System for minimizing indoor infection risk and maximizing energy savings

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11674707-B2
Application number	US-202117544383-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 7, 2021
Priority date	Dec 7, 2020
Publication date	Jun 13, 2023
Grant date	Jun 13, 2023

Abstract

A system and method for minimizing indoor infection risk and improving indoor air quality (IAQ) while maximizing energy savings. The system integrates occupancy detection and forecasting, outdoor weather conditions and forecasting, indoor infection risks and air quality modeling, any tunable air filtration, the clean air delivery rate, and any portable air cleaners. The system outputs the total amount of outdoor air intake, the air temperature of the supply air into the space, the supply air flow rate into the space, the operation mode of tunable air filtration/purification/disinfection, the operation mode of the in-room air cleaner, and space/room temperature set-points, and thus can serve as the central controller for an HVAC system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for providing control strategy for a heating, ventilation, and air condition (HVAC) system of a building, comprising:
a controller having an input for receiving a first signal comprising data representing ambient weather information, a second signal comprising data representing an occupancy level in a location, a third signal comprising data representing a temperature of the location, a fourth signal comprising data representing an amount of outdoor air intake into the location, and fifth signal comprising data representing a quality of ambient air in the location and an output for sending a plurality of control signals governing operation of a plurality of HVAC system components that may be connected to the controller;
a database associated with the controller and configured to record the data representing ambient weather information, the data representing the occupancy level, the data representing the temperature, and the data representing the amount of outdoor air intake over time;
a processor associated with the controller and programmed to generate a prediction of occupancy level over a predetermined upcoming period of time based on the recorded data representing the occupancy level, to generate an estimation of carbon dioxide levels in the location based on the data representing occupancy level over time and the data representing the amount of outdoor air intake over time, and to generate a forecast of ambient air quality based on the recorded data representing ambient weather information over time and the recorded data representing the quality of ambient air in the location over time;
wherein the processor is programmed to dynamically estimate an amount of risk of infection in the location based on the prediction of occupancy level and the forecast of ambient air quality;
wherein the processor is programmed to determine an amount of energy required to operate the HVAC system components connected to the controller;
wherein the processor is programmed to determine how to operate the plurality of HVAC system components to minimize the amount of energy required to operate the HVAC system components while minimizing the amount of risk of infection in the location; and
wherein the processor is programmed to cause the controller to send the plurality of control signals governing operation of the plurality of HVAC system components based on the determination of how to operate the plurality of HVAC system components to minimize the amount of energy required to operate the HVAC system components while minimizing the amount of risk of infection in the location.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of control signals includes an air handling unit control signal.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the air handling unit control signal will cause a change in outside air intake.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the air handling unit control signal will cause a change in supply air flow rate.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the air handling unit control signal will cause a change in supply air temperature.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of control signals includes an air filtration unit signal.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is located remotely from the controller and can communicate with the controller over the internet.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the database is located remotely from the controller.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is programmed to determine how to operate the plurality of HVAC system components to minimize the amount of energy required to operate the HVAC system components while minimizing the amount of risk of infection in the location by implementing a multi-objective model predictive control algorithm.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the multi-objective model predictive control algorithm considers a dynamic indoor air quality model and a coil load of any air handling unit connected to controller.

11. A method of operating a plurality of HVAC system components to minimize the amount of energy required to operate the HVAC system components while maximizing indoor air quality, comprising the steps of:
receiving a first signal comprising data representing ambient weather information, a second signal comprising data representing an occupancy level in a location, a third signal comprising data representing a temperature of the location, a fourth signal comprising data representing an amount of outdoor air intake into the location, and fifth signal comprising data representing a quality of ambient air in the location;
recording the data representing ambient weather information, the data representing the occupancy level, the data representing the temperature, and the data representing the amount of outdoor air intake over time;
using a processor to generate a prediction of occupancy level over a predetermined upcoming period of time based on the recorded data representing the occupancy level, to generate an estimation of carbon dioxide levels in the location based on the data representing occupancy level over time and the data representing the amount of outdoor air intake over time, and to generate a forecast of ambient air quality based on the recorded data representing ambient weather information over time and the recorded data representing the quality of ambient air in the location over time;
using the processor to dynamically estimate an amount of risk of infection in the location based on the prediction of occupancy level and the forecast of ambient air quality;
using the processor to determine an amount of energy required to operate the HVAC system components connected to the controller;
using the processor to determine how to operate the plurality of HVAC system components to minimize the amount of energy required to operate the HVAC system components while minimizing the amount of risk of infection in the location; and
causing a controller having an output for sending a plurality of control signals governing the operation of a plurality of HVAC system components that may be connected to the controller to send the plurality of control signals governing the operation of the plurality of HVAC system components based on the determination of how to operate the plurality of HVAC system components to minimize the amount of energy required to operate the HVAC system components while minimizing the amount of risk of infection in the location.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of control signals includes an air handling unit control signal.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the air handling unit control signal will cause a change in outside air intake.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the air handling unit control signal will cause a change supply air flow rate.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the air handling unit control signal will cause a change in supply air temperature.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of control signals includes an air filtration unit signal.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the processor is located remotely from the controller and can communicate with the controller over the internet.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the step of recording the data is accomplished by a database located remotely from the controller.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the processor is programmed to determine how to operate the plurality of HVAC system components to minimize the amount of energy required to operate the HVAC system components while minimizing the

Assignees

• Dong Bing
• Zhang Jianshun
• Univ Syracuse

Inventors

• Dong Bing
• Zhang Jianshun

Classifications

• F24F2140/40

  Damper positions, e.g. open or closed · CPC title

• G05B2219/2614

  HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control · CPC title

• F24F11/46

  Improving electric energy efficiency or saving · CPC title

• F24F11/74

  for controlling air flow rate or air velocity · CPC title

• F24F2011/0002

  for admittance of outside air · CPC title