JP4421423B2 - Air conditioner monitoring system and air conditioner monitoring method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention accommodates devices (PCs, servers, routers, network hubs, data storage, data backup devices, etc.) having a relatively large heat density, such as communication devices and information processing devices, air conditioners for cooling them, and the like. The present invention relates to an air conditioner monitoring system and an air conditioner monitoring method in a so-called computer room, IDC (Internet data center), communication machine room, and the like.

Communication devices, information processing devices (PCs, servers, routers, network hubs, data storages, data backup devices, etc.) are accommodated in so-called computer rooms, IDCs (Internet data centers), communication machine rooms, and the like.
In this case, since a device having a relatively large heat generation density is included, an air conditioner for cooling them is installed, and consideration is given to operating the communication device, the information processing device, etc. reasonably and stably.

In this case, at present, as shown in the diagram for explaining the monitoring state of the conventional air conditioner and the information processing apparatus in FIG. 15, the communication apparatus and the information processing apparatus are accommodated in the rack 3, and the rack The system is configured by arranging row 4. These communication devices and information processing devices are mainly connected by a network wiring 1 such as Ethernet (registered trademark). Communication devices and information processing devices are monitored by SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) or the like.
On the other hand, the air conditioners 11 to 15 are connected by an air conditioner monitoring cable 21 in a unique system (apart from the above) and are independently monitored.

  Thus, conventionally, communication devices, information processing devices, etc., and air conditioners have been monitored and operated separately, and linked control of air conditioning aimed at active capacity supplementation is performed by linking them together. It wasn't. For this reason, in the past, operation was performed according to the temperature setting of individual air conditioners, etc., and based on experience and intuition, it was operated with a large margin for temperature setting of the air conditioners, and wasted energy was consumed. There was also a lot to do.

Moreover, when the operation data output from the air conditioner is acquired at a predetermined sampling time, it is estimated whether the operation state of the air conditioner is normal based on the operation data, and each operation data is included within a predetermined time. The data obtained by processing the multiple sampling data is collected as feature data and used as a data set. After the reference space is constructed from the sequentially acquired multiple data sets, the acquired data set is normal with respect to the reference space. An air conditioning operation monitoring system, an abnormality detection method, and an abnormality detection device that determine whether or not using a Mahalanobis distance are known (see Patent Document 1).
However, this air-conditioning operation monitoring system creates a reference space based on the operation state of the local air-conditioning system, so that the abnormal state can be widely estimated regardless of the type and early abnormality detection is possible. It was for the watcher to respond quickly.
JP 2004-232968 A

The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner monitoring system and an air conditioner monitoring method for the purpose described below.
1 ensure complementary operation of the cooperative control possible to (2) the air conditioner at a plurality of air conditioners

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention is an air conditioner monitoring system that arranges a plurality of air conditioners and performs air conditioning in a zone. It is determined by the air conditioner state monitoring means that collects and monitors the operating state of each air conditioner and the temperature information of a predetermined place in the zone, and the air conditioner state monitoring means determines that a part of the air conditioner has stopped. Or air conditioner control means for performing complementary control to increase the cooling capacity of other air conditioners when some of the air conditioners are determined to be insufficient in cooling capacity. It is characterized by.

The air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention is an air conditioner monitoring system that arranges a plurality of air conditioners and performs air conditioning in a zone, and collects measured values of the high-pressure side pressure of the refrigeration cycle of each air conditioner. High pressure side pressure information collecting means, high pressure side pressure monitoring means for monitoring the measured value of the high pressure side pressure of each air conditioner collected by the high pressure side pressure information collecting means, and a high pressure side pressure for each air conditioner is predetermined. The high pressure side pressure judgment means for judging whether or not the threshold value of the air pressure is exceeded, and the high pressure side pressure of each air conditioner after a certain time based on the measured value of the high pressure side pressure of each air conditioner collected by the high pressure side pressure information collection means A high pressure side pressure prediction means for predicting a side pressure, and a prediction high pressure side for determining whether or not the high pressure side pressure predicted by the high pressure side pressure prediction means for each air conditioner exceeds a predetermined threshold Pressure judging means and the high-pressure side pressure The determination unit, when the high side pressure of one of the air conditioner is determined to have exceeded a predetermined threshold value, or the by predicting the high side pressure determining means, one of the air conditioner high-pressure side pressure is given after a certain time It is characterized by comprising high pressure side pressure reduction control means for controlling so as to increase the cooling capacity of another air conditioner when it is determined that the threshold value is exceeded.

  In addition, the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention includes an air conditioner supplement table that determines the priority order of which air conditioners enter the supplementary operation when the cooling capacity of a certain air conditioner is lost, and the cooling capacity of a certain air conditioner. Air conditioner control means for performing supplementary control so as to increase the cooling capacity of other air conditioners with reference to the air conditioner supplement table when the air conditioner is lost.

