APPARATUS

Cross-Reference to Related Applications

This patent application claims priority of Italian Patent Application No. 102021000009611 filed on April 16, 2021, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns a method for controlling an air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus, the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus and a related computer program product, in particular for controlling, independently between one another and according to a control curve, a plurality of indoor units of the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus.

State of the Art

Air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatuses are widely known and used for managing media temperature and/or humidity in closed spaces.

In details, variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems are used for the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) applications.

Generally in VRF systems all indoor units work in almost the same ambient conditions between them and thus they can be easily and efficiently managed by controlling the cooling power of a same outdoor unit coupled to them. Usually, the total cooling power of the VRF system is regulated by controlling the evaporation pressure of the outdoor unit.

Nonetheless, HVAC applications may require that several closed spaces are heated or ventilated by the same VRF system at respective temperatures different between them, and this cannot be achieved in known VRF system where all the indoor units are connected to the same refrigerant piping and condensing unit/s. Such condition is typical in ICT cooling application wherein the VRF system is used for conditioning sever machines of an ICT system.

Therefore, using known VRF system for HVAC applications is not enough to guarantee the performances requested for each indoor unit, which should be able to work in a wide range of air room temperatures and would have to provide a stable and continuous air temperatures.

Moreover, using known VRF systems for HVAC applications requires frequently varying the power and the evaporation pressure of the outdoor unit, and this results in high energetic consumption. Such high energetic consumption is a crucial parameter, especially for large plants such as large process cooling installations or those for industrial or commercial spaces, which need to condition great flows of air.

Therefore, the need is felt to provide an air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus adapted to efficiently work in HVAC applications, as well as to improve its efficiency so that its energetic consumption is reduced. In particular such need is felt for HVAC applications for ICT cooling.

Document US 2016/334142 relates generally to transport refrigeration systems, and more particularly to adaptive control of a multi-compartment transport refrigeration system.

Document US 2019/078818 relates generally to a refrigeration system and more particularly to a refrigeration system with a subcooler configured to subcool a liquid refrigerant.

Document US 2015/059373 pertains to the field of refrigerant vapor compression systems, and particularly to a system for dynamically optimizing capacity and efficiency during less than optimal operating conditions to provide enhanced performance.

Document US 2015/027139 relates to cooling systems, and more particularly, expansion valve control systems.

Subject and Summary of the Invention

An aim of the present invention is to satisfy the above mentioned needs.

The aforementioned aim is reached by a method for controlling an air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus, by the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus and by a related computer program product, as claimed in the appended set of claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings

For a better understanding of the present invention, a preferred embodiment is described in the following, by way of a non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

• Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

• Figure 2 is a schematic view of the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus of Figure 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

• Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control system of the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus of Figure 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and • Figure 4 is a graphic illustrating a control curve used by the control system of Figure 3, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

Figure 1 schematically shows an air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1 for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) applications. In particular, the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1 is configured to refrigerate the air in at least one closed space (i.e., rooms 11, 13 shown in Figure 2).

The air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1 comprises a compressor mean 2 configured to move a refrigerant fluid between an inlet 2a and an outlet 2b of the compressor mean 2 and to increase its pressure.

The air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1 further comprises an air-cooled module 3 fluidly connected in series to the compressor mean 2 and configured to desuperheat, condense and subcool the refrigerant fluid between an inlet 3a and an outlet 3b of the air-cooled module 3, thereby exchanging thermal energy with the ambient air and, in particular, providing heat to the latter.

In details, the compressor mean 2 and the air-cooled module 3 are comprised in an outdoor unit 7 of the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1, placed outside the one or more closed spaces.

The air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1 further comprises a plurality of indoor units 9 (Figure 1 exemplarily shows three indoor units 9), placed inside the one or more closed spaces.

Each indoor unit 9 comprises a respective expansion mean 4 that is fluidly connected in series to the air-cooled module 3 and is configured to decrease the pressure of the refrigerant fluid between a respective inlet 4a and a respective outlet 4b of said expansion mean 4. In particular, the expansion means 4 are electronic expansion valves (EEV), as better described in the following.

