Advanced cogeneration control system

A control sub-system for a cogeneration system including a liquid-cooled internal combustion engine, electrical generator means coupled to the engine and driven thereby for generating electrical power, power grid switch means connecting the electrical power output of said generator means with a power grid and an electrical load, a plurality of independent thermal loads, and heat exchanger means coupled to the internal combustion engine for extracting therefrom heat energy generated as a result of operation of the engine, and applying same to the independent thermal loads for supplying heating and cooling demands of the installation, said control sub-system comprising:

• a plurality of sensors each providing a sensor signal indicative of a different parameter of the cogeneration system, a plurality of control points, signal processing means coupled to said plurality of sensors and to said control points of said cogeneration system associated with functional devices thereof, said signal processing means responding to said sensor signals to control said functional devices of the cogeneration system to thereby vary the operating characteristics of the cogeneration system, operator interface means coupled to said signal processing means, and tailoring means for enabling modification of the operation of said signal processing means in controlling said functional devices through entry of information via said operator interface means for changing the operating characteristics of the cogeneration system.

A control sub-system for a cogeneration system including a liquid-cooled internal combustion engine, electrical generator means coupled to the engine and driven thereby for generating electrical power, power grid switch means connecting the electrical power output of said generator means with a power grid and an electrical load, a plurality of independent thermal loads, and heat exchanger means coupled to the internal combustion engine for extracting therefrom heat energy generated as a result of operation of the engine and applying same to the independent thermal loads for supplying heating and cooling demands of the installation, a programmed computer for controlling the operation of at least the engine, the independent thermal loads and the power switch means, said control sub-system comprising:

• a plurality of sensors each providing a sensor signal indicative of a different parameter of the cogeneration system, signal processing means coupled to said plurality of sensors, said signal processing means responding to said sensor signals to at least monitor the operation of functional devices of the cogeneration system, operator interface means coupled to said signal processing means, and tailoring means for enabling modification of the operation of said signal processing means in monitoring said functional devices and operating characteristics of the cogeneration system through entry of information via said operator interface means, said signal processing means controlled by modularized software which includes a plurality of modules each including a plurality of submodules, each submodule controlling said signal processing means in the performance of a different operation, a first group of said submodules being common to a plurality of cogeneration system types, and a second group of said submodules being accessible by said signal processing means for operating said control sub-system only in a monitoring mode and a third group of said submodules being accessible by said signal processing means for operating said control sub-system in a monitoring mode and a control mode.

A control sub-system for controlling the operation of a cogeneration system including a liquid-cooled internal combustion engine, an electrical power generator coupled to the engine and driven thereby for generating electrical power, power grid switch means connecting the electrical power output of the generator to a power grid, heat exchanger means for extracting heat generated through operation of the engine and applying the heat to a heating loop for supplying heating requirements for the installation and applying the heat to a cooling loop including cooling means thermally coupled to the heat exchanger means for deriving therefrom cooling for supplying the cooling needs of the installation, said control sub-system comprising:

• a plurality of sensors for providing electrical sensor signals indicative of parameters of the cogeneration system, a plurality of control points and signal processing means coupled to the electrical sensors and to said control points of the cogeneration system associated with functional devices thereof, said signal processing means responding to the sensor signals to control the operation of the engine for operating the cogeneration system in one of a plurality of operating modes including an electrical load following mode wherein the engine is controlled to produce the energy required to meet the electrical loads of the installation, and a thermal load following mode in which the engine is controlled to generate sufficient thermal energy to satisfy the heating and cooling requirements of the installation, and the signal processing means responding to the sensor signals and to data signals representing the expected total cost for each operating mode to select the operating mode for the cogeneration system which is most economical.

A control sub-system for controlling the operation of a cogeneration system including a liquid-cooled internal combustion engine, an electrical power generator coupled to the engine and driven thereby for generating electrical power, heat exchanger means for extracting heat generated through operation of the engine and applying the heat to a heating loop for supplying heating requirements for the installation and applying the heat to a cooling loop including cooling means thermally coupled to the heat exchanger means for deriving therefrom cooling for supplying the cooling needs of the installation, said control sub-system comprising:

• a plurality of functional devices, a plurality of sensors for providing electrical sensor signals indicative of parameters of the cogeneration system, a plurality of control points and signal processing means coupled to the electrical sensors and to said control points of the cogeneration system associated with said functional devices, said signal processing means responding to the sensor signals to control the operation of the cogeneration system in a selectable one of a plurality of operating modes including an electrical load following mode wherein the engine is controlled to produce the energy required to meet the electrical loads of the installation, and a thermal load following mode in which the engine is controlled to generate sufficient thermal energy to satisfy the heating and cooling requirements of the installation, and said signal processing means defining a plurality of interactive control loops each generating an analog control signal for controlling a different one of said functional devices as a function of variation in a sensor signal supplied to the control loop relative to a setpoint value for the control loop, the control loop setpoints for said plurality of control loops being referenced to a common setpoint value with a predetermined offset from the referenced setpoint value.