Granted Patent B2

US 10,465,960 · App. 15/443,256 · Granted Nov 5, 2019

Inventor: Baburaj Kaimalilputhenpura Prabhakaran (Calicut, IN)

Assignee: CARRIER CORPORATION

F25B49/005F25D21/006F25D21/08G05B19/048G05B23/027F25B2500/19F25B2600/01F25B2700/21F25D21/008F25D29/008G05B2219/2654

Abstract

Claims (87)

1. A method of monitoring a refrigeration system, the method comprising:

receiving, by a refrigeration monitoring system, a plurality of real-time temperature data from at least one temperature sensor coupled with the refrigeration system;

determining, by the refrigeration monitoring system, at least a first steady state value and a second steady state value based on the plurality of real-time temperature data;

computing, by the refrigeration monitoring system, a plurality of defrost cycle parameter values including at least defrost start time value, defrost end time value, peak temperature value, heater OFF time value, and heater ON duration value based on at least the first steady state value and the second steady state values; and

generating, by the refrigeration monitoring system, one or more alarm signals based on determination of deviations of at least one of the defrost cycle parameter values from respective predetermined threshold values;

wherein the determining the first steady state value comprises:

comparing each of the plurality of the real-time temperature data with a predetermined percentile temperature value; and

determining one of the plurality of the real-time temperature data that exceeds the predetermined percentile temperature value as the first steady state value.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the computing the plurality of defrost cycle parameters comprises:

obtaining time stamp of the first steady state value as the defrost start time value;

determining one of the plurality of the real-time temperature data having highest temperature value as the peak temperature value;

determining the time stamp of the peak temperature value as the heater OFF time value;

calculating the heater ON duration value based on the defrost start time value and the heater OFF time value;

determining the timestamp of the second steady state value as the defrost end time value, the second steady state value is the real-time temperature data that exceeds the predetermined percentile temperature value during defrost operation; and

computing the defrost cycle duration value based on the defrost start time value and the defrost end time value.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the generating the one or more alarm signals comprises:

determining a count of defrost cycles occurring in a predetermined time and performing a first comparison of the count of defrost cycles with a predetermined count value;

generating a first alarm signal based on the first comparison;

determining occurrence of the defrost cycles as per a predetermined schedule;

generating a second alarm signal based on the determination;

performing a second comparison of the heater ON duration value with a predetermined heater operation period; and

generating a third alarm signal based on the second comparison.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 , where the generating the one or more alarm signals further comprises:

determining a compressor inefficiency detection value based on the first steady state value and the plurality of real-time temperature data obtained through the at least one temperature sensor; and

generating a fourth alarm signal indicating flag for maintenance based on the determination.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising generating one or more visualization reports associated with patterns of defrost duration and defrost duration distribution over a time and providing one or more recommendations to support maintenance of the refrigeration system in response to determination of deviations of at least one of the defrost cycle parameters.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising updating a data repository with the plurality of real-time temperature data along with the timestamp, the plurality of defrost cycle parameters, the one or more deviations of the at least one defrost cycle parameters and one or more recommendations to support maintenance of the refrigeration system.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the computing the plurality of defrost cycle parameter values comprises machine learning.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the refrigeration system comprises a walk-in freezer.

9. A system for monitoring a refrigeration system, said system comprising:

a processor;

at least one temperature sensor coupled with the processor; and

a memory, communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores processor-executable instructions, which, on execution, cause the processor to:

receive a plurality of real-time temperature data from the at least one temperature sensor;

determine at least a first steady state value and a second steady state value based on the plurality of real-time temperature data thus received;

compute a plurality of defrost cycle parameter values including at least defrost start time value, defrost end time value, peak temperature value, heater OFF time value, and heater ON duration value based on at least the first steady state value and the second steady state value; and

generate one or more alarm signals based on determination of deviations of at least one of the defrost cycle parameter values from respective predetermined threshold values;

wherein the processor is configured to determine the first steady state value by:

comparing each of the plurality of the real-time temperature data with a predetermined percentile temperature value; and

determining one of the plurality of the real-time temperature data that exceeds the predetermined percentile temperature value as the first steady state value.

10. The system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to compute the plurality of defrost cycle parameters by:

obtaining time stamp of the first steady state value as the defrost start time value;

determining one of the plurality of the real-time temperature having highest temperature value as the peak temperature value;

determining the time stamp of the peak temperature value as the heater OFF time value;

calculating the heater ON duration value based on the defrost start time value and the heater OFF time value;

determining the timestamp of the second steady state value as the defrost end time value, the second steady state value is the real-time temperature data that exceeds the predetermined percentile temperature value during defrost operation; and

computing the defrost cycle duration value based on the defrost start time value and the defrost end time value.