  In the air conditioner monitoring system according to the present invention, when the plurality of air conditioners have a redundant configuration, and there is a spare number of air conditioners, a spare unit is determined for each zone having the redundant configuration, and the spare units are sequentially arranged. An air conditioner life leveling means that changes systematically is provided.

  The air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention is an air conditioner monitoring system that arranges a plurality of air conditioners and air-conditions a plurality of information processing devices in a zone, and includes information on the operating state of each air conditioner. , Collecting information on the internal temperature of any or all of the information processing devices, integrated monitoring means for monitoring the air conditioner and the information processing device in an integrated manner, and the integrated monitoring means And an air conditioner control means for cooperatively controlling the cooling capacity of each air conditioner based on information on the internal temperature of the information processing apparatus.

  In addition, the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention individually compares the operation upper limit temperature and the actually measured value of the internal temperature for each information processing device, and displays the comparison information on the screen for each information processing device. Based on the comparison result between the operating temperature upper limit value and the actual temperature measurement value for each information processing device by the monitoring means and the information processing device temperature monitoring means, the value of the difference between them is negative or small in the information processing device Air conditioner control means for controlling the air conditioner so as to lower the temperature of the air conditioner.

  The air conditioner monitoring system according to the present invention includes an influence degree association table for associating an influence degree of a cooling effect between each information processing apparatus and each air conditioner, and the influence when the temperature in the information processing apparatus is lowered. An air conditioner control means for selecting and controlling an air conditioner having a large influence on the information processing apparatus with reference to the degree association table is provided.

  The air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention is characterized by comprising temperature alarm screen display means for displaying the temperature state of each information processing device in the zone in a color-coded manner.

  In the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention, an SNMP client function is installed in the air conditioner and the information processing device, and an SNMP manager is provided in the monitoring / control device that monitors and controls the air conditioner and the information processing device. The monitoring / control device, the air conditioner, and the information processing device are connected by a communication network using SNMP, and the monitoring / control device is connected to the air conditioner via the SNMP. The operation state is monitored and controlled, and the internal temperature of the information processing apparatus is monitored.

  Further, the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention includes an information processing device priority order table in which priorities are determined in advance according to the importance of each information processing device, and the cooling capacity of one or more air conditioners is reduced. When the entire system cannot be cooled to a necessary temperature, the information processing apparatus priority order table is referred to, and heat generation load reducing means is provided to stop the information processing apparatus having a lower priority order.

  Further, the air conditioner monitoring method of the present invention is an air conditioner monitoring method in an air conditioner monitoring system in which a plurality of air conditioners are arranged to perform air conditioning in a zone. If the air conditioner status monitoring procedure for collecting and monitoring temperature information of the location of the location and the air conditioner status monitoring procedure determines that a part of the air conditioner has stopped, or among the plurality of air conditioners And an air conditioner control procedure for performing complementary control so as to increase the cooling capacity of other air conditioners when it is determined that some of the air conditioners have insufficient cooling capacity.

  The air conditioner monitoring method of the present invention is an air conditioner monitoring method in an air conditioner monitoring system in which a plurality of air conditioners are arranged to air-condition a plurality of information processing devices in a zone. An integrated monitoring procedure for collecting operating state information and internal temperature information for any or all of the information processing devices and integrating and monitoring the state of the air conditioner and the information processing device, and the integrated monitoring procedure And an air conditioner control procedure for cooperatively controlling the cooling capacity of each of the air conditioners based on the information on the internal temperature of the information processing apparatus collected by the above.

According to the present invention, when the high-pressure side pressure of any air conditioner exceeds a predetermined threshold value, or when the high-pressure side pressure of any air conditioner is determined to exceed the threshold value within a certain time, Control was made to increase the cooling capacity of other air conditioners in the same zone. Thereby, the cooling load of the air conditioner which becomes a problem reduces, the high pressure side pressure of a refrigerant | coolant falls, and the effect which avoids the stop (or capacity fall) of an air conditioner by a refrigerant | coolant high pressure abnormality beforehand is acquired.

  In addition, according to the present invention, when the capacity of a certain air conditioner is lost, the air conditioner supplement table in which the priorities of the air conditioners entering the complementary operation for the air conditioner are determined in advance is referred to, Since the supplementary control is performed so as to increase the cooling capacity by selecting the machine, the effect of reducing the influence of the temperature change due to the supplementary operation can be obtained.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Description of configuration example of air conditioner monitoring system]
Initially, the structural example of the air conditioner monitoring system by this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an air conditioner monitoring system according to the present invention. The air conditioner monitoring system connects information processing apparatuses 2 to 2n, air conditioners 11 to 11n, and a monitoring / control apparatus 100 with network wiring. (Communication network) 1 is connected.

