JP7851277B2 - Energy management system, energy management program, and energy management method - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to an energy management system, an energy management program, and an energy management method.

Conventionally, as a technology for managing electricity in a region, for example, Patent Document 1 described below is known. The power management system described in Patent Document 1 involves a first power management device (CEMS) installed in a predetermined area, which communicates with devices on the consumer side within that area to predict the supply and demand balance of electricity in the predetermined area. The first power management device calculates surplus electricity from the predicted supply and demand balance and encourages each consumer to consume the surplus electricity. In this way, the power management system prioritizes the consumption of electricity generated in a predetermined area within that area.

Furthermore, the power management system is equipped with short-period real-time feedback control, medium-period real-time feedback control, and long-period prediction functions. The short-period real-time feedback control function monitors and provides feedback control to devices such as PV systems and storage batteries at short intervals (e.g., in seconds). The medium-period real-time feedback control function monitors and provides feedback control to devices such as thermal storage units at medium intervals (e.g., in hours). The long-period prediction function predicts the power generation amount of each distributed power source within the region, power demand, and the amount of interconnection between grids at long intervals (e.g., in several hours).

Republished Gazette WO2012/066651

A regional Energy Management System (EMS) collects and stores energy-related data from a group of buildings that receive energy within a region or area. Through data analysis, it supports energy management through prediction, optimal planning, and optimal control. In a regional EMS, the energy required for management is not limited to electricity; it includes various types of energy such as fuel energy and thermal energy. The regional EMS must manage the supply of these various types of energy and supply energy from each energy supply facility to each energy recipient facility. However, the power management system described in Patent Document 1 predicts the power generation and electricity demand of each distributed power source within the region over long periods and performs feedback control over medium and short periods, making it incapable of managing multiple types of energy.

Furthermore, when energy is shared and utilized within a region, the types and supply efficiencies of energy at each energy supply facility may differ, and the requirements for the type and amount of energy consumed at the energy recipient facilities (flow rate, supply differential pressure, temperature) may also vary. Moreover, the locations of the energy supply facilities 300 and the energy recipient facilities are dispersed across different buildings, and the management entities for these buildings and facilities may differ. Thus, a wide variety of energy supply and demand relationships exist among multiple buildings, and the energy supply and energy recipient facilities are dispersed across the area, requiring sophisticated energy management. However, the complexity of energy management has sometimes led to the use of inefficient equipment for energy generation or inefficient energy transport operations.

Furthermore, in regional Energy Management Systems (EMS), operators were responsible for planning the operation of the energy supply equipment 300 and controlling the energy supply from the energy supply equipment 300 to the energy recipient equipment 600. However, even with a daily plan, if actual operation did not match demand, the operator's workload could increase.

This disclosure is made in light of these circumstances and aims to provide an energy management system, energy management program, and energy management method that can improve economic efficiency or environmental efficiency, or improve both economic efficiency and environmental efficiency, while maintaining a stable supply to the target area and enabling advanced management of various types of energy.

This disclosure was made to solve the aforementioned problems. One aspect of this disclosure is an energy management system for controlling energy supply equipment located in a target area, comprising: a long-period processing unit that calculates energy demand forecast information for the target area and calculates an energy purchase plan, a sales plan, and an energy storage plan based on the calculated energy demand forecast information; a medium-period processing unit that calculates a start-up and stop-down plan for equipment included in the energy supply equipment according to the energy demand forecast information and the energy purchase plan, sales plan, and energy storage plan calculated by the long-period processing unit; and a short-period processing unit that calculates control target information according to the energy storage plan calculated by the long-period processing unit and the start-up and stop-down plan calculated by the medium-period processing unit.

Another aspect of this disclosure is a program that causes a computer to function as a long-period processing unit that calculates energy demand forecast information for a target area and calculates energy purchase plans, sales plans, and energy storage plans based on the calculated energy demand forecast information; a medium-period processing unit that calculates start-up and stop-down plans for equipment included in energy supply facilities located in the target area, according to the energy demand forecast information and energy purchase plans, sales plans, and energy storage plans calculated by the long-period processing unit; and a short-period processing unit that calculates control target information according to the energy storage plans calculated by the long-period processing unit and the start-up and stop-down plans calculated by the medium-period processing unit.