11. The system as claimed in claim 9 , where the processor is configured to generate the one or more alarm signals by:

determining a count of defrost cycles occurring in a predetermined time and performing a first comparison of the count of defrost cycles with a predetermined count value;

generating a first alarm signal based on the first comparison;

determining occurrence of the defrost cycles as per a predetermined schedule;

generating a second alarm signal based on the determination;

performing a second comparison of the heater ON duration value with a predetermined heater operation period; and

generating a third alarm signal based on the second comparison.

12. The system as claimed in claim 11 , where the processor is further configured to:

determining a compressor inefficiency detection value based on at least the first steady state value and the second steady state value and the plurality of real-time temperature data obtained through the plurality of temperature sensors; and

generating a fourth alarm signal indicating flag for maintenance based on the determination.

13. The system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate one or more visualization reports associated with patterns of defrost duration and defrost duration distribution over a time and provide one or more recommendations to support maintenance of the refrigeration system in response to determination of deviations of at least one of the defrost cycle parameters.

14. The system as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising a data repository coupled with the processor, and configured to store and update the plurality of real-time temperature data along with the timestamp, the plurality of defrost cycle parameters, the one or more deviations of the at least one defrost cycle parameters and one or more recommendations to support maintenance of the refrigeration system.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions stored thereon that when processed by at least one processor cause a refrigeration monitoring system to perform acts of:

receiving a plurality of real-time temperature data from at least one temperature sensor coupled with the at least one processor;

determining at least a first steady state value and a second steady state value based on the plurality of real-time temperature data thus received;

computing a plurality of defrost cycle parameter values including at least defrost start time value, defrost end time value, peak temperature value, heater OFF time value, and heater ON duration value based on at least the first steady state value and the second steady state value; and

generating one or more alarm signals based on determination of deviations of at least one of the defrost cycle parameter values from respective predetermined threshold values;

wherein the instructions stored thereon causes the at least one processor to determine the first steady state value by:

comparing each of the plurality of the real-time temperature data with a predetermined percentile temperature value; and

determining one of the plurality of the real-time temperature data that exceeds the predetermined percentile temperature value as the first steady state value.

16. The medium as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the instructions stored thereon causes the at least one processor to compute the plurality of defrost cycle parameters by:

obtaining time stamp of the first steady state value as the defrost start time value;

determining one of the plurality of the real-time temperature having highest temperature value as the peak temperature value;

determining the time stamp of the peak temperature value as the heater OFF time value;

calculating the heater ON duration value based on the defrost start time value and the heater OFF time value;

determining the timestamp of the second steady state value as the defrost end time value, the second steady state value is the real-time temperature data that exceeds the predetermined percentile temperature value during defrost operation; and

computing the defrost cycle duration value based on the defrost start time value and the defrost end time value.

17. The medium as claimed in claim 15 , where the instructions stored thereon causes the at least one processor to generate the one or more alarm signals by:

determining a count of defrost cycles occurring in a predetermined time and performing a first comparison of the count of defrost cycles with a predetermined count value;

generating a first alarm signal based on the first comparison;

determining occurrence of the defrost cycles as per a predetermined schedule;

generating a second alarm signal based on the determination;

performing a second comparison of the heater ON duration value with a predetermined heater operation period; and

generating a third alarm signal based on the second comparison.

18. The medium as claimed in claim 17 , where the instructions stored thereon further causes the at least one processor to:

determine a compressor inefficiency detection value based on at least the first steady state value and the second steady state values and the plurality of real-time temperature data obtained through the plurality of temperature sensors; and

generate a fourth alarm signal indicating flag for maintenance based on the determination.

19. The medium as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the instructions stored thereon causes the at least one processor to:

generate one or more visualization reports associated with patterns of defrost duration and defrost duration distribution over a time and provide one or more recommendations to support maintenance of the refrigeration system in response to determination of deviations of at least one of the defrost cycle parameters; and

update a data repository coupled with the processor with the plurality of real-time temperature data along with the timestamp, the plurality of defrost cycle parameters, the one or more deviations of the at least one defrost cycle parameters and one or more recommendations to support maintenance of the refrigeration system.

Assignments (4)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

Cited By (9)

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