As shown in FIG. 2, the monitoring / control apparatus 100 is equipped with SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and functions as an SNMP manager. The information processing devices 2-2n and the air conditioners 11-11n are equipped with SNMP and function as SNMP clients. The information processing apparatuses 2 to 2n and the air conditioners 11 to 11n are monitored by the SNP manager of the monitoring / control apparatus 100 through the SNMP client.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the arrangement and wiring connection of the air conditioners and information processing apparatuses. Each air conditioner 11 to 15 is located near a wall of a zone (for example, a computer room, a part of a computer room, etc.). The information processing apparatuses are accommodated in the rack 3 and arranged in a rack row 4. The air conditioners 11 to 15 and the information processing devices in the rack 3 are connected to the monitoring / control device 100 through the network wiring 1 for communication.

  With such a configuration, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 15, the network wiring 1 of the information processing apparatus and the air conditioner monitoring cable 21 are separate wirings, and the monitoring system is also separate. In the monitoring system, the network wiring 1 can be connected to the air conditioners 11 to 15 in common. In addition, the monitoring software (SNMP manager or the like) of the monitoring / control device 100 on the same network can be integratedly monitored / monitored by the air conditioners 11 to 15 and the information processing device monitoring software (SNMP client) in the rack 3. Can be controlled.

  In addition, star-type wiring using a hub is also possible, the wiring system can be simplified (wiring form is refreshed), the total wiring length can be shortened, the number of wirings can be reduced, and the wiring cost can be reduced. In addition, cooperative control between the air conditioners 11 to 15 can be easily performed (only the software on the monitoring / control device 100 is changed), and even if the air conditioners 11 to 15 are not the same model, the cooperative control is easy. (Since SNMP is standardized).

Returning to FIG. 1, the processing program unit 110 in the monitoring / control apparatus 100 includes processing units necessary for realizing the functions of the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention. A specific operation example of each processing unit will be described later. Here, functions of each processing unit will be described.
The integrated monitoring processing unit (integrated monitoring unit) 111 collects the operating state of each of the air conditioners 11 to 11n and the information of the built-in temperature sensor of each of the information processing devices 2 to 2n, and collects the air conditioners 11 to 11n. A process of integrating and monitoring the states of the information processing apparatuses 2 to 2n is performed. This monitoring process is performed by the SNMP manager.

  The air conditioner control processing unit (air conditioner control means) 112 is a processing unit for controlling the operation of each of the air conditioners 11 to 11n in order to perform various cooperative controls (described later) of the air conditioners 11 to 11n. For example, when a certain air conditioner stops due to a failure, a process for controlling the cooling capacity of other air conditioners to increase, or a built-in temperature sensor of the information processing devices 2 to 2n collected by the integrated monitoring processing unit 111 Based on this information, processing such as controlling the cooling capacity of each of the air conditioners 11 to 11n is performed.

  The information processing device temperature monitoring processing unit (information processing device temperature monitoring means) 113 collects the internal temperature information of each of the information processing devices 2 to 2n via the integrated monitoring processing unit (integrated monitoring means) 111, and creates a database. The information processing device upper limit temperature information 136 recorded in 130 is referred to, and the operation temperature upper limit value for each information processing device is compared with the temperature measurement value, and the comparison value is displayed on the screen (see FIG. 8). . In addition, the air conditioner control processing unit 112 is instructed to lower the temperature at a point where the difference between the operating temperature upper limit value of the information processing device and the temperature measurement value is small (near the rack in which the information processing device is accommodated). .

The temperature alarm screen display processing unit (temperature alarm screen display means) 114 displays a temperature distribution (by color coding) of each device on the device layout drawing (plan view, three-dimensional view, perspective view, etc.) in the zone. Do. For example, “red = high temperature,..., Blue = low temperature” is displayed (see FIG. 9).
The heat generation load reduction processing unit (heat generation load reduction means) 115 is a table prepared in advance when one or more air conditioners cannot sufficiently exhibit the cooling capacity for some reason and the entire zone cannot be sufficiently cooled. In accordance with the (information processing apparatus priority table), the information processing apparatus having a low priority (low importance) is stopped to perform a process of reducing the heat generation load.

  The high pressure side pressure related processing unit 116 constantly measures the high pressure side pressure of the refrigeration cycle of each air conditioner, and when the high pressure side pressure of a certain air conditioner exceeds a predetermined threshold, other air conditioners in the same zone Processing to instruct the air conditioner control processing unit 112 is performed so as to increase the cooling capacity. Moreover, the high-pressure side pressure value of the refrigeration cycle of each air conditioner 11-11n is measured regularly, the high-pressure side pressure value of the refrigeration cycle after a fixed time is predicted from the past measurement value, and the information on the predicted high-pressure side pressure Is displayed on the screen. In addition, when it is determined that the high-pressure side pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold value within a certain time, a process is performed to instruct the air conditioner control processing unit 112 to increase the cooling capacity of other air conditioners in the same zone. .

