US 11,841,154 B1Granted

Methods and systems for tracking thermal profile of hot water storage tanks

AssigneeHarvest Thermal, Inc.

InventorsElisabeth Jane Melia, Evan Green, Pascual Starink

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

The present disclosure provides methods and systems for tracking temperature profile of water in a hot water storage tank. The method performed by a control unit includes monitoring flow of water at one or more inlets and one or more outlets included in the tank to determine current locations of a plurality of water layers within the tank. The plurality of water layers changes corresponding positions within the tank based on water entering within and exiting from the tank. The method includes receiving a series of temperature values measured at a series of time instances from at least one temperature sensor mounted to the tank. The method includes electronically generating a temperature profile of the tank based at least on the current locations of the plurality of water layers and the series of temperature values.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A system, comprising:

a hot water storage tank comprising one or more inlets and one or more outlets, the hot water storage tank configured to store water, wherein water at multiple temperatures is stored in form of multiple layers of water;
at least one temperature sensor mounted to the hot water storage tank;
a set of flowmeters mounted at the one or more inlets and the one or more outlets, the set of flowmeters is configured to measure flow of water at the one or more inlets and the one or more outlets of the hot water storage tank to measure a volume of water entering within and exiting from the hot water storage tank;
and
a control unit communicably coupled to the set of flowmeters and the at least one temperature sensor, the control unit configured to at least:
receive data pertaining to the volume of water entering within and exiting from the hot water storage tank from the set of flow meters, wherein a plurality of water layers changes corresponding positions within the hot water storage tank based on the water entering within and exiting from the hot water storage tank;
receive a series of temperature values measured at a series of time instances from each of the at least one temperature sensor;
and
electronically generate a temperature profile of the hot water storage tank for each of the at least one temperature sensor, wherein the temperature profile for each of the at least one temperature sensor is generated based at least on the data pertaining to the volume of water entering within and exiting from the hot water storage tank and the series of temperature values received from the corresponding temperature sensor.

6 more elements

A method performed by a control unit, the method comprising:

receiving data pertaining to a volume of water entering within and exiting from a hot water storage tank from a set of flow meters coupled to the control unit, wherein a plurality of water layers changes corresponding positions within the hot water storage tank based on the water entering within and exiting from the hot water storage tank;
receiving a series of temperature values measured at a series of time instances from each of at least one temperature sensor mounted to the hot water storage tank;
and
electronically generating a temperature profile of the hot water storage tank for each of the at least one temperature sensor, wherein the temperature profile for each of the at least one temperature sensor is generated based at least on the data pertaining to the volume of water entering within and exiting from the hot water storage tank and the series of temperature values received from the corresponding temperature sensor.

1 more element

A method performed by a control unit, the method comprising:

receiving data pertaining to a volume of water entering within and exiting from a hot water storage tank from a set of flow meters coupled to the control unit, wherein a plurality of water layers changes corresponding positions within the hot water storage tank based on the water entering within and exiting from the hot water storage tank;
receiving a series of temperature values measured at a series of time instances from each of at least one temperature sensor mounted to the hot water storage tank;
electronically generating a temperature profile of the hot water storage tank for each of the at least one temperature sensor, wherein the temperature profile for each of the at least one temperature sensor is generated based at least on the data pertaining to the volume of water entering within and exiting from the hot water storage tank and the series of temperature values received from the corresponding temperature sensor;
and
determining an operating time of a heating unit for recharging the volume of water flowing from the hot water storage tank, the operating time being determined based on the temperature profile of water in the hot water storage tank.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.