WO2020152837A1

WO2020152837A1 - Air conditioning system, operation control method, and program

Info

Publication number: WO2020152837A1
Application number: PCT/JP2019/002408
Authority: WO
Inventors: 金澤　律子; 小坂　忠義; 孝明松下
Original assignee: 日立ジョンソンコントロールズ空調株式会社
Priority date: 2019-01-25
Filing date: 2019-01-25
Publication date: 2020-07-30
Also published as: JPWO2020152837A1; JP7321190B2

Abstract

Provided are a system, a method, and a program which enable reduction of power consumption by shortening time necessary for reaching a set temperature. This system is provided with a plurality of indoor units and one or more outdoor units, and includes an acquisition means (30) for acquiring information relating to operations from an outdoor unit and an indoor unit operating in response to an instruction to operate, among the plurality of indoor units and the one or more outdoor units, and a control means (34) for, in accordance with the acquired information, giving the instruction to operate to at least one indoor unit which has not received the instruction to operate.

Description

Air conditioning system, operation control method and program

The present invention relates to an air conditioning system including a plurality of indoor units and one or more outdoor units, an operation control method, and a program for causing a computer to execute the operation control.

When one space (air-conditioning control area) such as office is large, there are many cases where an air conditioning system equipped with multiple indoor units is installed. In such a system, an operation command is accepted for each indoor unit and operation is performed for each indoor unit.

In a system that operates in units of each indoor unit, even if there are other indoor units that affect the position specified by the user, the indoor unit cannot be selected, so that the air conditioning intended by the user is realized. I can't.

Therefore, for the purpose of realizing the air conditioning intended by the user, it is possible to select, from a plurality of indoor units, an indoor unit that affects the air conditioning environment (temperature, humidity, etc.) of the specified position in the air conditioning control area. A configured device has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 5787998

With the device described in Patent Document 1, only indoor units that affect the air conditioning environment at the specified position are selected. For example, when only one unit is selected, it takes a long time to reach the set temperature, and the selected indoor unit operates with a large amount of electric power, resulting in a large power consumption.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an air conditioning system including a plurality of indoor units and one or more outdoor units,
An acquisition unit that acquires information related to the operation from the indoor unit and the outdoor unit that are operating in response to a driving instruction among a plurality of indoor units and one or more outdoor units;
An air conditioning system is provided that includes: a control unit that instructs a driving of at least one indoor unit that has not received a driving instruction in accordance with the acquired information.

According to the present invention, the time required to reach the set temperature can be shortened and the power consumption can be reduced.

The figure which showed the structural example of an air conditioning system. The figure which illustrated the connection state of the indoor unit, the outdoor unit, and the centralized controller. The figure which illustrated the hardware constitutions of a centralized controller. The figure showing the example which specified a plurality of indoor units to each group. The figure which illustrated the group information which the centralized controller manages. The block diagram which illustrated the functional composition of a centralized controller. The flowchart which showed an example of the flow of the operation control by a centralized controller. The figure explaining the cooperation operation of an indoor unit. The figure showing the example which cancels cooperation operation of some indoor units according to operation efficiency.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an air conditioning system. The air conditioning system includes a plurality of indoor units installed in the same space and one or more outdoor units installed outside the space. The air conditioning system also includes a remote controller for a user to operate an air conditioner including a set of an indoor unit and an outdoor unit, and a centralized controller as a control device that controls the air conditioning system.

The system illustrated in FIG. 1 includes 16 indoor units 10 installed in a large room in a building, four outdoor units 11 installed outdoors, and each indoor unit 10 for operating. It is composed of 16 remote controllers 12 and a centralized controller 13.

The indoor unit 10 is a ceiling-mounted indoor unit and includes a fan that sucks in and blows out the air in the room, a heat exchanger that heats or cools the sucked air, and a control board that controls the fan. Further, the indoor unit 10 includes a temperature sensor that measures a suction temperature (indoor temperature) and a temperature sensor that measures a blowout temperature.

The control board of the indoor unit 10 communicates with the remote controller 12 operated by the user, receives an instruction from the remote controller 12, operates or stops the indoor unit 10, and sets or changes the operation mode, temperature, air volume, or the like. To do. Further, the control board of the indoor unit 10 communicates with the centralized controller 13 and provides information related to the operation such as the set temperature, the set air volume, and the measured room temperature.