Another aspect of this disclosure is an energy management method for controlling energy supply equipment located in a target area, comprising the steps of: an energy management system calculating energy demand forecast information for the target area and calculating an energy purchase plan, a sales plan, and an energy storage plan based on the calculated energy demand forecast information; an energy management system calculating a start-up and stop-down plan for equipment included in the energy supply equipment in accordance with the calculated energy demand forecast information and the energy purchase plan, sales plan, and energy storage plan; and an energy management system calculating control target information in accordance with the calculated heat storage plan and the calculated start-up and stop-down plan.

According to one aspect of the present invention, various types of energy can be precisely controlled for a target area.

This is a block diagram showing an example of an energy management system in an embodiment. This figure shows an example of the operation flow of the energy management system in the embodiment. This figure shows an example of the operation of the energy management system in the embodiment. This figure shows an example of a heat storage plan calculated by long-period processing in the embodiment. This figure shows an example of the heat storage capacity of the thermal storage tank, the fluid flow rate of the heat exchanger for heat dissipation, the bypass flow rate that flows through the bypass system circulating within the energy supply equipment, the supply and demand balance of the flow rate, and the chilled water demand forecast, all based on the start-up and stop-down plan determined by the medium-cycle processing in the embodiment. This figure shows an example of optimization processing in an energy management device according to an embodiment. This figure shows an example of the configuration of an energy supply system in an embodiment. This figure shows an example of the arrangement of energy supply equipment and energy supply destination equipment in the target area according to the embodiment.

The energy management system, energy management program, and energy management method to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an energy management system 1 in an embodiment.
The energy management system 1 includes, for example, an energy management device 100, an operator terminal device 200, energy supply equipment 300, power supply equipment 400, fuel supply equipment 500, and energy supply destination equipment 600. The energy management device 100, operator terminal device 200, energy supply equipment 300, power supply equipment 400, fuel supply equipment 500, and energy supply destination equipment 600 have a communication interface (not shown), such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) or wireless communication module, for connecting to a communication network such as the Internet. The network may include, for example, a general-purpose network such as the Internet, and a private network such as local 5G or Wi-Fi (registered trademark). The energy management system 1 transmits control target information to the energy supply equipment 300 located in the target area. The target area is, for example, an area in which energy supply equipment 300 and energy supply destination equipment 600 are located at various locations.

The energy management device 100 is an information processing device that acquires information via a communication network and performs various processing tasks. The energy management device 100 includes, for example, a long-period processing unit 110, a medium-period processing unit 120, and a short-period processing unit 130. The long-period processing unit 110, the medium-period processing unit 120, and the short-period processing unit 130 are implemented, for example, by a computer such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing an energy management program stored in program memory. While the long-period processing unit 110, the medium-period processing unit 120, and the short-period processing unit 130 are provided in the energy management device 100, the system is not limited to this and may be distributed and arranged across multiple devices included in the energy management system 1.

The long-period processing unit 110 calculates energy demand forecast information for the target area and, based on the calculated energy demand forecast information, equipment model, and equipment characteristic information, calculates an energy purchase plan, sales plan, and energy storage plan by performing mathematical optimization calculations aimed at minimizing operating costs. Mathematical optimization calculation is a calculation that selects a solution from the defined domain that minimizes (or maximizes) or minimizes (or maximizes) the objective function as much as possible. The solution method for mathematical optimization calculation can be freely selected depending on the problem, and examples include the simplex method, effective constraint method, interior point method, tab search, genetic algorithm, and steepest descent method. Energy in the embodiment includes, for example, fuel, electricity, and heat contained in a medium. The medium is, for example, a medium circulated in the energy supply equipment 300, such as steam, hot water, or chilled water. Energy in the embodiment is not limited to electricity and fuel, but may be other energies such as hydrogen or ammonia. Energy demand forecast information includes, for example, information that includes predicted values of energy demand in one-minute increments over a day. An energy purchase plan is information that shows, for example, the amount of energy purchased in 10-30 minute intervals throughout the day. An energy sales plan is information that shows, for example, the amount of energy sold in 10-30 minute intervals throughout the day. An energy storage plan, such as a thermal storage plan, is information that shows, for example, the amount of energy stored within the energy supply equipment 300 in 10-30 minute intervals throughout the day.

The medium-period processing unit 120 calculates the start-up and shutdown plans for multiple pieces of equipment included in the energy supply facility 300 by performing mathematical optimization calculations aimed at minimizing operating costs, based on the energy demand forecast information and energy purchase, sales, storage, equipment model, and equipment characteristic information calculated by the long-period processing unit 110. The start-up and shutdown plans include information such as the start-up and shutdown timings for each piece of equipment included in the energy supply facility 300, for example, in one-minute increments.