Each indoor unit 9 further comprises a respective evaporation mean (or evaporator) 5 that is fluidly connected in series to the expansion mean 4 and is configured to allow the passage of phase from liquid to gaseous state of said refrigerant fluid between an inlet 5a and an outlet 5b of said evaporation mean 5. In other words, the evaporation mean 5 is configured to evaporate and superheat the temperature of the refrigerant fluid, thereby exchanging thermal energy with the media (e.g., air) in the closed space housing the indoor unit 9, and in particular absorbing heat from the media. Moreover, the inlet 2a of the compressor mean 2 is further fluidly connected in series to each evaporation mean 5.

Therefore, the indoor units 9 are connected in parallel between them, and each of them is connected in series between the outlet 3b of the air-cooled module 3 and the inlet 2a of the compressor mean 2.

Moreover, the air-cooled refrigeration cycle arrangement 1 comprises a plurality of temperature sensors 15 and a control unit 17 (e.g., an FPGA or a dedicated controller), shown in Figure 2.

Each temperature sensor 15 is coupled to a respective evaporation mean 5 so as to detect the temperature of the media at the evaporation mean 5 (in the following, also called delivery air temperature TDi), thus detecting the thermal energy exchange caused in the media by said respective evaporation mean 5. In particular, the temperature sensors 15 generate respective temperature signals indicative of the temperatures of the respective evaporation means 5. For example, each temperature sensor 15 is closer to the respective evaporation mean 5 than to any other evaporation mean 5. As an example, each temperature sensor 15 is comprised in the indoor unit 9 of the respective evaporation mean 5.

The control unit 17 is coupled (e.g., electrically or via transceiving modules) to the temperature sensors 15, the compressor mean 2 and the expansion means 4, and is configured to acquire the temperature signals from the temperature sensors 15 and to control the compressor mean 2 and the expansion means 4 based on the acquired temperature signals, as better described in the following. For example, the control unit 17 is comprised in the outdoor unit 7.

Figure 2 shows the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1 is used for refrigerating the air in at least one room (i.e., the previously mentioned one or more closed spaces) of a building.

As a non-limiting example, Figure 2 shows a first room 11 and a second room 13. The first room 11 houses a plurality of heat-generating devices 19 (in the following, exemplary reference will be made to electronic devices 19 such as computers, servers or computer racks that, during use, overheat the surrounding air) that may cause temperature inhomogeneity in the first room 11 (i.e., areas of the first room 11 at higher temperatures than other areas of the first room 11, such temperature difference being caused for example by certain electronic devices 19 working and other electronic devices 19 being off or in standby), while the air temperature in the second room 13 is substantially homogeneous (i.e., all areas of the second room 13 are substantially at a same temperature, e.g. 35±0.5°C).

In details, the outdoor unit 7 is placed outside the first and second rooms 11, 13 (e.g., outside the building) and the indoor units 9 are placed inside the first and second rooms 11, 13. Figure 2 exemplarily shows two indoor units 9 in the first room 11 and four indoor units 9 in the second room 13, although it is evident that such numbers are only exemplary and can vary.

In the first room 11, the expansion means 4 are controlled by the control unit 17 to exchange with the air in the first room 11 respective amounts of thermal energy that may be different between each other. In particular, each indoor unit 9 is adapted to refrigerate a respective electronic device 19 (e.g., is placed closer to this electronic device 19 than to any other electronic device 19 and,). Therefore, in the first room 11 the indoor units 9 are controlled to work independently from each other so that the possible temperature inhomogeneity caused by the different working of the electronic devices 19 can be mitigated. In this way the indoor unit 9 associated to an electronic device 19 working at full power can refrigerate more than the indoor unit 9 associated to an electronic device 19 that is off or in standby, so that the overall refrigeration efficiency is optimized.

In the second room 13, since no temperature inhomogeneity is present, the expansion means 4 are controlled by the control unit 17 to exchange with the air the same amount of thermal energy. In other words, the expansion means 4 work in parallel between them, each contributing to the overall refrigeration of the second room 13 by providing a same amount of thermal energy exchange.

With reference to Figure 3, a control method of the expansion means 4 is discussed. In particular, the control method is described according to a control system 40 shown in Figure 3.