The outdoor unit 11 sucks and blows outside air, a heat exchanger that warms or cools the sucked air, and a compressor that circulates a refrigerant as a heat medium between the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 11. A control board for controlling the fan and the compressor and various sensors are provided. The outdoor unit 11 shown in FIG. 1 is a multi-type outdoor unit to which a plurality of indoor units for sending the refrigerant can be connected.

The control board of the outdoor unit 11 receives an instruction from the remote controller 12 via the indoor unit 10, operates or stops the outdoor unit 11 according to the instruction, and controls the fan and the compressor. Various sensors include a temperature sensor that measures the outside air temperature, a sensor that measures the current supplied to the compressor, a sensor that measures the flow rate of the refrigerant, a sensor that measures the pressure of the refrigerant, and the like.

The remote controller 12 instructs the indoor unit 10 to operate or stop the indoor unit 10. Further, the remote controller 12 gives an instruction to set or change the operation mode, temperature, air volume, and the like.

The centralized controller 13 controls the entire system, communicates with the control boards of the indoor units 10 and the control boards of the outdoor units 11, acquires information necessary for control, and gives necessary instructions.

FIG. 2 is a diagram exemplifying a connection state of an indoor unit, an outdoor unit, and a centralized controller. The indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 11 are connected by a refrigerant pipe 14. The indoor unit 10, the outdoor unit 11, and the centralized controller 13 are connected by a communication network 15.

In FIG. 2, the air conditioning system is provided with four refrigerant systems including four indoor units 10 and one outdoor unit 11 connected by one refrigerant pipe 14. A communication network 15 connects all the indoor units 10, the outdoor units 11, and the centralized controller 13.

The numbers of the refrigerant systems shown in FIG. 2 and the numbers of the indoor units 10 and the outdoor units 11 constituting one refrigerant system are examples, and other numbers may be used. Further, the communication means of the communication network 15 may be any means as long as it can communicate between the devices. Therefore, the communication between the devices may be wired communication using a communication cable or the like, or wireless communication using Wi-Fi or the like.

Identification information for identifying a communication partner on the communication network 15 is assigned to each indoor unit 10 and each outdoor unit 11. The identification information is an address, such as an ID number that does not overlap with other devices. The identification information can be manually set by the system administrator. In FIG. 2, i11 to i44 are assigned as ID numbers to each of the 16 indoor units 10, and o1 to o4 are assigned to each of the four outdoor units 11 as ID numbers.

The refrigerant is adiabatically compressed by the compressor of the outdoor unit 11 to reach a high temperature and discharged. When used for heating, the high temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor is supplied to the heat exchanger of the indoor unit 10 through the refrigerant pipe 14. When used as cooling, the high-temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor is supplied to the heat exchanger of the outdoor unit 11 and cooled by heat exchange with the outside air. Then, the refrigerant is adiabatically expanded by an expansion valve or the like, and the temperature is further lowered. The refrigerant having a low temperature in this way is supplied to the heat exchanger of the indoor unit 10 through the refrigerant pipe 14.

The indoor unit 10 exchanges heat between the supplied refrigerant and the air sucked by the fan in a heat exchanger, and blows warm air or cooled air into the room. The heat-exchanged refrigerant is returned to the outdoor unit 11 through the refrigerant pipe 14. The refrigerant used for heating is adiabatically expanded by the expansion valve or the like of the outdoor unit 11 to lower the temperature, heat-exchanged with the outside air by the heat exchanger, and then supplied to the compressor. The refrigerant used for cooling is supplied to the compressor. The refrigerant circulates between the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 11 thus connected by the refrigerant pipe 14.

FIG. 3 is a diagram exemplifying the hardware configuration of the centralized controller. The centralized controller 13 includes a CPU 20, an input/output unit 21, a communication unit 22, a RAM 23, a memory disk 24, and a power supply unit 25. The CPU 20 and the like are connected to the bus 26 and exchange information with each other via the bus 26.

The CPU 20 is a one-chip microcomputer that executes operation control of the system. The input/output unit 21 has a display panel and an input button, receives an input for the user to make settings and instructions, and displays the current operating state of the indoor unit 10 and the like.

The memory disk 24 stores an OS (Operating System), a program for operation control, driver software, data acquired by data communication, and the like. The RAM 23 provides a work area for the CPU 20. Therefore, the CPU 20 executes the operation control of the system by reading the above program from the memory disk 24, expanding the program in the RAM 23, and executing it.

