System and method for secondary coolant pump control for a refrigeration system
AssigneeHill Phoenix, Inc.
InventorJohn D. Bittner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method is provided for controlling the operation of secondary coolant pump(s) in a refrigeration system having a secondary coolant system that circulates the coolant to applicable cooling loads, and a primary refrigeration system that chills the coolant in the secondary coolant system. The system and method for controlling the pumps measures the pressure of the plurality of secondary coolant fluid loops, sorts the measurements to identify a secondary coolant fluid loop with a pressure farthest from a setpoint, and adjusts pump speed to compensate for the critical loop (i.e., the secondary coolant fluid loop with a pressure furthest from the setpoint).
Claims21
A secondary coolant refrigeration system comprising:
- one or more pumps configured to pump secondary coolant fluid through a plurality of secondary coolant fluid loops, wherein at least one of the one or more pumps is a variable speed pump;
- and
- a controller configured to receive loop pressure inputs from pressure sensors associated with each of the plurality of secondary coolant fluid loops via a sensor interface, wherein the controller is further configured to use the received loop pressure inputs to identify a critical loop by determining a secondary coolant fluid loop of the plurality of secondary coolant fluid loops having a loop pressure input furthest from a loop pressure setpoint, wherein the controller is further configured to determine a corrective speed based on the loop pressure input associated with the critical loop and to output a pump speed signal for adjusting a speed of the at least one variable speed pump based on the determined corrective speed.
A method for controlling one or more pumps used in a secondary coolant refrigeration system, at least one of the one or more pumps being a variable speed pump, the secondary coolant refrigeration system comprising a plurality of secondary coolant fluid loops, the method comprising:
- measuring loop pressures associated with each of the plurality of secondary coolant fluid loops;
- sorting the loop pressures to identify a loop pressure of the measured loop pressures furthest from a loop pressure setpoint;
- and
- adjusting the speed of the at least one variable speed pump based on the loop pressure furthest from the loop pressure setpoint.
A controller configured to control one or more pumps of a secondary coolant refrigeration system, wherein at least one of the one or more pumps is a variable speed pump, the one or more pumps being configured to pump secondary coolant fluid through a plurality of secondary coolant fluid loops, the controller comprising:
- a sorting module configured to receive loop pressure inputs from pressure sensors associated with the plurality of secondary coolant fluid loops via a sensor interface, wherein the sorting module is further configured to use the received loop pressure inputs to identify a critical loop by determining a secondary coolant fluid loop of the plurality of secondary coolant fluid loops with a loop pressure input furthest from a loop pressure setpoint;
- and
- a speed module configured to determine a corrective speed based on the loop pressure input associated with the critical loop and to output a pump speed signal for adjusting a speed of the at least one variable speed pump based on the determined corrective speed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.