Method and device for determining antifreeze content in a fluid of an HVAC system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12313593-B2
Application number	US-202117802284-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 27, 2021
Priority date	Apr 28, 2020
Publication date	May 27, 2025
Grant date	May 27, 2025

Abstract

A method for determining antifreeze content in a fluid of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system includes receiving, in a processor, measurement data of the fluid, the measurement data comprising a measured temperature of the fluid and a measured speed of sound in the fluid, calculating, in the processor, for each of a plurality of antifreeze concentration values a fitting parameter, using the measurement data and one or more of previous measurement data or previous antifreeze concentration data, and determining, in the processor, an antifreeze concentration in the fluid by selecting the antifreeze concentration value with an optimal fitting parameter.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for determining antifreeze content in a fluid of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, performed by the HVAC system, the HVAC system comprising a control device and a sensor unit operatively connected to the control device, the method comprising:
measuring, by the sensor unit, the measurement data of the fluid;
receiving, in a processor of the control device, using a communication interface of the control unit, measurement data of the fluid measured by the sensor unit, the measurement data comprising a measured temperature of the fluid and a measured speed of sound in the fluid;
retrieving, in the processor, from a non-volatile memory of the control device, a defined relation between antifreeze concentration, temperature, and speed of sound;
calculating, in the processor, for each of a plurality of antifreeze concentration values a fitting parameter, as a function of:
the measurement data and the defined relation, and at least one of: previous measurement data of the fluid of the HVAC system or previous antifreeze concentration data of the fluid of the HVAC system,
each fitting parameter indicative of how well the antifreeze concentration value agrees with the measurement data and at least one of: the previous measurement data or the previous antifreeze concentration data; and
determining, in the processor, an antifreeze concentration in the fluid by selecting the antifreeze concentration value with an optimal fitting parameter, the optimal fitting parameter being a particular fitting parameter related to a best fit between the antifreeze concentration value, the measurement data and at least one of: the previous measurement data or the previous antifreeze concentration data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating comprises:
calculating, in the processor, for an initial set of antifreeze concentration values an initial set of fitting parameters;
generating, in the processor, using the antifreeze concentration value of the initial set of antifreeze concentration values with an optimal fitting parameter, a subsequent set of antifreeze concentration values;
calculating, in the processor, using the subsequent set of antifreeze concentration values a subsequent set of fitting parameters; and
determining, in the processor, the antifreeze concentration in the fluid by selecting the antifreeze concentration value of the subsequent set of antifreeze concentration values with a subsequent optimal fitting parameter.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, in the processor, using the measurement data, the plurality of antifreeze concentration values such that each of the plurality of antifreeze concentration values satisfies the defined relation among the antifreeze concentration, the temperature, and the speed of sound.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each antifreeze concentration value is associated with an antifreeze type, and the method further comprises identifying the antifreeze type in the fluid by determining, in the processor, the antifreeze type associated with the determined antifreeze concentration.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating comprises:
calculating, in the processor, a predictor using the previous measurement data and/or previous antifreeze concentration data, and
comparing, in the processor, the predictor with the measurement data and/or the antifreeze concentration values.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating comprises:
estimating, in the processor, a predicted speed of sound using the measured temperature and the defined relation, and
comparing, in the processor, the predicted speed of sound with the measured speed of sound.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining, in the processor, a change in the antifreeze concentration in the fluid by comparing the selected antifreeze concentration value with one or more previous antifreeze concentration values; and
generating, in the processor, a message indicating the change in antifreeze concentration value in the fluid.

8. A device for determining antifreeze content in a fluid of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, the deice comprising a processor configured to:
receive measurement data of the fluid measured by a sensor unit, the measurement data comprising a measured temperature of the fluid and a measured speed of sound in the fluid;
retrieve a defined relation between antifreeze concentration, temperature, and speed of sound;
calculate, for each of a plurality of antifreeze concentration values a fitting parameter, as a function of:
the measurement data and the defined relation, and at least one of: previous measurement data of the fluid of the HVAC system or previous antifreeze concentration data of the fluid of the HVAC system,
each fitting parameter indicative of how well the antifreeze concentration value agrees with the measurement data and at least one of: the previous measurement data or the previous antifreeze concentration data; and
determine the antifreeze concentration in the fluid by selecting the antifreeze concentration value with an optimal fitting parameter, the optimal fitting parameter being a particular fitting parameter related to a best fit between the antifreeze concentration value, the measurement data and at least one of: the previous measurement data or the previous antifreeze concentration data.

9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to calculate the fitting parameter by:
calculating, for an initial set of antifreeze concentration values an initial set of fitting parameters;
generating, using the antifreeze concentration value of the initial set of antifreeze concentration values with an optimal fitting parameter, a subsequent set of antifreeze concentration values;
calculating, using the subsequent set of antifreeze concentration values a subsequent set of fitting parameters; and
determining, the antifreeze concentration in the fluid by selecting the antifreeze concentration value of the subsequent set of antifreeze concentration values with a subsequent optimal fitting parameter.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein to calculate the fitting parameter for each antifreeze concentration value the processor is configured to:
estimate a predicted speed of sound using the measured temperature and the defined relation, and
compare the predicted speed of sound with the measured speed of sound.

11. The device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine, using the measurement data, the plurality of antifreeze concentration values such that each of the plurality of antifreeze concentration values satisfies the defined relation among the antifreeze concentration, the temperature, and the speed of sound.

12. The device of claim 8 , wherein each antifreeze concentration value is associated with an antifreeze type; and the processor is further configured to identify the antifreeze type in the fluid by determining the antifreeze type associated with the determined antifreeze concentration.

13. The device of claim 8 , wherein to calculate the fitting parameter the processor is configured to:
calculate a predictor using the previous measurement data and/or previous antifreeze concentration data, and
compare the predictor with the measurement data and/or the antifreeze concentration values.

14. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer program code which, when executed by a processor of a device, causes the device to at least:
receive measurement data of the fluid measured by a sen

Assignees

• Belimo Holding Ag

Inventors

• Reider Forest
• Mischler Stefan
• Scholz Volkher
• Holoch Philip

Classifications

• G01N2291/02809

  Concentration of a compound, e.g. measured by a surface mass change · CPC title

• G01N2291/0222

  Binary liquids · CPC title

• G01N29/4418

  with a model, e.g. best-fit, regression analysis · CPC title

• G01N33/1826

  Organic contamination in water · CPC title

• G01N29/024 Primary

  by measuring propagation velocity or propagation time of acoustic waves · CPC title