The communication unit 22 performs data communication with each indoor unit 10 and each outdoor unit 11 connected by the communication network 15. The power supply unit 25 receives power supply from an outlet or the like, converts an alternating current into a direct current used by the CPU 20 or the like, and supplies it to the CPU 20 or the like.

The input/output unit 21 sets the operation settings for each indoor unit 10 (individually), each room (area) that represents the installation space of a plurality of indoor units 10, and the area is divided into two or more spaces (blocks). Operation settings can also be made. Further, the input/output unit 21 can also perform operation setting for each refrigerant system or each remote controller 12.

⑦ Operation settings include cooling/heating selection, temperature, air volume, and wind direction settings. The input/output unit 21 includes an Enter button, a Sel button, an Esc button, and a direction button in order to make those operation settings. The user uses these buttons to select and input items necessary for operation setting.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example in which a plurality of indoor units are grouped and designated for each group. The centralized controller 13 designates and registers the indoor units included in the area, further divides the area into blocks, designates and registers the indoor units included in each block, and operates in registered area units and block units. It has the function of controlling. In this example, the grouping can be set in two stages of area and block, but it is not limited to this.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, 16 indoor units i11 to i14, i21 to i24, i31 to i34, and i41 to i44 are designated in the area 40. Each outdoor unit is connected to four indoor units by a refrigerant pipe 14.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the area 40 is divided into three blocks 41 to 43. In the block 41, eight indoor units i11 to i14 and i21 to i24 are designated. Six indoor units i31 to i34, i41, and i43 are designated in the block 42. Two indoor units i42 and i44 are designated in the block 43.

The centralized controller 13 holds the area/block management information in order to manage the indoor unit specified in the area 40 and the indoor units specified in the blocks 41 to 43. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of area/block management information. The area/block management information holds area identification information for identifying an area assigned to each area and block identification information for identifying each block included in the area in association with each other. In FIG. 5, the area identification information is “area 1 (first office)” with respect to the area 40. Further, the block identification information is “block 1 (north)” for the block 41, “block 2 (east)” for the block 42, and “block 3 (west)” for the block 43.

Area/block management information holds an ID number that identifies an indoor unit in association with each block identification information. In the example shown in FIG. 5, indoor units i11 to i14 and i21 to i24 are associated with block 1 (north).

The centralized controller 13 may have a function of controlling the operation in units of areas and blocks as described above, and a function of proportionally calculating the power consumption charge for each space when installed in a commercial facility or the like.

By the way, when the user goes to work on a holiday or in the early morning, the user operates only some of the indoor units 10 and the outdoor units 11 to perform air conditioning. In this case, it takes a long time for the indoor temperature to reach the set temperature, and the operated indoor unit 10 and outdoor unit 11 are operated with large power consumption regardless of operating efficiency.

Therefore, in order to reduce the time required to reach the set temperature and reduce the power consumption, the centralized controller 13 is configured as follows.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the functional configuration of the centralized controller 13. The centralized controller 13 realizes various functions as functional means by reading out the program stored in the memory disk 24 into the RAM 23 and executing the program. Therefore, the centralized controller 13 is configured to include an acquisition unit 30, a setting unit 31, a calculation unit 32, a determination unit 33, a control unit 34, and a notification unit 35 as functional units. At this time, the centralized controller 13 uses the RAM 23 and the memory disk 24 as the storage means 36.

Here, the centralized controller 13 is described as having these functional means, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a server device or the like connected via a network to which the air conditioning system is connected has these functional means. May be.

The acquisition unit 30 acquires information related to driving from the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 11 that are operating in response to a driving instruction from among the plurality of indoor units 10 and one or more outdoor units 11. The information related to the operation is setting information set for the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 11, output values of various sensors mounted on the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 11, and the like.

The setting information includes the temperature, the air volume, the air direction, the operation mode set for the indoor unit 10 by the remote controller 12, the compressor set value set for the outdoor unit 11, and the like. The output values of various sensors are room temperature, blowout temperature, outside air temperature, compressor current value, refrigerant flow rate, refrigerant pressure, and the like.

The acquisition unit 30 acquires these pieces of information at a fixed time interval, and stores the information for a fixed period together with the acquisition time in the storage unit 36.

