Systems and methods for probabilistic and deterministic boiler networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11506575-B2
Application number	US-202016838568-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 2, 2020
Priority date	Apr 2, 2020
Publication date	Nov 22, 2022
Grant date	Nov 22, 2022

Abstract

Systems and methods for boiler regulation are disclosed. The system can receive boiler data from a boiler and compare the boiler data to a normal operating range to detect an abnormality. Based on a plurality of rules, the system can identify an anticipated root cause and at least one corrective action. Based on the at least one corrective action, the system can generate and/or output instructions for the boiler to perform the at least one corrective action. The system can display an indication of the abnormality and/or the at least one corrective action.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for boiler regulation, the method comprising:
receiving, at a transceiver of a computing device, boiler data from a boiler;
comparing, by one or more processors of the computing device, the boiler data to a normal operating range that is based at least in part on stored historical data;
detecting an abnormality in the boiler data by determining that less than a predetermined amount of the boiler data is inside the normal operating range;
identifying, by the one or more processors, an anticipated root cause based on the boiler data and a selected rule of a plurality of rules, wherein each of the plurality of rules associates an abnormality with an anticipated root cause and at least one corrective action;
identifying, by the one or more processors, the at least one corrective action associated with the abnormality based at least in part on the selected rule;
outputting, by the one or more processors, instructions to perform the at least one corrective action;
determining, by the one or more processors, that the at least one corrective action was not performed; and
outputting, via the transceiver, a boiler override to force the boiler to shut off power to the at least one component associated with the at least one corrective action.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, at the transceiver, additional boiler data from the boiler;
comparing, by the one or more processors, the additional boiler data to the normal operating range;
responsive to less than the predetermined amount of the additional boiler data being inside the normal operating range, determining the abnormality has not been corrected; and
responsive to at least the predetermined amount of the additional boiler data being inside the normal operating range, determining the abnormality has been corrected.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
responsive to determining the abnormality has been corrected, updating, by the one or more processors, the plurality of rules by increasing a weight value associated with the selected rule.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
responsive to determining the abnormality has not been corrected, updating, by the one or more processors, the plurality of rules by decreasing a weight value associated with the selected rule.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of rules associates an abnormality with an anticipated root cause and a corrective action.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting an abnormality further comprises:
comparing the abnormality to the plurality of rules to determine an at least partial match between the abnormality and an abnormality of a rule of the plurality of rules, each rule having a respective weight value indicating a perceived reliability of the rule;
determining a matching score for each at least partial match, the matching score being based at least in part on the respective weight value; and
selecting the selected rule in response to determining the selected rule has a highest matching score.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instructions instruct the boiler to display, on a display, an indication of the abnormality, the anticipated root cause, and/or the at least one corrective action.

8. A method for boiler regulation, the method comprising:
receiving, by one or more processors of a boiler, boiler data from one or more sensors or components of the boiler;
comparing, by the one or more processors, the boiler data to one or more normal operating ranges that are each based on historical boiler data, each of the one or more normal operating ranges corresponding to a respective one or more sensors or components of the boiler;
detecting an abnormality by determining that less than a predetermined amount of the boiler data is inside a respective normal operating range;
identifying, by the one or more processors, an anticipated root cause based on the boiler data and a selected rule of a plurality of rules, wherein each of the plurality of rules associates an abnormality with an anticipated root cause and at least one corrective action;
identifying, by the one or more processors, the at least one corrective action associated with the abnormality based at least in part on the selected rule;
outputting, by the one or more processors, instructions to perform the at least one corrective action;
transmitting, via the transceiver to a user device, a notification indicative of the at least one corrective action;
determining, by the one or more processors, a status of the abnormality indicating whether the abnormality is corrected or uncorrected based at least in part on a response from the user device; and
updating, by the one or more processors, the plurality of rules based on the status of the abnormality.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein each of the plurality of rules associates an abnormality with an anticipated root cause and a corrective action.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of rules has a respective weight value indicating a perceived reliability of the rule.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
responsive to determining the status of the abnormality is corrected, updating, by the one or more processors, the plurality of rules by increasing a weight value associated with the selected rule.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
responsive to determining the status of the abnormality is uncorrected, updating, by the one or more processors, the plurality of rules by decreasing a weight value associated with the selected rule.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving, at a transceiver of the boiler, the plurality of rules from an external device.

14. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
displaying, via a graphical user interface of the boiler, an indication of the abnormality, the anticipated root cause, and/or the at least one corrective action.

15. The method of claim 8 , wherein the historical boiler data comprises boiler data from a plurality of boilers associated with the boiler.

16. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving, at a transceiver of the boiler, updates for one or more of the plurality of rules from an external device.

17. The method of claim 8 , wherein at least a portion of the historical boiler data is stored locally.

18. A system for boiler regulation, the system comprising:
one or more processors;
a transceiver; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:
receive boiler data from a boiler;
generate a normal operating range based at least in part on historical boiler data;
compare the boiler data to the normal operating range;
detect an abnormality in the boiler data by determining that more than a predetermined amount of the boiler data is outside the normal operating range;
identify at least one component of the boiler associated with the abnormality;
identify an anticipated root cause based on the boiler data and a selected rule of a plurality of rules, wherein each of the plurality of rules associates an abnormality with an anticipated root cause and at least one corrective action;
identify a corrective action associated with the selected rule;
output corrective instructions to perform the corrective action based on the selected rule;
compare additional boiler data from the boiler to the normal operating range;
responsive to less than the predetermined amount of the additional boiler data being inside the normal o

Assignees

• Rheem Mfg Co

Inventors

• Revilla Jorge Miguel Gamboa
• Salazar Sergio Montalgo
• Monfared Amin

Classifications

• G05B23/0227

  Qualitative history assessment, whereby the type of data acted upon, e.g. waveforms, images or patterns, is not relevant, e.g. rule based assessment; if-then decisions · CPC title

• G05B23/0275

  Fault isolation and identification, e.g. classify fault; estimate cause or root of failure · CPC title

• G05B23/0286 Primary

  Modifications to the monitored process, e.g. stopping operation or adapting control · CPC title

• G05B23/0289

  Reconfiguration to prevent failure, e.g. usually as a reaction to incipient failure detection · CPC title

• G01M99/005 Primary

  Testing of complete machines, e.g. washing-machines or mobile phones (testing of machine parts G01M13/00; testing of electric apparatus or components G01R31/50) · CPC title