The control method is an iterative closed-loop control implemented by the control unit 17 to control each one of the expansion means 4 and, thus, the amount of refrigerant fluid flowing into the respective evaporation mean 5 and the thermal energy exchange generated by the latter. In the following, the control method is described with reference to the i-th indoor unit 9 located, for example, in the first room 11.

In details, the control unit 17 comprises a sum block 42 receiving as inputs a superheat setpoint SHSi and a superheat error SHEi and generating as output a superheat command SHCi for controlling the i-th expansion mean 4. The superheat setpoint SHSi is an electric signal indicative of a setpoint temperature value for the control of the i-th expansion mean 4, generated by the control unit 17 as better described in the following. The superheat error SHEi is an electric signal indicative of a temperature error calculated by the control unit 17 at the immediately precedent iteration (e.g., the superheat error SHEi used in the j-th iteration is the one calculated at the (j-l)-th iteration), as better described in the following. At the first iteration of the control method (i.e., j=l), the superheat setpoint SHSi is set to a predefined setpoint value (e.g., indicative of, for example, 5°C) and the superheat error SHEi is set to a predefined error value (e.g., indicative of, for example, 0°C). In details, the predefined setpoint value and the predefined error value are stored in a data storage unit (not shown) of the control unit 17, such as a non-volatile memory. According to an aspect of the present invention, the superheat command SHCi is the sum of the superheat setpoint SHSi and of the superheat error SHEi (i.e., is an electric signal indicative of the sum of the setpoint temperature value and of the temperature error).

The i-th expansion mean 4 receives as input the superheat command SHCi from the control unit 17 and varies the flow of the refrigerant fluid passing through it based on the superheat command SHCi, according to known techniques.

The i-th evaporation mean 5 receives the refrigerant fluid from the respective expansion mean 4 and absorbs heat from the air in the first room 11. In particular, the absorbed heat amount is proportional to the amount of refrigerant fluid coming from the expansion mean 4. In further details, the evaporation mean 5 receives a received air flow at a received air temperature TRi (i.e., air in the first room 11 coming into contact with the evaporation mean 5 and overheated by the electronic devices 19) and generates a delivery air flow at the delivery air temperature TDi lower than the received air temperature TRi.

The delivery air temperature TDi is acquired by the control unit 17 through the i-th temperature sensor 15.

The control unit 17 further comprises a superheat error block 44 that acquires the delivery air temperature TDi through the i-th temperature sensor 15 and, based on it, calculates the superheat error SHEi that will be received by the sum block 42 at the next iteration (i.e., (j+l)-th iteration).

In particular, the superheat error block 44 calculates the superheat error SHEi according to a control curve shown in the graph of Figure 4, describing a control relationship.

For values of the delivery air temperature TDi greater than, or equal to, a supply air setpoint TDSi (also called supply air setpoint temperature TDSi; i.e., a predefined supply air temperature that is a target temperature for the first room 11, to be reached through the use of air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1, and that depends on the specific application and requirements of the first room 11, and that for example is equal to about 25°C for the first room 11):

• if the delivery air temperature TDi is comprised between the supply air setpoint TDSi and a first positive threshold value (extremal value excluded) greater than the supply air setpoint TDSi, then the superheat error SHEi is set to a first predefined value (i.e., SHEi = 0 if TDSi < TDi < TDSi + BN_SHD, where BN_SHD is a first positive temperature neutral range for superheat calculation at TDi > TDSi and, for example, is equal to 0.5°C);

• if the delivery air temperature TDi is comprised between, or equal to, the first positive threshold value and a second positive threshold value greater than the first positive threshold value, then the superheat error SHEi is calculated as a function of the delivery air temperature TDi and, in particular, decreases (increases in absolute value) as the delivery air temperature TDi increases (according to an embodiment of the present invention, SHEi = — DSHup (( TDi - TDSi - BN_SHD)/P20_DX) if TDSi + BN_SHD < TDi < TDSi + BN_SHD + P20_DX, where DSHup is a maximum decrease of the superheat value that is higher than the superheat setpoint SHSi to avoid negative overheating and that, for example, is equal to +2°C, and where P20_DX is a superheat decrease proportional range for superheat calculation at TDi > TDSi + BN _SHD + P20_DX and, for example, is equal to 2°C);

• if the delivery air temperature TDi is comprised between the second positive threshold value and a third positive threshold value greater than the second positive threshold value (extremal values excluded), then the superheat error SHEi is set to a second predefined value (according to an embodiment of the present invention, SHEi = — DSHup if TDSi + BN_SHD + P20_DX £ TDi £ TDSi + BN_SHD + P20_DX + R_DX, where R_DX is a second positive temperature neutral range for superheat calculation at TDi > TDSi and, for example, is equal to 0.5°C).

