Refrigeration system and control device

A control device for a refrigeration system including a generator, a power generation engine that drives the generator, a refrigerator that adjusts a temperature of a cooling target space, and an electric power converter that converts an electric power generated by the generator into a drive output for the refrigerator, the control device comprising:

• an output control unit that controls the drive output from the electric power converter to the refrigerator to adjust an operation state of the refrigerator;
• a characteristic estimation unit that estimates a refrigerator characteristic of the refrigerator according to an outside air temperature and a temperature of the cooling target space;
• and
• an output calculation unit that calculates the drive output as a target drive output that optimizes an energy efficiency of the entire system based on the refrigerator characteristic estimated by the characteristic estimation unit, a preset engine characteristic of the power generation engine, and a preset generator characteristic of the generator, wherein
• the output control unit controls the drive output to approach the target drive output calculated by the output calculation unit.

A refrigeration system for a vehicle, the refrigeration system comprising:

• a generator;
• a power generation engine that drives the generator;
• a refrigerator that adjusts a temperature of a cooling target space;
• an electric power converter that converts an electric power generated by the generator into a drive output for the refrigerator and supplies the drive output to the refrigerator;
• and
• an electronic control unit including a processor and a memory having control programs stored therein, the electronic control unit being configured to control the drive output from the electric power converter to the refrigerator to adjust an operation state of the refrigerator, wherein
• the electronic control unit is programmed to:
• estimate a refrigerator characteristic of the refrigerator according to an outside air temperature and a temperature of the cooling target space,
• calculate the drive output as a target drive output that optimizes an energy efficiency of the entire system based on the estimated refrigerator characteristic, a preset engine characteristic of the power generation engine, and a preset generator characteristic of the generator, and
• control the operation of the electric power converter such that the drive output is adjusted toward the target drive output calculated by the output calculation unit.