The short-period processing unit 130 calculates control target information according to the energy storage plan calculated by the long-period processing unit 110 and the start-up/stop-down plan calculated by the medium-period processing unit 120. The short-period processing unit 130 may output the calculated control target information to the operator terminal device 200. This allows the operator terminal device 200 to display the control target information. The short-period processing unit 130 can then output the calculated control target information to the equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300, thereby controlling the equipment.

The short-period processing unit 130 outputs control target information to the equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300 and modifies the control target information of each piece of equipment according to the start-up/shutdown plan based on feedback information from the energy supply equipment 300. The short-period processing unit 130 outputs the equipment's control target information and modifies it at intervals of, for example, several tens of seconds. The feedback information includes, for example, the operating status of the equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300, and sensor values such as the energy amount and flow rate of the medium circulating in the energy supply equipment 300. The short-period processing unit 130 outputs control target information that controls the operating status of the equipment and the energy amount and flow rate of the medium based on the feedback information, while satisfying the energy storage plan and following the start-up/shutdown plan. The feedback information may be an unexpected request from the energy supply destination equipment 600. In response to an unexpected request from the energy supply destination equipment 600, the short-period processing unit 130 modifies the control target information of each piece of equipment according to the start-up/shutdown plan to satisfy the request.

The short-period processing unit 130 notifies the operator terminal device 200 of feedback information, information indicating changes to the control target information of each device according to the start-up/stop-down plan, and information indicating changes to the control target information of each device according to the feedback information.

The operator terminal device 200 is an information processing device operated by an operator in the target area. The operator terminal device 200 receives notification information including feedback information, information indicating changes to the control target information of each device according to the start-up/stop-down plan, and information indicating changes to the control target information of each device according to the feedback information. The operator terminal device 200 displays information based on the notification information. Upon receiving an operator's operation, the operator terminal device 200 transmits control instruction information for the equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300 to the energy management device 100. The short-period processing unit 130 controls the equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300 according to the control instruction information.

The energy supply equipment 300 supplies energy to the energy recipient equipment 600. The equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300 includes, for example, a boiler 302, a CGS (cogeneration system) 304, a cooling tower 306, an absorption chiller 308, a turbo chiller 310, a heat exchanger for heat dissipation 312, a thermal storage tank 314, and media transfer devices such as pumps and valves associated with these devices. In this embodiment, the equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300 generates energy using electricity supplied from the power supply equipment 400 and/or fuel supplied from the fuel supply equipment 500. For example, the boiler 302 and the CGS 304 are heating devices that heat the medium. For example, the cooling tower 306, absorption chiller 308, turbo chiller 310, and heat exchanger for heat dissipation 312 are cooling devices that cool the medium. The energy supply equipment 300 has a control device for controlling the output of each piece of equipment. The control device may include, for example, a dedicated output control device for the equipment, a centralized control device called a central monitoring system, a DCS (Distributed Control System), a PLC (Programmable Control System), and other control terminals. The energy management device 100 transmits control target information to the control device of the energy supply equipment 300 and modifies the operation of the equipment.

The power supply equipment 400 supplies electricity to the energy supply equipment 300. The fuel supply equipment 500 supplies fuel to the energy supply equipment 300.

The energy supply recipient facility 600 is a consumer facility that consumes the energy supplied from the energy supply facility 300. The energy supply recipient facility 600 is, for example, building equipment located in the target area.

Figure 2 shows an example of the operation flow of the energy management system 1 in the embodiment, and Figure 3 shows an example of the operation content of the energy management system 1 in the embodiment.

The long-period processing unit 110 calculates, for example, the operation plan for the heat storage tank 314 and the electricity sales or purchase plan with a calculation cycle of one day (the next day) (steps S100, S100A). The operation plan for the heat storage tank 314 indicates, for example, the target value of the heat storage amount in the heat storage tank 314 at a time granularity of 10 to 30 minutes, and the electricity sales or purchase plan indicates, for example, the target value of the amount of electricity sold and purchased at a time granularity of 30 minutes. The long-period processing unit 110 notifies (guidances) the operator terminal device 200 of the target values for the heat storage amount, electricity sold, and electricity purchased for the next day (step S100A).

The intermediate cycle processing unit 120 calculates, for example, the heat quantity and flow rate plan for the turbo chiller 310 and heat exchanger 312, the bypass flow rate plan, and the start/stop plan for the absorption chiller 308 with a calculation cycle of 30 minutes (step S200). The intermediate cycle processing unit 120 determines the target values for the heat quantity and flow rate of the turbo chiller 310 and heat exchanger 312, the target value for the bypass flow rate, and the start/stop state of the absorption chiller 308 with a time granularity of, for example, 1 minute, and notifies (guidances) the operator terminal device 200 (step S200A).

