US 12,222,121 B2
HVAC and R performance degradation monitor and relation builder
Paul R. Buda, Raleigh, NC (US)
Assigned to Schneider Electric USA, Inc., Boston, MA (US)
Filed by Schneider Electric USA, Inc., Andover, MA (US)
Filed on Feb. 3, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/105,776.
Application 18/105,776 is a continuation in part of application No. 17/463,476, filed on Aug. 31, 2021, granted, now 11,808,468.
Prior Publication US 2023/0280060 A1, Sep. 7, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. F24F 11/49 (2018.01); F24F 11/38 (2018.01)
CPC F24F 11/49 (2018.01) [F24F 11/38 (2018.01)] 24 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A monitoring system for an HVAC&R system, the monitoring system comprising:
at least one processor;
a storage device coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-executable instructions thereon, including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to instantiate:
a data acquisition processor operable to acquire observations about the HVAC&R system, the observations including fluid temperature measurements for a condenser and fluid temperature measurements for an evaporator, the observations further including compressor input power parameter measurements corresponding to the fluid temperature measurements;
a relation builder operable to learn a compressor input power parameter (CIPP) relation between fluid temperature measurements for an evaporator intake temperature and a condenser intake temperature and the compressor input power parameter measurements, and further operable to learn an evaporator temperature drop (ETD) relation between the fluid temperature measurements for the evaporator intake temperature and the condenser intake temperature and an evaporator temperature drop; and
a temperature map containing a plurality of cells, each cell corresponding to a temperature tuple composed of a condenser intake temperature and an evaporator intake temperature, the temperature map configured to receive and store for each cell, from the relation builder, summary statistics for a measured compressor input power parameter, or a measurement derived evaporator temperature drop, or both, corresponding to the temperature tuple for said cell;
wherein the processor-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to use the CIPP relation or the ETD relation to compute a predicted value for a compressor input power parameter and/or a predicted value for a evaporator temperature drop, respectively, and issue an alert signal to a user device indicating that performance degradation is present for the HVAC&R system based on a comparison of the predicted value for the compressor input power parameter to an observed value thereof, or the predicted value for the evaporator temperature drop to an observed value thereof, or both.