The setting means 31 accepts designation of areas and blocks and designation of indoor units forming each block, associates identification information of each area, block, and indoor unit, and stores them in the storage means 36 as area/block management information. Register with.

The computing unit 32 calculates the power consumption of the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 11 in operation using the information acquired by the acquisition unit 30 and stored in the storage unit 36, and calculates the operation efficiency from the power consumption.

The judging means 33 judges whether the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 11 in operation are inefficient operation based on the operation efficiency calculated by the calculating means 32. Whether or not the operation is inefficient can be determined by whether or not there is an indoor unit and an outdoor unit in which the state where the operation efficiency is less than the threshold value continues for a certain time or longer. When it is determined that the operation is inefficient, it indicates that the operation efficiency is low only with the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 11 that are operating.

When it is determined that the operation is inefficient, the control unit 34 changes the current operation setting to an operation setting that includes at least one other indoor unit in order to increase the operation efficiency, and the other indoor unit Instruct driving. The other indoor unit instructing the operation is an indoor unit that is not in operation and has not received the operation instruction. In this way, in addition to an arbitrary indoor unit, operating in conjunction with other indoor units is called interlocking operation.

The control unit 34 cancels the linked operation when the operation setting is input to an arbitrary indoor unit 10 and the operation setting change is notified from the indoor unit 10. At this time, the control means 34 stops the indoor units 10 operating in conjunction with each other other than the indoor unit 10 that transmitted the notification.

When any indoor unit 10 that is operating receives an instruction to stop the operation, the indoor unit 10 notifies the control unit 34 that the instruction to stop the operation is received, and stops its own operation. .. Upon receiving the notification, the control unit 34 instructs the operation stop of the indoor unit 10 that is in the interlocking operation, and cancels the interlocking operation.

The notification unit 35 notifies the user when the inefficient operation continues even after a certain period of time elapses after all the indoor units 10 included in the area have been operated. The notification can be made by displaying a message calling attention such as "the room is not cold", "the room is not warm", "is the window open", etc. on the display screen of the input/output unit 21? Done. The notification may be given by voice instead of displaying the message.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of operation control processing by the centralized controller 13. When the centralized controller 13 is powered on and activated in step S1, it starts communication with all the indoor units 10 and the outdoor units 11 connected to the air conditioning network in step S2, and confirms the connection. The acquisition unit 30 acquires basic information from all the indoor units 10 and the outdoor units 11 in this communication. The basic information is system configuration information such as the number of refrigerant systems existing on the air conditioning network, the configuration of the indoor unit and the outdoor unit of each refrigerant system, the ID number of each device, the capacity, and the model. The acquisition unit 30 stores the acquired basic information in the storage unit 36.

The central controller 13 constantly communicates with each indoor unit 10 and each outdoor unit 11, and the acquisition unit 30 acquires information related to the operation of each indoor unit 10 and each outdoor unit 11. The control unit 34 grasps the operation state of each device from the information acquired by the acquisition unit 30, transmits an operation setting command to an arbitrary indoor unit 10, and enters a normal processing state for automatic control. When the normal processing state is entered, it becomes possible to carry out the group registration of the indoor unit for designating the air-conditioned space.

The judging means 33 judges in step S3 whether to register or change the air-conditioned space. The determination unit 33 determines whether or not the user has selected the group registration function of the indoor unit 10 using the input/output unit 21. When it is determined that the operation is performed, the process proceeds to step S4, the setting unit 31 accepts the selection, and the indoor unit list or the current area and block registration state is displayed. The indoor unit list is displayed when group registration has not been set, and the current area and block registration states are displayed when group registration has been performed in the past. If it is determined that it will not be performed, the process proceeds to step S6.

When newly registering a group, the user inputs the block name and selects the indoor unit that constitutes the block from the displayed indoor unit list. Next, the user inputs the area name and selects the blocks forming the area. The storage unit 36 can store an area layout diagram (layout diagram) in advance, and the setting unit 31 superimposes each indoor unit on the layout diagram and displays which indoor unit at which position when the indoor unit list is displayed. It can make it easier to understand whether or not is installed.

When changing the registration status of the current area and block, the user deletes the existing group registration and registers again. The setting means 31 registers the input area name and block name in association with the identification information of the indoor unit selected for each block in the storage means 36 in association with each other.