For values of the delivery air temperature TDi lower than the supply air setpoint TDSi:

• if the delivery air temperature TDi is comprised between (extremal values excluded) the supply air setpoint TDSi and a first negative threshold value lower than the supply air setpoint TDSi (i.e., in absolute value, greater that the supply air setpoint TDSi), then the superheat error SHEi is set to the first predefined value (i.e., SHEi = 0 if TDSi — BN_SHS < TDi < TDSi, where BN_SHS is a first negative temperature neutral range for superheat calculation at TDi < TDSi and, for example, is equal to 0.5°C);

• if the delivery air temperature TDi is comprised between, or equal to, the first negative threshold value and a second negative threshold value lower than the first negative threshold value (i.e., in absolute value, greater that the first negative threshold), then the superheat error SHEi is calculated as a function of the delivery air temperature TDi and, in particular, increases as the delivery air temperature TDi decreases (according to an embodiment of the present invention, SHEi = DSHdw

((TDSi - TDi - BN_SHS)/P20_SX) if TDSi - BN_SHS - P20_SX < TDi < TDSi — BN_SHS , where DSHdw is a maximum increase of the superheat value that is, for example, equal to +15°C, and where P20_SX is a superheat increase proportional range for superheat calculation at TDi <

TDSi — BN_SHS — P20_SX and, for example, is equal to 2°C);

• if the delivery air temperature TDi is comprised between (extremal values excluded) the second negative threshold value and a third negative threshold value lower than the second negative threshold (i.e., in absolute value, greater that the second negative threshold), then the superheat error SHEi is set to a third predefined value (according to an embodiment of the present invention, SHEi = DSHdw if TDSi — BN_SHS — P20_SX - R_SX £ TDi £ TDSi - BN_SHS - P20_SX, where R_SX is a second negative temperature neutral range for superheat calculation at TDi < TDSi and, for example, is equal to 0.5°C).

Moreover, optionally, for values of the delivery air temperature TDi greater than, or equal to, the third positive threshold value, the control unit 17 decreases a refrigerant fluid pumping power of the outdoor unit 7 (i.e., decreases a power of the compressor mean 2 in a per se known way, e.g. decreasing the frequency of compression and/or modifying the setting of blades of the compressor mean 2) so that a decreased amount of refrigerant fluid is moved into the air cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1. For example, the refrigerant fluid pumping power is decreased by a pumping power predefined value.

Analogously, optionally, for values of the delivery air temperature TDi lower than, or equal to, the third negative threshold value, the control unit 17 increases the refrigerant fluid pumping power (i.e., the power of the compressor mean 2) to increase the amount of refrigerant fluid moved into the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1. For example, the refrigerant fluid pumping power is increased by the pumping power predefined value.

As an example, the thresholds, the above-mentioned parameters (e.g., P20_SX, R_SX, etc.) and the predefined values (e.g., DSHdw) are stored in the data storage unit.

In other words, the control unit 17 performs the following controls:

• if the delivery air temperature TDi is comprised between (extremal values excluded) the first negative threshold value and the first positive threshold value, then the superheat error SHEi is set to the first predefined value (e.g., 0°C);

• if the delivery air temperature TDi is comprised between, or equal to, the second negative threshold value and the first negative threshold value, then the superheat error SHEi increases as the delivery air temperature TDi decreases (i.e., increases as the delivery air temperature TDi increases in absolute value), in particular linearly; or, if the delivery air temperature TDi is comprised between, or equal to, the first positive threshold value and the second positive threshold value, then the superheat error SHEi decreases as the delivery air temperature TDi increases (i.e., increases in absolute value as the delivery air temperature TDi increases), in particular linearly;

• if the delivery air temperature TDi is comprised between (extremal values excluded) the second positive threshold value and the third positive threshold value, then the superheat error SHEi is set to the second predefined value; or, if the delivery air temperature TDi is comprised between (extremal values excluded) the third negative threshold value and the second negative threshold value, then the superheat error SHEi is set to the third predefined value; and

• optionally, if the delivery air temperature TDi is greater than, or equal to, the third positive threshold value, the refrigerant fluid pumping power of the outdoor unit 7 is decreased; or, optionally, if the delivery air temperature TDi is lower than, or equal to, the third negative threshold value, the refrigerant fluid pumping power of the outdoor unit 7 is increased.