The short-period processing unit 130 controls, for example, the heat quantity and flow rate of the turbo chiller 310 and the heat exchanger 312, the bypass flow rate, and the start and stop of the absorption chiller 308 with a calculation cycle of 10 seconds (step S300). The short-period processing unit 130 performs control and guidance to change the temperature, flow rate, etc., immediately before the start and stop operations of the absorption chiller 308 and the turbo chiller 310. Furthermore, the short-period processing unit 130 increases or decreases the flow rate control target value in response to unpredictable changes in flow rate demand.

Figure 4 shows an example of a heat storage plan calculated by long-period processing in the embodiment.
A thermal storage plan might look like this: From T1 on a given day (for example, 22:00 on the same day), thermal storage is performed in the thermal storage tank 314 to increase the amount of thermal storage in the tank 314. At T2 on the following day (for example, 8:00), the amount of thermal storage can be reduced, so the turbo chiller 310 is stopped and the thermal storage tank 314 is switched to heat release. If the amount of heat released is adjusted to be higher during periods of high demand from T2 onward, the amount of thermal storage in the thermal storage tank 314 will decrease. With such a thermal storage plan, the amount of thermal storage and heat release of the thermal storage tank 314 can be determined.

The long-period processing unit 110 calculates the heat storage plan for the heat storage tank 314. The medium-period processing unit 120 calculates the start-up/stop-down plan for the heating or cooling device based on the heat storage plan for the heat storage tank 314. The short-period processing unit 130 controls the start-up or stop-down of the heating or cooling device based on the start-up/stop-down plan calculated by the medium-period processing unit 120, and modifies the control target information and settings of the heating or cooling device at short intervals according to the detected and demanded values of the heat quantity and flow rate of the fluid as feedback information. Here, the start-up/stop-down cycle of the heating or cooling device in the medium-period processing unit 120 is longer than the control cycle in the short-period processing unit 130. Note that the heat quantity of the fluid in this embodiment is an example of the amount of energy possessed by the fluid, and may be read as the amount of fluid energy.

Figure 5 shows an example of the heat storage capacity of the thermal storage tank 314, the media flow rate of the heat exchanger 312, the bypass flow rate that circulates in the bypass system within the energy supply equipment, the supply and demand balance of the flow rate, and the chilled water demand forecast, based on the start-up and shutdown plan determined by the medium-cycle processing in the embodiment. The medium-cycle processing unit 120 determines, for example, the amount of steam heat output from the boiler 302 and CGS 304, the media flow rate of the absorption chiller 308, the media flow rate of the turbo chiller 310, etc., based on the energy demand forecast information for the target area calculated by the long-cycle processing unit 110, over a calculation period of, for example, 3 hours.

The intermediate cycle processing unit 120 decides to increase the flow rate in absorption chillers 308-1 (AR) and 308-2 (AR) by increasing the bypass flow rate between times T10 and T12. At time T12, the intermediate cycle processing unit 120 decides to increase the flow rate in the heat exchanger 312 and decrease the bypass flow rate in response to the rising energy demand forecast. At time T14, the intermediate cycle processing unit 120 decides to decrease the flow rate in the heat exchanger 312 and increase the bypass flow rate in response to the falling energy demand forecast. Subsequently, the intermediate cycle processing unit 120 decides to shut down absorption chillers 308-1 (AR) and 308-2 (AR). In this way, the intermediate cycle processing unit 120 calculates the planned amount of heat and flow rate of the fluid supplied by the equipment included in the energy supply facility 300 using mathematical optimization calculations aimed at minimizing operating costs.

The short-period processing unit 130 modifies the settings of the equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300 according to the plan of the heat quantity and flow rate of the medium calculated by the medium-period processing unit 120. The short-period processing unit 130 outputs control target information to the equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300 according to the heat storage plan calculated by the long-period processing unit 110 and the start-up/stop plan, heat quantity and flow rate plan of the medium calculated by the medium-period processing unit 120. At this time, the short-period processing unit 130 modifies the control target information of the equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300 according to the start-up/stop plan, heat quantity and flow rate plan of the medium calculated by the medium-period processing unit 120, based on feedback information including detected values from temperature sensor T, flow sensor F, differential pressure sensor ΔP, etc. (see Figure 7). In addition, the short-period processing unit 130 modifies the chilled water heat quantity of the absorption chiller 308, the chilled water heat quantity of the turbo chiller 310, the chilled water heat quantity of the heat dissipation heat exchanger 312, and the heat dissipation or heat storage quantity of the heat storage tank 314 according to changes in the demand of the energy supply destination equipment 600.