The user selects or inputs the linked operation conditions after performing group registration. The interlocking operation condition is a condition set as a priority item regarding the operation of the system. Examples of the interlocking operation conditions include a condition "power consumption priority" in which power consumption is prioritized, and a condition "speed priority" in which priority is given to time to reach a set condition such as a set temperature. In step S5, the setting unit 31 sets the interlocking operation condition by storing the interlocking operation condition selected by the user in the storage unit 36.

In step S6, the elapsed time is measured by a timer as a time measuring means, and it is determined whether or not the communication time which is regularly performed has been reached. If it has been reached, the process proceeds to step S7, and if it has not been reached, the process proceeds to step S11. In step S7, the acquisition unit 30 acquires information related to operation from each indoor unit 10 and each outdoor unit 11. At this time, the acquisition unit 30 acquires, as the information related to the operation, ON/OFF of the operation, operation mode, set temperature, set air volume, ON/OFF of the compressor, compressor set value, output values of various sensors, and the like. To do. The information related to driving is not limited to the above, and may be other information that can be used for calculation of driving efficiency. The acquisition unit 30 stores the acquired information in the storage unit 36 for a certain period. At that time, the acquisition unit 30 stores the information together with the information on the measured time.

In step S8, the calculation means 32 uses the stored information to calculate the power consumption of the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 11 in operation, and calculates the operating efficiency from the power consumption. Computing means 32, of the stored information, using the total compressor current total value A _s in the outdoor unit 11 in operation _(A), the power supply voltage V (V), and a power factor phi, The power consumption W _s (kW) is calculated by the following Expression 1. The power factor φ is the ratio of the power actually consumed (active power) and the apparent power represented by the product of the AC voltage and current, including the power not actually consumed (reactive power).

Further, when the manufacturing heat amount of each of the operating outdoor units 11 is Q (kW), Q is the total value G (kg/s) of the refrigerant flow rates of all the compressors in the operating outdoor unit 11 and the outdoor unit. 11 and specific enthalpy _H o of the refrigerant outlet (kJ / kg), with the outdoor unit 11 the inlet of the specific enthalpy _H i of the refrigerant (kJ / kg), is calculated by the following equation 2.

Among the above equation 2, H _o is the specific enthalpy which is converted from the liquid pipe temperature and pressure of the outdoor unit 11 outlet, H _i is been specific enthalpy converted from the outdoor unit 11 inlet gas pipe end and pressure. The current operating efficiency C is calculated by the following expression 3 using W _s calculated by the above expression 1 and Q calculated by the above expression 2.

The calculation means 32 also approximates the current air conditioning load D (kW). D has a cooling load D _c and a heating load D _h , and D _c and D _h are the output value T _i (° C.) of the suction temperature sensor of the indoor unit 10 and the output value of the blowout temperature sensor of the indoor unit 10. When T _b (° C.) and the air flow rate B (kg/s) of the indoor unit 10 and the specific heat of air is 1 (kJ/kg° C.), the following formula 4 is used for calculation.

Each calculated value is stored in the storage unit 36 together with the acquired information.

In step S9, the judging means 33 judges whether or not the driving is inefficient based on the driving efficiency calculated by the calculating means 32. Whether or not the inefficient operation is performed is determined by whether or not there is the outdoor unit 11 in which the state where the value of C is less than (or less than) the preset threshold continues for a certain time (X hours) or more. X varies depending on the interlocking operation condition, and can be set to 2 minutes for "speed priority" and 5 minutes for "power consumption priority", for example. Note that these times are examples and are not limited to these values.

If it is determined that the operation is inefficient in step S9, the process proceeds to step S10, and if it is determined that the operation is efficient, the process proceeds to step S11. In step S10, the control unit 34 changes the operation setting and selects the indoor unit 10 for which the linked operation is performed. The control unit 34 instructs the selected indoor unit 10 to operate.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the linked operation. The user uses the remote controller 12 to instruct the indoor unit i14 near the user's place to operate. At that time, the user sets a desired temperature. The operation instruction is also sent to the outdoor unit o1 of the same refrigerant system as the indoor unit i14, and the operation of the outdoor unit o1 is started together with the indoor unit i14.

The indoor unit i14 and the outdoor unit o1 are operated under high load because the temperature in the large area 40 approaches the set temperature set by the user. Therefore, the determination unit 33 determines that the operation is inefficient. Then, the control unit 34 changes the operation setting and instructs the operation of at least one indoor unit that is stopped.