In addition, the high pressure side pressure information collection processing part (high pressure side pressure information collection means) 117 in this high pressure side pressure related processing part 116 collects the measured value of the high pressure side pressure of the refrigerating cycle of each air conditioner 11-11n. I do.
The high pressure side pressure monitoring processing unit (high pressure side pressure monitoring means) 118 performs processing for monitoring the measured value of the high pressure side pressure of each of the air conditioners 11 to 11n collected by the high pressure side pressure information collection processing unit 117.
The high pressure side pressure determination processing unit (high pressure side pressure determination means) 119 performs processing for determining whether or not the high pressure side pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold value for each of the air conditioners 11 to 11n.

The high pressure side pressure prediction processing unit (high pressure side pressure prediction means) 120 periodically measures the high pressure side pressure value of the refrigeration cycle of each of the air conditioners 11 to 11n, and the high pressure of the refrigeration cycle after a certain time from the past measurement value. A process for predicting the side pressure value and displaying the predicted value on the screen is performed.
The predicted high pressure side pressure determination processing unit (predicted high pressure side pressure determination means) 121 sets the high pressure side pressure after a predetermined time predicted by the high pressure side pressure prediction processing unit 120 to a predetermined threshold value for each of the air conditioners 11 to 11n. A process of determining whether or not it exceeds is performed.

The high pressure side pressure reduction control processing unit (high pressure side pressure reduction control means) 122 uses the high pressure side pressure determination processing unit 119 to determine that the high pressure side pressure of any of the air conditioners has exceeded a predetermined threshold value and the predicted high pressure. When the side pressure determination processing unit 121 determines that the high pressure side pressure of any of the air conditioners exceeds a predetermined threshold after a certain time, it is not determined that another air conditioner (the high pressure side pressure has exceeded the predetermined threshold). And the process which instruct | indicates to the air conditioning machine control process part 112 to increase the cooling capacity of the high pressure side pressure (air conditioner which is not determined that it exceeds a predetermined threshold value after a fixed time) is performed.
The air conditioner life leveling processing unit (air conditioner life leveling means) 123, when the air conditioner has a redundant configuration and a spare number, actively uses a spare unit (≈ stop device) for each zone having the redundant configuration. A process is performed to sequentially determine and change it.

The air conditioner operation efficiency monitoring processor 124 calculates the operation efficiency of each air conditioner, detects an air conditioner with good operation efficiency, and increases the load of the air conditioner with good operation efficiency. In addition, an air conditioner with low operating efficiency is detected, and a process for giving an instruction to the air conditioner control processing unit 112 is performed so as to reduce the load on the air conditioner with low operating efficiency.
In the database 130, information on the operating state of each air conditioner, information on the temperature in each information processing apparatus, and the like are recorded as the device state monitoring information 131. In addition, the air conditioner supplement table 132 is a table that determines the priority order of which air conditioner enters the supplementary operation when the capacity of a certain air conditioner is lost. The influence degree association table 133 is a table that associates the influence degrees of the information processing apparatus and the air conditioner. The information processing device priority order table 134 is a table in which priorities are determined in advance according to the importance of each information processing device. The spare machine plan change information 135 is information that records an air conditioner operation plan for performing life leveling control of the air conditioner. The information processing device upper limit temperature information 136 is information in which the operable upper limit temperature (internal temperature) is recorded for each information processing device.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an air conditioner monitoring system using an air conditioner controller. When a plurality of air conditioners 11 to 15 are installed in a certain zone (such as a computer room where air conditioning is performed), FIG. In this example, the air conditioner monitoring cable 21 is used to monitor and control the air conditioner, and the air conditioner controller 30 performs cooperative control of the air conditioners 11 to 15.
As the air conditioner controller 30 shown in FIG. 4, the monitoring / control apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is usually used, but when SNMP is not installed in each air conditioner (integration of the air conditioner and the information processing apparatus). In order to show that the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention can be configured even when monitoring is not performed), an example of using the air conditioner controller 30 is particularly shown. All of them are included in the monitoring / controlling apparatus 100 shown in FIG. Note that when the air conditioners 11 to 15 and the information processing device in the rack 3 are controlled in cooperation, the monitoring / control device 100 shown in FIG. 1 is used to perform integrated monitoring of the air conditioner and the information processing device. This must be done by the SNMP manager.