Figure 6 shows an example of the optimization process 100# in the energy management device 100 in the embodiment. The optimization process 100# includes long-period processing performed in the long-period processing unit 110, medium-period processing performed in the medium-period processing unit 120, and short-period processing performed in the short-period processing unit 130. The optimization process 100# includes multiple processes corresponding to the configuration of the energy supply equipment 300, and information is exchanged between processes in accordance with the connection relationships of the equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300. Therefore, the optimization process 100# will have different configurations depending on the equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300 and the connection relationships of the equipment included in the energy supply equipment 300. Figure 6 shows the optimization process 100# when the energy supply equipment 300 includes a boiler 302, a CGS 304, two absorption chillers 308, a turbo chiller 310, and a thermal storage tank 314.

The optimization process 100# shown in Figure 6 includes, for example, a boiler characteristics process 140, a CGS characteristics process 142, absorption chiller characteristics processes 144A and 144B, a turbo chiller characteristics process 148, an addition process 150, and a multiplication process 152. The boiler characteristics process 140 takes fuel usage information as input and outputs steam heat quantity information based on the characteristics of the boiler 302. The CGS characteristics process 142 takes fuel usage information as input and outputs steam heat quantity information, hot water heat quantity information (not shown), and electricity sales information based on the characteristics of the CGS 304. The addition process 150a outputs steam heat quantity information obtained by adding the steam heat quantity information output from the boiler characteristics process 140 and the steam heat quantity information output from the CGS characteristics process 142. The absorption chiller characteristics processes 144A and 144B take steam heat quantity information from the addition process 150a and output chilled water heat quantity information and auxiliary power information based on the characteristics of the absorption chiller 308. The turbo chiller characteristic processing unit 148 receives power quantity information based on the power sales or purchase plan determined by the long-period processing unit 110, and outputs chilled water heat quantity information and auxiliary equipment power information.

The addition process 150b outputs heat quantity information obtained by adding the heat dissipation information (positive heat quantity information) or heat storage information (negative heat quantity information) based on the operation plan of the heat storage tank 314 determined by the long-period processing unit 110, and the chilled water heat quantity information output from the turbo chiller characteristic processing unit 148. The addition process 150c outputs heat quantity information obtained by adding the chilled water heat quantity information output from the absorption chiller characteristic processing units 144A and 144B, and the heat quantity information output from the addition process 150b. The chilled water heat quantity output from the addition process 150c corresponds to the chilled water heat demand.

The addition process 150d outputs auxiliary power information obtained by adding the auxiliary power information output from the absorption chiller characteristic processes 144A and 144B and the auxiliary power information output from the turbo chiller characteristic process 148. The addition process 150e outputs energy quantity information obtained by adding the auxiliary power information output from the addition process 150d and the energy quantity information based on the power sales or purchase plan determined by the long-period processing unit 110.

The power information output from the addition process 150e is multiplied by the usage charge via the multiplication process 152c and output to the addition process 150f as cost information. Fuel usage information is multiplied by the fuel unit price via the multiplication process 152a and output to the addition process 150f as cost information. The electricity sales amount information output from the CGS characteristic process 142 is multiplied by the electricity sales unit price via the multiplication process 152b and output to the addition process 150f as cost information. The addition process 150f outputs operational cost information obtained by adding the cost information output from each of the multiplication processes 152a, 152b, and 152c.

Fuel usage information is multiplied by the CO2 (carbon dioxide) emission factor by multiplication process 152d. Electricity usage information based on the electricity sales or purchase plan determined by the long-period processing unit 110 is multiplied by the CO2 emission factor by multiplication process 152e. The outputs of multiplication processes 152d and 152e are added together by addition process 150g and output as CO2 emission information. CO2 emission information is one of the constraints when the energy supply equipment 300 operates.

The operating cost information is an objective function adjusted to be minimized in the long-period processing unit 110 and the medium-period processing unit 120. A target value is set for the operating cost information. The long-period processing unit 110 may calculate a power sales or purchase plan to minimize the operating cost, which is the sum of the power costs or fuel costs consumed in the target area, including at least the power consumed by the heating or cooling device (auxiliary power). The medium-period processing unit 120 calculates the start-up/stop-down plan for the heating or cooling device, as well as the heat quantity and flow rate of the medium, according to the target value of the power cost or fuel cost calculated by the long-period processing unit 110.

