# US 12,002,121 B2 · Thermal energy production, storage, and control system with heat recovery chillers

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- Number: US 12,002,121 B2
- Document ID: US12002121B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/582,988
- Filed: 2022-01-24
- Published: 2022-05-12
- Granted: 2024-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2017-01-12
- Assignees: Tyco Fire & Security GmbH
- Applicants: Johnson Controls Tyco IP Holdings LLP
- Inventors: Mohammad N. Elbsat; Michael J. Wenzel
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12002121B2

## CPC

- G06Q 50/06: Energy or water supply
- G05B 13/026: {using a predictor}
- G05B 15/02: electric
- G06Q 30/0284: {Time or distance, e.g. usage of parking meters or taximeters}
- G05B 2219/2642: Domotique, domestic, home control, automation, smart house
- Y02P 80/10: Efficient use of energy, e.g. using compressed air or pressurized fluid as energy carrier
- Y04S 10/50: Systems or methods supporting the power network operation or management, involving a certain degree of interaction with the load-side end user applications
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G)
- Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
- Y04S: SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS

## Abstract

A thermal energy production and control system includes a heat recovery chiller, thermal energy storage, and a controller. The controller uses thermal energy load targets to generate control decisions for the heat recovery chiller and the thermal energy storage for a plurality of time steps of a time period. The control decisions include a first amount of hot thermal energy or cold thermal energy to be generated by the heat recovery chiller at a first time step of the time period and stored in the thermal energy storage and a second amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy to be discharged from the thermal energy storage and used to satisfy one or more of the thermal energy load targets for a second time step of the time period. The controller operates the heat recovery chiller and the thermal energy storage in accordance with the control decisions.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A thermal energy production and control system comprising:
a heat recovery chiller operable to generate cold thermal energy by removing heat from a first fluid supply and generate hot thermal energy by adding the heat to a second fluid supply;
thermal energy storage operable to store and discharge the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy generated by the heat recovery chiller; and
a controller configured to:
obtain thermal energy load targets comprising amounts of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy required by one or more resource sinks at a plurality of time steps of a time period;
use the thermal energy load targets to generate control decisions for the heat recovery chiller and the thermal energy storage for the plurality of time steps, the control decisions comprising:
an asset size target for a new heat recovery chiller or a new thermal energy storage to be added to the thermal energy production and control system;
a first amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy to be generated by the heat recovery chiller at a first time step of the time period and stored in the thermal energy storage;
a second amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy to be discharged from the thermal energy storage and used to satisfy one or more of the thermal energy load targets for a second time step of the time period, the second amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy comprising some or all of the first amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy; and
a third amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy to be generated by the new heat recovery chiller or to be discharged from the new thermal energy storage; and
operate the heat recovery chiller or the thermal energy storage in accordance with the control decisions.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to:
obtain an objective function defining a control objective as a function of the control decisions for the heat recovery chiller and the thermal energy storage at the plurality of time steps;
perform an optimization of the objective function using the thermal energy load targets as constraints on the optimization to generate the control decisions for the heat recovery chiller and the thermal energy storage.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the control decisions comprise:
an amount of the hot thermal energy for the heat recovery chiller to generate at each of the plurality of time steps;
an amount of the cold thermal energy for the heat recovery chiller to generate at each of the plurality of time steps;
an amount of the hot thermal energy to store in the thermal energy storage or discharge from the thermal energy storage at each of the plurality of time steps; and
an amount of the cold thermal energy to store in the thermal energy storage or discharge from the thermal energy at each of the plurality of time steps.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the thermal energy load targets comprise:
a hot thermal energy load time series comprising a hot thermal energy load target for each of the plurality of time steps of the time period; and
a cold thermal energy load time series comprising a cold thermal energy load target for each of the plurality of time steps of the time period.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to:
obtain a subplant curve or device efficiency curve that defines a relationship between an amount of the hot thermal energy generated by the heat recovery chiller and an amount of the cold thermal energy generated by the heat recovery chiller; and
use the subplant curve or the device efficiency curve in combination with the thermal energy load targets to generate the control decisions for the heat recovery chiller and the thermal energy storage for the plurality of time steps.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the asset size target indicates a storage capacity of the new thermal energy storage to be added to the thermal energy production and control system.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the first time step and the second time step are non-consecutive time steps of the time period.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to:
predict an amount of equipment degradation that will result from the control decisions for the heat recovery chiller and the thermal energy storage over the time period; and
generate the control decisions based on the amount of equipment degradation.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the control decisions comprise decisions to perform maintenance on the heat recovery chiller or the thermal energy storage at one or more time steps of the time period.

