Real-time heated water supply measurement systems for water heaters and methods thereto

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11293667-B2
Application number	US-202015931838-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 14, 2020
Priority date	May 14, 2020
Publication date	Apr 5, 2022
Grant date	Apr 5, 2022

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a water heating system including a water heater having a tank, and a first temperature sensor disposed toward a top end of the tank to measure a first temperature and a second temperature sensor disposed toward a bottom end of the tank to measure a second temperature. The water heating system can further include a controller communicably coupled to the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor, where the controller determines an amount of heated water in the tank based on one or more algorithms and measurements made by the first and second temperature sensors.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A water heating system comprising:
a water heater comprising:
a tank;
an inlet line configured to receive unheated water and guide the unheated water to the tank;
an outlet line configured to guide heated water out of the tank;
a first temperature sensor disposed at a first location that is between a midline of the tank and a top end of the tank, the first temperature sensor being configured to measure a first temperature of water at the first location and output first temperature data indicative of the first temperature;
a second temperature sensor disposed at a second location that is between the midline of the tank and a bottom end of the tank, the second temperature sensor being configured to measure a second temperature of the water at the second location and output second temperature data indicative of the second temperature; and

a controller communicably coupled to the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor and configured to determine water temperature characteristics of the water in the tank based on one or more algorithms, the first temperature data, and the second temperature data by:
executing the one or more algorithms to determine one or more calculated temperatures for water at one or more respective intermediate locations disposed between the first and second locations; and
determining the water temperature characteristics based at least in part on the one or more calculated temperatures,
wherein the controller is further configured to output the water temperature characteristics to a processor, the processor being configured to:
receive a request to draw heated water from the tank for a task;
determine whether the tank holds a sufficient amount of heated water for the task; and
in response to determining that the tank holds an insufficient amount of heated water for the task, output a notification indicative of the tank holding an insufficient amount of heated water for the task.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the water temperature characteristics without information indicative of a capacity of the tank.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the water temperature characteristics without information indicative of a flow rate of the heated water at the outlet line.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the water temperature characteristics without information indicative of a flow rate of the unheated water at the inlet line.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the water heater further comprises a heating system communicably coupled to the controller, the heating system being configured to provide heat to the unheated water, and wherein the controller controls operation of the heating system, the controller are configured to turn off the heating system when a temperature within the tank exceeds a maximum threshold value.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the water temperature characteristics substantially instantaneously upon receipt of the first and second temperature data.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the water temperature characteristics subsequent to the water heater outputting a quantity of heated water from the tank.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to automatically determine the water temperature characteristics after a draw of heated water from the tank stops.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the water temperature characteristics based at least in part on a temperature set point value of the tank.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more intermediate locations are spaced substantially equidistantly between the first and second locations along a height of the tank.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more calculated temperatures comprise three calculated temperatures for water at three respective intermediate locations.

12. A controller for a water heater system, the controller comprising:
a processor; and
memory having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the controller to:
receive first water temperature data from a first temperature sensor and second water temperature data from a second temperature sensor, wherein the first temperature sensor is disposed at a first location in a tank of a water heater of the water heater system, the first location being between a midline of the tank and a top end of the tank, and the second temperature sensor is disposed at a second location in the tank that is between a midline of the tank and a bottom end of the tank; and
determine, based at least in part on the first and second temperature data and one or more algorithms, a currently available amount of heated water currently stored in the tank by:
solving the one or more algorithms for one or more calculated temperatures at one or more respective intermediate locations disposed between the first location and the second location, and
determining water temperature characteristics based at least in part on the one or more calculated temperature;

receive a request to draw heated water from the tank for a task;
determine, based on the currently available amount of heated water, whether the tank holds a sufficient amount of heated water for the task; and
in response to determining that the tank holds an insufficient amount of heated water for the task, output a notification indicative of the tank holding an insufficient amount of heated water for the task.

13. The controller of claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the system to:
in response to determining that the tank holds an insufficient amount of heated water for the task, determine, based on the one or more algorithms, an amount of time until a sufficient amount of heated water in the tank will become available for the task.

14. The controller of claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the system to:
output instructions for the water heater to implement one or more corrective actions, the one or more corrective actions comprising one or more of:
heating, by one or more heating elements, any water within the tank, and
instructing one or more agitators disposed within the tank to agitate the water within the tank.

15. The controller of claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the system to:
generate the one or more algorithms based on one or more parameters of the tank.

16. The controller of claim 15 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, generate the one or more algorithms by:
receiving data indicative of combinations of the one or more parameters of the tank; and
performing a linear regression of the data to determine the one or more algorithms.

17. A water heating system comprising:
a water heater comprising:
a tank;
an inlet line configured to receive unheated water and guide the unheated water to the tank;
an outlet line configured to guide heated water out of the tank;
a first temperature sensor disposed at a first location that is between a midline of the tank and a top end of the tank, the first temperature sensor being configured to measure a first temperature of water proximate the first location and output first temperature data indicative of the first temperature;
a second temperature sensor disposed at a second location

Assignees

• Rheem Mfg Co

Inventors

• Porwal Piyush
• Rao Ashwin
• Rivard Nathan

Classifications

• F24H1/18

  Water-storage heaters · CPC title

• F24D2220/042

  Temperature sensors · CPC title

• F24H1/08 Primary

  Packaged or self-contained boilers, i.e. water heaters with control devices and pump in a single unit · CPC title

• F24D17/0031

  with accumulation of the heated water · CPC title

• F24H9/2007 Primary

  for water heaters · CPC title