When the layout diagram is stored in the storage unit 36, the control unit 34 refers to the layout diagram to instruct the indoor units i11 to i13, i21 to i24 and the outdoor unit o2 to operate, and The wind direction is instructed to blow air toward the indoor unit i14. Thereby, the set temperature set by the user can be quickly reached.

The judging means 33 periodically judges whether or not the operation is inefficient. Even if the indoor units i11 to i14, i21 to i24 and the outdoor units o1 and o2 in the block 41 are operated, if it is determined that the operation is still inefficient, the control means 34 changes the operation setting and the block 41 The operation of the stopped indoor unit in the included area 40 is instructed. As a result, all the indoor units and the outdoor units in the area 40 are operated.

In this way, when the set interlocking operation condition is “power consumption priority”, the control unit 34 selects and selects groups in the order of the number of indoor units in order to reduce power consumption as much as possible. It is possible to instruct a stopped indoor unit in the group to operate. If the refrigerant system is grouped for each refrigerant system, the operation of the indoor unit while the refrigerant system is stopped is instructed, and if it is determined to be inefficient operation, the operation of the stopped indoor unit in the block is instructed. be able to.

On the other hand, when the set interlocking operation condition is "speed priority", the control unit 34 quickly brings the room closer to the set temperature, so that the indoor unit in the area 40 that is stopped in order to drive more indoor units. And instruct the operation of the outdoor unit. The control unit 34 can drive all the indoor units and the outdoor units in the area, and can reduce the number of the indoor units and the outdoor units to be driven when the inefficient operation is not performed. Therefore, the control unit 34 can select a group in the order of the number of indoor units, and can instruct the stopped indoor units in the selected group to operate.

Before the control unit 34 selects the indoor unit 10 that performs the interlocking operation, the determination unit 33 determines whether the cause of the inefficient operation is a waste operation or an insufficient capacity based on the load D of the indoor unit 10 that is currently operating. To judge. This is because, in the case of a waste operation, even if the indoor unit 10 is additionally operated, the time required to reach the set temperature is not shortened and extra power is consumed.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example in which some of the indoor units that are in operation are judged to be ineffective and are stopped. The judging means 33 judges whether the load D of a part of the indoor units in operation, which is calculated by the calculating means 32, continues for more than X hours and not more than 0, whether it is a waste operation or an insufficient capacity. .. When the load D of the indoor unit continues to be equal to or more than X hours and equal to or less than 0, it does not contribute to the air conditioning of the block at all, and thus it can be determined that the operation is a waste operation.

When the room temperature reaches the set temperature while operating all the indoor units i31 to i34, i41, i43 and the outdoor units o3, o4 in the block 42, for example, the compressor of the outdoor unit o4 is frequently stopped. The thermostat is turned off, and the indoor units i41 and i43 connected to the outdoor unit o4 also have almost no load.

When the determination unit 33 detects that the load on the indoor units i41, i43 is substantially 0 for X hours (operation stop state), the determination unit 33 determines that the indoor units i41, i43 and the outdoor unit o4 are wasteful operations. In response to this, the control means 34 gives an instruction to stop the operation of the indoor units i41, i43 and the outdoor unit o4 which are in a waste operation. The indoor units i41, i43 and the outdoor unit o4 stop their operations in response to an instruction from the control means 34.

When the load D of some indoor units in operation continues to be equal to or greater than the threshold value for X hours or more, the load is too large and the operation is inefficient. .. When the determination means 33 determines that the capacity is insufficient, the control means 34 executes the following control.

When the interlocking operation condition is “power consumption priority”, the control unit 34 confirms whether or not the stopped indoor unit of the same refrigerant system as the indoor unit exists in the block to which the operating indoor unit belongs. To do. When it exists, the control unit 34 sets the set temperature of the stopped indoor unit to the average set temperature of the operating indoor unit, and instructs the stopped indoor unit to operate.

The control means 34 confirms whether or not there is an indoor unit in which another refrigerant system is stopped in the same block only when there is no indoor unit in which the same refrigerant system is stopped in the same block. When it exists, the control means 34 sets the set temperature of the indoor unit in the stop of another refrigerant system to the average set temperature of the operating indoor unit, and instructs the stopped indoor unit to perform the operation.