The long-period processing unit 110, the medium-period processing unit 120, or the short-period processing unit 130 should ideally perform calculations to minimize the total cost, including electricity and fuel costs, in the target area. For example, the long-period processing unit 110 calculates energy purchase plans, sales plans, and thermal storage plans to minimize the total cost, including electricity and fuel costs, in the target area. The medium-period processing unit 120 calculates start-up and shutdown plans to minimize the total cost, including electricity and fuel costs, in the target area. The short-period processing unit 130 modifies the equipment control target information to minimize the total cost, including electricity and fuel costs, in the target area.

Each of the long-period processing unit 110, medium-period processing unit 120, or short-period processing unit 130 may perform optimization calculations to minimize a combination of fuel costs, electricity costs, and carbon dioxide emissions in the target area. The optimization calculation to minimize CO2 emissions by combining fuel costs, electricity costs, and carbon dioxide emissions in the target area may be performed by at least one of the long-period processing unit 110, medium-period processing unit 120, and short-period processing unit 130. For example, the long-period processing unit 110 calculates energy purchase plans, sales plans, and thermal energy storage plans to minimize a combination of fuel costs, electricity costs, and carbon dioxide emissions in the target area. The medium-period processing unit 120 calculates start-up and shutdown plans to minimize a combination of fuel costs, electricity costs, and carbon dioxide emissions in the target area. The short-period processing unit 130 modifies the control target information of the equipment to minimize a combination of fuel costs, electricity costs, and carbon dioxide emissions in the target area.

Each of the long-period processing unit 110, medium-period processing unit 120, or short-period processing unit 130 may perform optimization calculations to minimize the total energy consumption of the target area. Energy consumption includes, for example, the power consumption, fuel consumption, and other energy consumption of equipment included in the energy supply facility 300 and equipment included in the energy supply destination facility 600.

Figure 7 shows an example of the configuration of the energy supply equipment 300 in the embodiment.
The energy supply equipment 300 operates based on the processing results of the energy management device 100 shown in Figure 4. The energy supply equipment 300 includes, for example, two absorption chillers 308-1 and 308-2 and a heat exchanger 312. Steam or hot water is supplied to the two absorption chillers 308-1 and 308-2 from the boiler 302 and CGS 304, and chilled water is supplied to the energy supply destination equipment 600. Chilled water is supplied to the heat exchanger 312 from the cooling tower 306, turbo chiller 310, and thermal storage tank 314, and chilled water is supplied to the energy supply destination equipment 600.

Each of the absorption chillers 308-1 and 308-2, and the heat exchanger 312 for heat dissipation, are connected to the energy supply facility 600 via a medium supply channel to the energy supply facility 600 and a medium discharge channel from the energy supply facility 600. Each of the absorption chillers 308-1 and 308-2, and the heat exchanger 312 for heat dissipation, supplies chilled water (medium) to the medium supply channel via flow rate adjustment pumps 308a and 312a. A bypass channel is connected between the medium supply channel and the medium discharge channel to bypass the energy supply facility 600. The energy supply facility 600 includes, for example, a chilled water demand section 602 and a control valve 604. In Figure 4, only one energy supply facility 600 is shown, but it is not limited to this, and multiple energy supply facilities 600 may be connected. The chilled water that has passed through the energy supply facility 600 or the bypass channel is returned to the heat exchanger 312 and absorption chillers 308-1 and 308-2 via the medium discharge channel.

The temperature of the chilled water flowing from absorption chillers 308-1 and 308-2 into the media supply channel is detected by a temperature sensor. The chilled water flow rate in the bypass channel and the chilled water flow rate returning from the media discharge channel to the heat exchanger 312 and absorption chillers 308-1 and 308-2 are detected by a flow sensor F. The pressure difference between the chilled water pressure in the media supply channel and the chilled water pressure in the media discharge channel is detected by a differential pressure sensor ΔP.

The energy supply equipment 300 further includes chilled water flow rate setting units 320 and 324, chilled water flow rate control units 322 and 326, differential pressure setting unit 328, and supply differential pressure control unit 330. The chilled water flow rate setting units 320 and 324 set the chilled water flow rate supplied from the absorption chillers 308-1 and 308-2 and the heat exchanger 312 to the medium supply channel based on heat quantity information acquired from the energy management device 100. The chilled water flow rate setting units 320 and 324 change the operation of the absorption chillers 308-1 and 308-2 and the heat exchanger 312 by acquiring the set value from the energy management device 100. The chilled water flow rate control units 322 and 326 control the flow rate adjustment pumps 308a and 312a based on the chilled water flow rate set by the chilled water flow rate setting units 320 and 324.

