result of the connection detection unit,
The interlock function unit includes:
When the determination unit determines that installation of a safety device is necessary and the connection detection unit does not detect the connection of the safety device, the interlock function is turned on to make the operation of the air conditioning equipment impossible,
When the determination unit determines that installation of a safety device is necessary and the connection detection unit detects the connection of the safety device, the interlock function is released to enable operation of the air conditioning equipment,
When the judgment unit determines that installation of a safety device is not necessary, the interlock function is released, regardless of the detection result of the connection detection unit, thereby enabling operation of the air conditioning equipment . The air conditioning equipment management system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit performs the determination process at predetermined intervals. The interlock function unit includes:
When the interlock function is switched to an ON state, an interlock ON notification indicating that the interlock function has been switched to an ON state is generated, and output from an output device in the air conditioning equipment;
The air conditioning equipment management system of claim 1 , wherein when the interlock function is switched to a released state, an interlock release notification indicating that the interlock function has been switched to a released state is generated and output from an output device within the air conditioning equipment. An air conditioning equipment management system that manages air conditioning equipment that uses a refrigerant to condition a space to be air-conditioned,
pre-store information on the amount of refrigerant circulating in the air conditioning equipment and the lower flammability limit of the refrigerant;
Measure the spatial capacity of the object to be air-conditioned by the air-conditioning equipment;
determining whether or not a safety device needs to be installed to prevent leakage of the refrigerant in the space based on the measured information on the volume of the space to be air-conditioned and the stored information on the amount of the refrigerant and the lower flammability limit of the refrigerant ;
When the safety device is connected to the air conditioning equipment, this is detected,
When it is determined that the installation of the safety device is necessary and the connection of the safety device is not detected, an interlock function for switching between operation enable/disable of the air conditioning equipment is turned on to make the operation of the air conditioning equipment impossible;
When it is determined that the installation of the safety device is necessary and the connection of the safety device is detected, the interlock function is released to enable the operation of the air conditioning equipment;
When it is determined that installation of the safety device is not necessary, the air conditioning equipment management method releases the interlock function to enable operation of the air conditioning equipment, regardless of whether the safety device is connected to the air conditioning equipment .

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