If all the indoor units in the block are operated and it is determined that the capacity is still insufficient, the control means 34 instructs the operation of the stopped indoor units in the area to which the block belongs. Also in this case, the control means 34 sets the set temperature of the stopped indoor unit to the average set temperature of the operating indoor unit. As a result, all the indoor units in the area are operated.

When the interlocking operation condition is "speed priority", the control means 34 confirms whether or not there is a stopped indoor unit in the area. If it exists, the control unit 34 instructs the indoor units in the area that are stopped to operate. As a result, all the indoor units in the area are operated.

When the determination unit 33 determines that the operation is not inefficient operation, the control unit 34 operates the indoor unit and the outdoor unit that belong to blocks other than the block to which the indoor unit that received the operation instruction has a smaller number of indoor units than the area. Instruct to stop. This reduces the number of indoor units to be operated.

When the determining unit 33 determines that the indoor unit belonging to the block is not the inefficient operation even if the indoor unit belonging to the block is operated, the control unit 34 operates only the indoor unit that receives the operation instruction and stops the operation of the other indoor units. Instruct. At this time, when there is an outdoor unit in operation other than the outdoor unit connected to the indoor unit that received the operation instruction, the control unit 34 also instructs the stop of the operation of the outdoor unit in operation.

When the linked operation condition is "power consumption priority", it may be increased one by one instead of being greatly increased from one indoor unit activated by the user to all indoor units of the same refrigerant system. The same applies when increasing all the indoor units in the block or all the indoor units in the area, one indoor unit of another refrigerant system in the same block and one indoor unit of another block in the area. You may increase one by one.

 Judgment of inefficient operation is performed every X hours, and even when the inefficient operation is "power consumption priority", when the inefficient operation ceases, it is possible to reduce the number of indoor units operating in conjunction. The control to decrease the number of indoor units operating in conjunction is the opposite control to the control to increase the number of indoor units described above.All the indoor units in the area, all the indoor units in the block, and the indoors activated by the user in the block All the indoor units of the same refrigerant system as the machine, and the indoor units activated by the user are reduced in this order.

The centralized controller 13 can hold information on the layout diagram of the area, and can display each indoor unit by superimposing it on the layout diagram. In this case, since the control unit 34 knows the installation position of each indoor unit, the set temperature of the indoor unit in the stopped state during the interlocking operation is not the average set temperature of the operating indoor unit but the closest operating temperature. It can be set to the set temperature of the indoor unit.

After the operation of all the indoor units in the area, if the state of inefficient operation due to insufficient capacity continues even after a certain period of time has passed, the notification means 35 notifies the user of a caution. The fixed time in this case may be a time interval longer than the time interval for determining whether or not the operation is inefficient, such as 5×X hours. Note that 5×X hours is an example, and is not limited to this.

Referring again to FIG. 7, in step S11, the determination means 33 determines whether or not the user has operated the remote controller 12 during the interlocked operation. The judging means 33 can judge the presence/absence of the operation based on the presence/absence of the notification from the indoor unit that has received the operation. If there is no operation, the process returns to step S3, and a determination such as whether or not the operation is inefficient is made again. When there is an operation, in step S12, the determination unit 33 determines whether the operated indoor unit is an indoor unit performing a linked operation.

If it is not the indoor unit that is in the interlocking operation, return to step S3 and judge again whether it is inefficient operation or not. If the indoor unit is in the interlocking operation, the process proceeds to step S13. Whether or not the indoor unit is performing the interlocked operation can be determined by whether or not the operated indoor unit belongs to any of the area, the block, and the refrigerant system in the interlocked operation.

In step S13, the control unit 34 changes the operation settings and the like according to the content of the received operation, and cancels all related interlocking controls. Specifically, the control unit 34 instructs all the indoor units that have been instructed to perform the interlocked operation, except the operated indoor units, to stop the operation. When the user's operation is to stop the indoor unit, all the indoor units that have been instructed to perform the interlocking operation, including the operated indoor unit, are instructed to be stopped.

When the indoor unit that has been determined to be a waste operation and is stopped by the user is operated by the operation of the user, the control unit 34 similarly stops the operation if it is determined to be a waste operation. Do not control.

After releasing the linked operation in step S13, it is possible to return to step S3 again, determine whether or not the operation is inefficient, and perform the linked operation.

As described above, not only the indoor unit that the user has instructed to operate, but also other indoor units are interlocked to reduce the time required to reach the set temperature, increase operating efficiency, and reduce power consumption. It can be reduced. Further, since it is possible to improve the operation efficiency and realize the control according to the interlocking operation condition, it is possible to efficiently perform the power demand operation control satisfying the air conditioning demand condition.