The air conditioner state monitoring processing unit 31 in the air conditioner controller 30 has the function of an SNMP client, collects the number of operating state information of each air conditioner 11-15, Performs processing to monitor the operating status. The air conditioner control processing unit 32 is a processing unit for performing various types of cooperative control of the air conditioners 11 to 15.
The high pressure side pressure related processing unit 33 constantly measures the high pressure side pressure of the refrigeration cycle of each of the air conditioners 11 to 15, and when the high pressure side pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold, the other air conditioners in the same zone Processing to instruct the air conditioner control processing unit 32 is performed so as to increase the cooling capacity. Moreover, the high-pressure side pressure value of the refrigeration cycle of each air conditioner 11 to 15 is periodically measured, the high-pressure side pressure value of the refrigeration cycle after a predetermined time is predicted from the past measurement value, and the predicted value is displayed on the screen. Process to display. Further, when it is determined that the high-pressure side pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold value within a certain time, a process for instructing the air conditioner control processing unit 32 to increase the cooling capacity of other air conditioners in the same zone is performed. .

  Here, the high pressure side pressure information collection processing unit 34 in the high pressure side pressure related processing unit 33 performs a process of collecting measured values of the high pressure side pressures of the refrigeration cycles of the air conditioners 11 to 15. The high pressure side pressure monitoring processing unit 35 performs processing for monitoring the measured values of the high pressure side pressures of the air conditioners 11 to 15 collected by the high pressure side pressure information collecting processing unit 34.

The high pressure side pressure determination processing unit 36 performs a process of determining whether or not the high pressure side pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold value for each of the air conditioners 11 to 15. The high pressure side pressure prediction processing unit 37 periodically measures the high pressure side pressure value of the refrigeration cycle of each of the air conditioners 11 to 15 and predicts the high pressure side pressure value of the refrigeration cycle after a predetermined time from the past measurement value. Then, a process of displaying the predicted value on the screen is performed.
The predicted high pressure side pressure determination processing unit 38 determines, for each of the air conditioners 11 to 15, whether or not the high pressure side pressure after a predetermined time predicted by the high pressure side pressure prediction processing unit 37 exceeds a predetermined threshold value. I do.

When the high pressure side pressure reduction control processing unit 39 and the high pressure side pressure determination processing unit 36 determine that the high pressure side pressure of any of the air conditioners has exceeded a predetermined threshold, the predicted high pressure side pressure determination processing unit 38 When it is determined that the high-pressure side pressure of the air conditioner exceeds a predetermined threshold after a certain time, processing is performed to instruct the air conditioner control processing unit 32 to increase the cooling capacity of the other air conditioners.
When the air conditioners have a redundant configuration and there are spare units, the air conditioner life leveling processing unit 40 positively determines spare units (≈ stop units) for each zone having the redundant configuration, and sequentially and sequentially Perform the change process.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 4, the air conditioner state monitoring processing unit 31 constantly monitors the operating state of each air conditioner 11 to 15, and when some of the air conditioners break down, the air conditioner control processing unit 32 Control to supplement the cooling capacity of other air conditioners. In addition, as a method of increasing the cooling capacity of the air conditioner, there are a method of directly increasing the work rate of the compressor in the air conditioner and a method of controlling the capacity indirectly by lowering the set temperature of the air conditioner. Conceivable.

  In addition to increasing the cooling capacity, increasing the fan airflow also has the effect of suppressing temperature rise. Furthermore, it is better to increase both the cooling capacity and increase the fan air volume. This applies not only to air conditioner failures, but also to drooping control, reduced cooling capacity due to partial failures, and manual stoppages.If the failure, partial failure, manual stop, or droop control status is resolved, normal operation is resumed. Return. Thereby, the complementary operation can be started in a shorter time as compared with the conventional method of complementing the process by the temperature setting of the individual air conditioner.

  In addition, in the case where some of the plurality of air conditioners have insufficient capacity (a state in which the capacity does not reach the set temperature even if the capacity is operated), the air conditioner control processing unit 32 performs other operations similar to the above. Supplement the cooling capacity of the air conditioner. If the air conditioning unit is not linked and controlled as in the past, each air conditioner operates while referring to the value of its own temperature sensor. There is. In the case of this invention, it can enter into the operation | movement which supplements an air conditioner with insufficient capability reliably.

  Further, FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of air conditioner linkage control (complementary control) when a certain air conditioner stops (or the cooling capacity decreases) in the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention. The processing flow will be described below with reference to FIG. 10 (and FIG. 1). Although the case where the monitoring / control apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is used will be described here, the same processing is performed even if the air conditioner controller 30 shown in FIG. 4 is used.

  In the monitoring / control apparatus 100, the air-conditioning monitoring processing unit 111 constantly monitors each air conditioner (step S101), and detects whether there is a faulty air conditioner (step S102). ). Then, it is determined whether or not there is a broken air conditioner (step S103). If there is a broken air conditioner, the air conditioner control processing unit 112 stops the broken air conditioner and compresses other air conditioners. Whether to increase the work rate of the machine (step S106), lower the set temperature of the other air conditioner (step S107), increase the fan air volume of the other air conditioner (step S108), or Control is performed to increase the power of the compressor and increase the fan air volume (both steps S106 and S108).