The differential pressure setting unit 328 sets the differential pressure between the medium supply channel and the medium discharge channel. The supply differential pressure control unit 330 controls the differential pressure between the medium supply channel and the medium discharge channel by controlling the control valve provided in the bypass channel, based on the detected value of the differential pressure sensor ΔP and the differential pressure set by the differential pressure setting unit 328.

Figure 8 shows an example of the arrangement of energy supply equipment 300 and energy supply destination equipment 600 in the target area according to the embodiment.
The energy supply equipment 300 and the energy supply destination equipment 600 are arranged separately at various locations within the target area. Multiple energy supply equipment 300-1, 300-2, 300-3, 300-4, and 300-5, and multiple energy supply destination equipment 600-1, 600-2, 600-3, 600-4, and 600-5 are connected by piping 700 for carrying a medium (steam, hot water, chilled water), and flow control devices 702 such as on-off valves, control valves, and pumps.

The medium-period processing unit 120 may calculate a flow rate plan that includes the flow rate of the medium at each point in the target area, such as branching and merging points of the piping, and the flow rate of the medium between the energy supply equipment 300 in the target area. The short-period processing unit 130 modifies the settings of each flow control device 702 that controls the flow rate at each point based on the flow rate plan calculated by the medium-period processing unit 120.

As described above, the energy management system 1 of this embodiment includes a long-period processing unit 110 that calculates energy purchase plans, sales plans, and energy storage plans based on energy demand forecast information; a medium-period processing unit 120 that calculates start-up and stop-down plans for equipment included in the energy supply facility according to the energy demand forecast information and the energy purchase plans, sales plans, and energy storage plans; and a short-period processing unit 130 that controls the equipment according to the energy storage plan calculated by the long-period processing unit 110 and the start-up and stop-down plans calculated by the medium-period processing unit 120, and modifies the control of each piece of equipment according to the start-up and stop-down plans based on feedback information from the energy supply facility 300. This energy management system 1 allows for sophisticated management of various types of energy to improve economic efficiency or environmental efficiency, or both, while maintaining a stable supply to the target area.

Furthermore, according to the energy management system 1, even if the energy supply equipment 300 and energy supply destination equipment 600 are intricately connected, the optimization of the plan can reduce operator labor costs, electricity costs, fuel costs, and combined costs. Specifically, the energy management system 1 uses a long-period processing unit 110 to formulate energy purchase plans, sales plans, and energy storage plans for a wide variety of energy supply equipment 300, a medium-period processing unit 120 to formulate start-up and stop-down plans, and a short-period processing unit 130 to optimize through feedback control during actual operation, thereby reducing the burden on the operator. Moreover, the energy management system 1 enables reduced or unmanned operation of the operator, resulting in a reduction in operational costs.

While various embodiments and modifications have been described, these are merely examples and not limiting. For example, one embodiment or modification, or a part of one embodiment or modification, may be combined with one or more other embodiments or modifications to realize one aspect of the present invention.

1...Energy management system, 100...Energy management device, 110...Long-period processing unit, 120...Medium-period processing unit, 130...Short-period processing unit, 140...Boiler characteristic processing, 142...CGS characteristic processing, 144A, 144B...Absorption chiller characteristic processing, 148...Turbo chiller characteristic processing, 150a, 150b, 150c, 150d, 150e, 150f, 150g...Addition processing, 152a, 152b, 152c, 152d, 152e...Multiplication processing, 200…Operator terminal device, 302…Boiler, 304…CGS, 306…Cooling tower, 308…Absorption chiller, 308a…Flow rate control pump, 310…Turbo chiller, 312…Heat exchanger for heat dissipation, 312a…Flow rate control pump, 314…Thermal storage tank, 320, 324…Chilled water flow rate setting unit, 322, 326…Chilled water flow rate control unit, 328…Differential pressure setting unit, 330…Supply differential pressure control unit, 602…Chilled water demand unit, 604…Control valve, 700…Piping, 702…Flow rate control device

Claims (13)