So far, the air conditioning system, method, and program of the present invention have been described in detail with the above-described embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and other embodiments, additions, and modifications. , Deletion, etc. can be modified within the scope that can be conceived by a person skilled in the art, and in any of the aspects, as long as the action and effect of the present invention are exhibited, it is included in the scope of the present invention. Therefore, a program product such as a recording medium in which the above program is recorded is also included in the scope of the present invention.

10... Indoor unit 11... Outdoor unit 12... Remote controller 13... Centralized controller 14... Refrigerant piping 15... Communication network 20... CPU
21... Input/output unit 22... Communication unit 23... RAM
24... Memory disk 25... Power supply unit 26... Bus 30... Acquisition means 31... Setting means 32... Calculation means 33... Judging means 34... Control means 35... Notification means 36... Storage means 40... Areas 41-43... Blocks

Claims

An air conditioning system comprising a plurality of indoor units and one or more outdoor units,
An acquisition unit that acquires information related to operation from the indoor unit and the outdoor unit that are operating in response to a driving instruction among the plurality of indoor units and the one or more outdoor units;
An air conditioning system including: a control unit that instructs a driving operation to at least one indoor unit that has not received a driving instruction in accordance with the acquired information.
Based on the acquired information, including a determining means for determining whether the indoor unit and the outdoor unit in operation is inefficient operation,
The air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit instructs the operation to at least one indoor unit that has not received the operation instruction when it is determined that the operation is inefficient.
The plurality of indoor units are grouped into at least one of each remote controller for giving a driving instruction, each installation area obtained by dividing the installation space into a plurality of installation spaces, and each installation space,
The air conditioning system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit instructs the indoor unit that has not received a driving instruction in a group to which the indoor unit that is operating belongs to operate.
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit changes the indoor unit instructing the operation according to a condition set as a priority item regarding the operation of the air conditioning system. system.
The plurality of indoor units are grouped for each remote controller for giving a driving instruction, for each installation area obtained by dividing the installation space into a plurality, and for each installation space,
The acquisition means acquires the information at regular time intervals,
When the condition set as a matter to be prioritized for the operation of the air conditioning system is power consumption priority, the control means selects groups in order from a group having a smaller number of indoor units, and gives a driving instruction in the selected group. The air conditioning system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which instructs an indoor unit that has not received the operation.
The plurality of indoor units are grouped for each remote controller for giving a driving instruction, for each installation area obtained by dividing the installation space into a plurality, and for each installation space,
The acquisition means acquires the information at regular time intervals,
When the condition set as a priority item regarding the operation of the air conditioning system is speed priority, the control unit selects a group from the group having the largest number of indoor units, and the group having the largest number of indoor units. When is selected, the indoor unit that has not received a driving instruction within the selected group is instructed to operate, and when any other group is selected, the indoor unit that is receiving a driving instruction outside the selected group is operating. The air conditioning system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which instructs the machine to stop operation.
7. The control unit, when receiving an operation stop instruction for an indoor unit that is in operation, instructs the indoor unit that is operating in response to the operation instruction to stop operation, according to any one of claims 1 to 6. Air conditioning system described.
The air conditioning system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: a notification unit that alerts a user with a display or voice when the set temperature is not reached even after operating the plurality of indoor units. ..
A storage unit that stores a layout of the plurality of indoor units;
The control means, when instructing operation to an indoor unit that has not received the operation instruction, refers to the layout plan, and instructs the wind direction to blow air toward the indoor unit in operation. The air conditioning system according to any one of 1 to 8.
10. The control unit instructs the indoor unit connected to the outdoor unit to stop the operation when detecting that the outdoor unit is in the operation stop state based on the acquired information. The air conditioning system according to Item 1.
A method for controlling the operation of an air conditioning system including a plurality of indoor units and one or more outdoor units by a control device,
A step in which the control device obtains information related to operation from the indoor unit and the outdoor unit that are operating by receiving a driving instruction from the plurality of indoor units and the one or more outdoor units;
The operation control method, comprising the step of instructing the operation to at least one indoor unit which has not received the operation instruction by the control device, in accordance with the acquired information.
A program for causing a computer to execute each step included in the operation control method according to claim 11.