  If it is determined in step S103 that there is no malfunctioning air conditioner, it is next determined whether or not there is an air conditioner that has been manually stopped (step S104). The air conditioner control processing unit 112 increases the power of other air conditioners (step S106), lowers the set temperature of other air conditioners (step S107), or increases the fan air volume of other air conditioners (Step S108), or increase the work rate of the compressor of another air conditioner and increase the fan air volume (both Steps S106 and S108).

If it is determined in step S104 that there is no manually stopped air conditioner, it is next determined whether or not there is an air conditioner with reduced cooling capacity (step S105), and there is no air conditioner with reduced cooling capacity. If it is determined, the process proceeds to step S109, and the processing procedure from step S101 is repeated. If it is determined in step S105 that there is an air conditioner with a reduced cooling capacity, the air conditioner control processing unit 112 increases the work rate of the other air conditioner (step S106) or the other air conditioner Whether to lower the set temperature (step S107), increase the fan air volume of another air conditioner (step S108), increase the work rate of the compressor of the other air conditioner, and increase the fan air volume (step S108) Either control of S106 and S108) is performed.
As described above, in the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention, when any air conditioner fails, when it is manually stopped, or when the cooling capacity is reduced, complementary control (cooperation) is performed by another air conditioner. Control).

In all of the above-mentioned examples, when some or all of the capacity is lost due to a failure or the like, the cooling capacity is basically increased for all other air conditioners. It is also possible to prepare in advance an air conditioner supplement table in which priorities are determined as to which air conditioner will enter the complementary operation when the capacity of the air conditioner is lost, and the complementary operation can be performed accordingly. Thereby, the influence which the temperature condition by supplementary operation changes can be decreased.
In general, air conditioners measure the high-pressure side pressure of the refrigeration cycle, and when a predetermined threshold is exceeded, protection is provided such as stopping operation and reducing cooling capacity to avoid damage to the air conditioner. Control is performed.

  In the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention, the high pressure side pressure-related processing unit 116 constantly measures the high pressure side pressure, and when the high pressure side pressure of a certain air conditioner exceeds a predetermined threshold, Increase the cooling capacity of the air conditioner. As a result, the cooling load of the air conditioner decreases, and the high-pressure side pressure of the refrigerant decreases. In this way, it is possible to avoid a stop (or a decrease in capacity) due to a refrigerant high pressure abnormality.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for predicting the refrigeration cycle high-pressure side pressure value by primary approximation. The high-pressure side pressure prediction processing unit 37 periodically measures and stores the high-pressure side pressure value of the refrigeration cycle of each air conditioner. The high-pressure side pressure value of the refrigeration cycle after a certain time is predicted from the past measurement values. When the predicted value is considered to exceed the threshold value, control such as increasing the cooling capacity of other air conditioners is performed.
In addition, the predicted value can be displayed on the screen so that the relationship between the predicted value and the threshold value can be visually recognized.
Note that FIG. 5 describes a method for predicting the high-pressure side pressure value of the refrigeration cycle by linear approximation, but the prediction method is not limited to this.
And when it is judged that the high-pressure side pressure of a certain air conditioner exceeds a threshold value within a fixed time, the cooling capacity of other air conditioners in the same zone is increased. Thereby, the cooling load of the air conditioner is reduced, and the high-pressure side pressure of the refrigerant is reduced.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the case of performing cooperative control by monitoring the pressure on the high-pressure side of the refrigeration cycle of the air conditioner. Hereinafter, the flow of the process will be described with reference to FIG. In the monitoring / control apparatus 100, the high-pressure side pressure information collection processing unit 117 in the high-pressure side pressure-related processing unit 116 periodically measures the pressure on the high-pressure side of the refrigeration cycle of each air conditioner every predetermined time, It is recorded as device state monitoring information 131 in the database 130, and is monitored by the high pressure side pressure monitoring processing unit 118 (step S201, step S202, step S203).

Then, the high pressure side pressure data of each air conditioner recorded in the database 130 is read every predetermined time (step S204), and the high pressure side pressure after a predetermined time is obtained by a first approximation by the function of the high pressure side pressure prediction processing unit 120. Is calculated (predictive calculation). Then, the high pressure side pressure determination processing unit 121 determines whether or not the high pressure side pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold after a certain time based on the prediction calculation result (step S206). The cooling capacity of the other air conditioner is increased by the high pressure side pressure reduction control processing unit 122 (step S207), or the cooling capacity of the air conditioner that is predicted to exceed the threshold is decreased, or the operation is stopped. (Step S208).
In this way, in the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention, it is possible to avoid an air conditioner stop (or a decrease in capacity) due to a refrigerant high pressure abnormality.