As previously mentioned, the superheat setpoint SHSi is set by the control unit 17. In particular, the superheat setpoint SHSi is set to a predefined setpoint value (e.g., equal to about 5°C and, for example, stored in the data storage unit) at the first iteration of the control method (i.e., j=1), and is updated at the following iterations (i.e., j>l) based on the detected delivery air temperature TDi. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the superheat setpoint SHSi is calculated at the j-th iteration, with j>l, according to the superheat error SHEi calculated at the immediately precedent iteration (i.e., j- 1) and, in particular, by: decreasing the superheat setpoint SHSi at the immediately precedent iteration (i.e., j-1) by a predefined superheat amount (e.g., 0.5°C and, for example, stored in the data storage unit), if the superheat error SHEi calculated at the immediately precedent iteration is negative and, in absolute value, greater than a superheat threshold (e.g., 1°C and, for example, stored in the data storage unit); increasing the superheat setpoint SHSi at the immediately precedent iteration by the predefined superheat amount, if the superheat error SHEi calculated at the immediately precedent iteration is positive and greater than the superheat threshold; or being equal to the superheat setpoint SHSi at the immediately precedent iteration, if the superheat error SHEi calculated at the immediately precedent iteration is, in absolute value, lower than, or equal to, the superheat threshold. In other words, the updating of the superheat setpoint SHSi is filtered on the basis of the superheat error SHEi (and thus of the delivery air temperature TDi) calculated at the immediately precedent iteration. This prevents the superheat setpoint SHSi to be continuously updated at each iteration following small variations of the superheat error SHEi (and thus of the delivery air temperature TDi).

Moreover, according to an embodiment of the present invention, if the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1 is stable (i.e., if the superheat setpoint SHSi has been stable in a number of immediately precedent iterations and, in details, if the superheat setpoint SHSi for all the expansion means 4 has not been modified in the last iterations, e.g. in the last 5 iterations) and if the superheat setpoint SHSi for each expansion mean 4 is greater than a standard superheat setpoint (e.g., indicative of, for example, 5°C) and, for example, stored in the data storage unit), then the control unit 17 decreases the refrigerant fluid pumping power of the outdoor unit 7, i.e. decreases the power of the compressor mean 2, for example by a predefined amount (e.g., by about 5% of its current value), so that the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1 tries to stabilize itself at lower powers of the compressor mean 2, to increase its efficiency.

In view of the foregoing, the advantages of the invention are apparent.

In particular, the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1 controlled according to the control method allows to optimize, in terms of efficiency and reliability, the management of the power demands and of the cooling power provided by the indoor units 9 that may work in different ambient conditions, although connected to the same outdoor unit 7.

The control method allows to regulate the thermal energy exchange provided by each indoor unit 9 by controlling the respective expansion mean 4, thus without the constant need of regulating the power of the compressor mean 2. Therefore, the control method allows to auto-regulate the amount of refrigerant fluid and cooling power of the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1 specifically for certain indoor units 9 requiring being regulated, to match the requests of the applications without the need to regulate the other indoor units 9 and the outdoor unit 7. It is clear that modifications can be made to the present invention, which do not extend beyond the scope of protection defined by the claims.

For example, a plurality of outdoor units 7 may be present. In this case, the outdoor units 7 are, for example, fluidly connected in parallel between each other and in series with the indoor units 9, to increase the efficiency of the air-cooled refrigeration cycle apparatus 1.

Moreover, the indoor units 9 may be placed in rooms other than the first and second room 11, 13. For example, they may be housed in a single room, or in rooms with different features with respect to those previously described (i.e., with/without temperature inhomogeneity, etc.).