An energy management system that controls energy supply equipment located in a target area,
A long-period processing unit calculates energy demand forecast information for the target area and calculates an energy purchase plan, a sales plan, and an energy storage plan based on the calculated energy demand forecast information.
A medium-period processing unit calculates a start-up and stop-down plan for equipment included in the energy supply facility according to the energy demand forecast information and the energy purchase plan, sales plan, and energy storage plan calculated by the long-period processing unit,
A short-period processing unit calculates control target information according to the energy storage plan calculated by the long-period processing unit and the start-stop plan calculated by the medium-period processing unit,
An energy management system equipped with the following features. The energy management system according to claim 1, wherein the short-period processing unit transmits the calculated control target information to the operator terminal device. The energy management system according to claim 1, wherein the short-period processing unit transmits the calculated control target information to the device. The energy management system according to claim 1, wherein the short-period processing unit modifies the control target information of each device in accordance with the start-up/stop-down plan based on feedback information from the energy supply equipment. The energy management system according to claim 4, wherein the short-period processing unit transmits the feedback information, information indicating a change in the control target information of each device according to the start-stop plan, and information indicating a change in the control target information of each device according to the feedback information to the operator terminal device. The long-period processing unit calculates the heat storage plan for the heat storage tank included in the energy supply equipment as the energy storage plan,
The aforementioned intermediate cycle processing unit calculates a start-up/stop-down plan for the heating or cooling device included in the energy supply equipment based on the heat storage plan of the heat storage tank.
The short-period processing unit is
Based on the start/stop plan calculated by the aforementioned intermediate cycle processing unit, the start or stop of the heating device or the cooling device is controlled.
The control target information and settings of the heating device or the cooling device are changed and set in short cycles according to the detected values and demand values of the amount of medium energy and medium flow rate supplied by the equipment included in the energy supply facility, which are considered as feedback information.
The start-up/stop cycle of the heating device or the cooling device is longer than the control cycle of the short-period processing unit.
The energy management system according to claim 4. The aforementioned intermediate cycle processing unit calculates the plan for the amount of media energy and the flow rate of media supplied by the equipment included in the energy supply facility.
The short-period processing unit modifies the settings of the equipment included in the energy supply facility according to the plan of the amount of medium energy and the flow rate calculated by the medium-period processing unit.
The energy management system according to claim 1. The aforementioned intermediate-period processing unit calculates the plan for the amount of media energy and the flow rate of media at each point in the target area.
The short-period processing unit modifies the control target information and settings of each flow rate control device that controls the flow rate at each point based on the media energy amount and media flow rate plan calculated by the medium-period processing unit.
The energy management system according to claim 1. The long-period processing unit calculates a plan for selling or buying electricity according to a target value of the electricity cost or fuel cost consumed in the target area, including the electricity consumed by at least the heating or cooling equipment included in the energy supply facility.
The aforementioned intermediate cycle processing unit calculates the start-up and stop-down plan for the heating device or the cooling device, as well as the heat quantity and flow rate of the medium, according to the target value of the power cost or fuel cost.
The energy management system according to claim 1. The energy management system according to claim 1, wherein the long-period processing unit, the medium-period processing unit, or the short-period processing unit performs an optimization calculation to minimize the combined cost of electricity costs and fuel costs in the target area, or to minimize a combination of fuel costs, electricity costs, and carbon dioxide emissions in the target area. The energy management system according to claim 1, wherein the long-period processing unit, the medium-period processing unit, or the short-period processing unit performs an optimization calculation to minimize the total amount of energy consumed in the target area. Computers,
A long-period processing unit calculates energy demand forecast information for the target area and calculates energy purchase plans, sales plans, and energy storage plans based on the calculated energy demand forecast information.
A medium-period processing unit calculates a start-up and stop-down plan for equipment included in the energy supply facilities located in the target area, in accordance with the energy demand forecast information and the energy purchase plan, sales plan, and energy storage plan calculated by the long-period processing unit.
A short-period processing unit calculates control target information according to the energy storage plan calculated by the long-period processing unit and the start-stop plan calculated by the medium-period processing unit.
An energy management program that functions as such. An energy management method for controlling energy supply equipment located in a target area,
The energy management system calculates energy demand forecast information for the target area, and calculates an energy purchase plan, a sales plan, and an energy storage plan based on the calculated energy demand forecast information.
The energy management system includes the steps of calculating a start-up and stop-down plan for equipment included in the energy supply facility in accordance with the calculated energy demand forecast information and the energy purchase plan, sales plan, and energy storage plan,
The energy management system includes the step of calculating control target information according to the calculated energy storage plan and the calculated start-up/shutdown plan,
Energy management methods including