[Second Embodiment]
In the air conditioner monitoring system according to the present invention, when the air conditioner has a redundant configuration and there are spare units, the spare unit is positively determined for each zone having the redundant configuration, and the operation priority of the spare unit is set low. Thus, control is performed so as not to operate while the zone is sufficiently cooled. The spare machine can be leveled in sequence by changing the air conditioner in the zone sequentially and systematically. This control is performed by the air conditioner life leveling processing unit 123 in the processing program unit 110 in the monitoring / control apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 or the air conditioner life leveling processing unit 40 in the air conditioner controller 30 shown in FIG. Can be performed.
For leveling the life, a method of equalizing the total operation time and the total power consumption of the compressor and the fan can be considered. This life leveling can suppress the obsolescence of the air conditioning system in the entire zone due to the deterioration of a specific air conditioner, thereby reducing the equipment cost.

FIG. 12A is a first flowchart showing an operation example when there is a spare unit in the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention. Hereinafter, the processing flow will be described with reference to FIG.
In the air conditioner life leveling processing unit 123 in the monitoring / control apparatus 100, first, the number of spare units is counted (step S301). Here, the number of air conditioners that can be used as spare units is calculated from the current air conditioning capacity of all air conditioners in the installed zone and the total amount of heat generated by all information processing devices installed in the zone. The process to perform is also included. If there is no spare machine in step S301, the process of step S303 is performed. If it is determined that there are N spare machines (one or more), the spare machine is selected from all the air conditioners. N air conditioners to be selected are selected (step S302). Then, an air conditioner other than the spare machine is operated (step S303).
FIG. 12B is a second flowchart illustrating an operation example when there is a spare, and is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for equalizing the total operation time and total power consumption of the compressor and the fan. Hereinafter, the flow of the process will be described with reference to FIG.

In the air conditioner life leveling processing unit 123 in the monitoring / control apparatus 100, the total operation time and the total power consumption of the fans of each air conditioner are measured and recorded as the device state monitoring information 131 in the database 130 for monitoring. (Step S401).
Then, it is determined whether or not a predetermined period has elapsed (step S402), and for each predetermined period, the total operation time and total power consumption data of the fans of each air conditioner are acquired from the database 130 (step S403).
Based on the total operation time and total power consumption data of each air conditioner fan, priority is given to the total operation time and low power consumption of each air conditioner fan.

[Third Embodiment]
In the configuration example of the air conditioner monitoring system shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioner and the information processing apparatus can be monitored and controlled in an integrated manner. In addition, since many information processing apparatuses 2 have a temperature sensor built in and can be output by SNMP, the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention actively uses this.
That is, in the conventional air conditioner monitoring system, as shown in FIG. 6, the air conditioner is cooled by using a representative point temperature sensor 41 or an air conditioner built-in temperature sensor (intake air temperature sensor 42 or blown air temperature sensor 43). Although the capability is controlled, in the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7, the air conditioner can be controlled using a built-in temperature sensor 51 mounted on the information processing apparatus.

This enables finer control than the control by the representative point temperature sensor 41 or the air conditioner built-in temperature sensor (the intake air temperature sensor 42 or the blown air temperature sensor 43) (the temperature in the vicinity of the point where the temperature management is desired can be managed. ). In addition, more accurate temperature control is possible, and there is no need for a large margin, resulting in an energy saving effect.
In addition, there are variations in the operating efficiency of each air conditioner due to differences in operating efficiency characteristics during partial loads of the air conditioners and outdoor unit installation conditions. By increasing the load on the machine and reducing the load on the air conditioner with low operating efficiency instead, the power consumption of the entire system can be reduced.
Also, in this case, priority is given to control maintained below the control temperature at each temperature sensor position, and the operating efficiency of each air conditioner is calculated from the power consumption or current consumption for each air conditioner and the air conditioning capacity value. By doing so, it is possible to reduce power consumption and save energy in the entire zone.

FIG. 13A is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure in consideration of the operation efficiency of the air conditioner, and is a flowchart for explaining an operation example in which each air conditioner is operated with priority given to a high operation efficiency. Hereinafter, the processing flow will be described with reference to FIG.
The integrated monitoring processing unit 111 and the air conditioner control processing unit 112 in the monitoring / control device 100 maintain the air conditioner so that each temperature sensor in the zone to be cooled (such as a computer room) is below the management temperature. (Step S501).
On the other hand, the air conditioner operating efficiency monitoring processor 124 calculates the operating efficiency of each air conditioner (step S502), and detects an air conditioner with good operating efficiency (step S503).

Then, an instruction is issued to the air conditioner control processing unit 112 so as to increase the load of the air conditioner with good operation efficiency (step S504). Further, an air conditioner with low operating efficiency is detected (step S505), and an instruction is issued to the air conditioner control processing unit 112 so as to reduce the load on the air conditioner with low operating efficiency (step S504).
Further, in the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention, since the operation upper limit temperature is different for each information processing device, it is possible to control each air conditioner by individually comparing these values and measured values. Further, the operation upper limit value of each information processing apparatus and the actual measurement value can be compared and displayed on the screen. FIG. 8 shows an example of a temperature monitoring screen for each information processing apparatus.