### Claim 10

A method for operating a thermal energy production and control system, the method comprising:
obtaining thermal energy load targets comprising amounts of hot thermal energy or cold thermal energy required by one or more resource sinks at a plurality of time steps of a time period;
using the thermal energy load targets to generate control decisions for a heat recovery chiller and thermal energy storage for the plurality of time steps, the control decisions comprising:
an asset size target for a new heat recovery chiller or a new thermal energy storage to be added to the thermal energy production and control system;
a first amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy to be generated by the heat recovery chiller at a first time step of the time period and stored in the thermal energy storage;
a second amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy to be discharged from the thermal energy storage and used to satisfy one or more of the thermal energy load targets for a second time step of the time period, the second amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy comprising some or all of the first amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy; and
a third amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy to be generated by the new heat recovery chiller or to be discharged from the new thermal energy storage; and
acquiring and installing the new heat recovery chiller or the new thermal energy storage based on the asset size target.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, comprising:
obtaining an objective function defining a control objective as a function of the control decisions for the heat recovery chiller and the thermal energy storage at the plurality of time steps;
performing an optimization of the objective function using the thermal energy load targets as constraints on the optimization to generate the control decisions for the heat recovery chiller and the thermal energy storage.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the control decisions comprise:
an amount of the hot thermal energy for the heat recovery chiller to generate at each of the plurality of time steps;
an amount of the cold thermal energy for the heat recovery chiller to generate at each of the plurality of time steps;
an amount of the hot thermal energy to store in the thermal energy storage or discharge from the thermal energy storage at each of the plurality of time steps; and
an amount of the cold thermal energy to store in the thermal energy storage or discharge from the thermal energy at each of the plurality of time steps.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the thermal energy load targets comprise:
a hot thermal energy load time series comprising a hot thermal energy load target for each of the plurality of time steps of the time period; and
a cold thermal energy load time series comprising a cold thermal energy load target for each of the plurality of time steps of the time period.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, comprising:
obtaining a subplant curve or device efficiency curve that defines a relationship between an amount of the hot thermal energy generated by the heat recovery chiller and an amount of the cold thermal energy generated by the heat recovery chiller; and
using the subplant curve or the device efficiency curve in combination with the thermal energy load targets to generate the control decisions for the heat recovery chiller and the thermal energy storage for the plurality of time steps.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the asset size target indicates a storage capacity of the new thermal energy storage to be added to the thermal energy production and control system.

### Claim 16 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the first time step and the second time step are non-consecutive time steps of the time period.

### Claim 17 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, comprising:
predicting an amount of equipment degradation that will result from the control decisions for the heat recovery chiller and the thermal energy storage over the time period; and
generating the control decisions based on the amount of equipment degradation.

### Claim 18 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the control decisions comprise decisions to perform maintenance on the heat recovery chiller or the thermal energy storage at one or more time steps of the time period.

### Claim 19

A controller for a thermal energy production and control system, the controller comprising one or more processors and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
obtaining an objective function defining a control objective as a function of control decisions for a heat recovery chiller and thermal energy storage at a plurality of time steps of a time period;
obtaining thermal energy load targets comprising amounts of hot thermal energy or cold thermal energy required by one or more resource sinks at the plurality of time steps;
performing an optimization of the objective function using the thermal energy load targets as constraints on the optimization to generate the control decisions for the heat recovery chiller and the thermal energy storage, the control decisions comprising:
an asset size target for a new heat recovery chiller or a new thermal energy storage to be added to the thermal energy production and control system; and
a first amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy to be generated by the heat recovery chiller at a first time step of the time period and stored in the thermal energy storage;
a second amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy to be discharged from the thermal energy storage and used to satisfy one or more of the thermal energy load targets for a second time step of the time period, the second amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy comprising some or all of the first amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy; and
a third amount of the hot thermal energy or the cold thermal energy to be generated by the new heat recovery chiller or to be discharged from the new thermal energy storage; and
operating the heat recovery chiller or the thermal energy storage in accordance with the control decisions.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The controller of claim 19, wherein the asset size target indicates a storage capacity of the new thermal energy storage to be added to the thermal energy production and control system.