As shown in the example of the temperature monitoring screen of FIG. 8, the operating temperature upper limit value and the temperature measurement value for each information processing apparatus are compared, and the air conditioner is controlled so as to lower the temperature at a point where the difference between them is small. At this time, if the difference is a negative value, it means that the operating temperature upper limit value is deviated.
In addition, when there are a plurality of air conditioners, the cooling capacity of the air conditioners that have a great influence on the danger point (≈close position) is increased. At this time, which air conditioner is to be selected is prepared in advance by referring to a table (influence degree association table) for associating the degree of influence between the information processing apparatus and the air conditioner. Thereby, energy management can be achieved by performing temperature management at the upper limit of the operating temperature of each device, compared to the operation at the uniform operating temperature upper limit value.

FIG. 13B is a flowchart for explaining an example of controlling the air conditioner based on the actually measured value of the internal temperature of the information processing apparatus. Hereinafter, the processing flow will be described with reference to FIG.
The information processing apparatus temperature monitoring processing unit 113 in the monitoring / control apparatus 100 acquires information on the upper limit temperature of each information processing apparatus from the information processing apparatus upper limit temperature information 136 in the database 130 (step S601).
In addition, the measured value of the temperature in each information processing apparatus is acquired via the integrated monitoring processing unit 111 (step S602). Then, the upper limit value and the actually measured value are compared for each information processing apparatus (step S603). In this case, “upper limit value−actual measurement value” is calculated (step S604). If “upper limit value—actual measurement value” is positive (>> 0), the information processing apparatus is not processed.

  If “upper limit value−actual value” is negative or close to 0 (<0 or ≈0), it is determined whether a plurality of air conditioners are affected by referring to the influence degree association table 133 in the database 130 (step S605) When a plurality of air conditioners are affected, the air conditioner closest to the information processing apparatus (the degree of influence having the greatest influence on the information processing apparatus) is detected (step S606). Then, the cooling capacity of the corresponding air conditioner is increased (step S607). If a plurality of air conditioners are not affected, the cooling capacity of the information processing apparatus in charge of cooling the information processing apparatus is increased (step S607).

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a temperature alarm screen. In the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 9, for example, the temperature alarm generating rack is displayed in red (on the equipment layout drawing (plan view, three-dimensional view, perspective view, etc.) displayed on the temperature alarm screen. Other prominent colors may be used). Thus, the temperature distribution is displayed on the device layout drawing by color coding (for example, red = high temperature,..., Blue = low temperature). Thereby, it can be easily determined at a glance at which position the alarm is issued and at which position the temperature is high.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Further, in the air conditioner monitoring system of the present invention, when one or more air conditioners cannot fully exhibit the cooling capacity for some reason and the entire zone cannot be sufficiently cooled, priority is given to the information processing apparatus prepared in advance. According to the rank table, the information processing apparatus having a low priority (low importance) can be stopped to reduce the heat generation load.
The shortage of air conditioner capacity is assumed to be when the total power consumption (or current consumption) value of the device is greater than the total cooling capacity of the air conditioner for a certain period of time. Alternatively, the temperature may continue to rise for a certain period of time even though all the air conditioners are fully capable of the upper limit at that time. Accordingly, it is possible to avoid stopping the information processing apparatus with a high priority as much as possible by stopping the information processing apparatus with a low priority.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure when the information processing apparatus is stopped to reduce the heat generation load. Hereinafter, the flow of the process will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the heat generation load reduction processing unit 115 in the monitoring / control apparatus 100 calculates a total value of power consumption of the information processing apparatus for a certain period of time (step S701). Then, “total value of power consumption: cooling capacity” is compared (step S702). When the cooling capacity is sufficient (when the total power consumption is smaller than the cooling capacity), the process returns to the original (step S701) without performing the process of reducing the heat generation load.

When the cooling capacity is insufficient (when the total value of power consumption> the cooling capacity), it is next determined whether or not there is an air conditioner with insufficient cooling capacity (step S703). If there is, the information on the corresponding information processing apparatus related to the corresponding air conditioner is acquired by referring to the influence degree association table 133 in the database 120 (step S704). Further, the information processing device priority order table 134 is referred to, and an information processing device having a low importance level is selected from the corresponding information processing devices (step S705), and the information processing device having a low importance level is stopped (step S705). S706).
If it is determined in step S703 that there is no air conditioner with insufficient cooling capacity, the information processing device priority order table 134 in the database 130 is referred to and information on information processing devices with low importance is acquired ( Step S707), the operation of the information processing apparatus is stopped (Step S706).
By stopping an information processing apparatus with a low priority according to such a procedure, it is possible to avoid stopping an information processing apparatus with a high priority as much as possible.
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the monitoring / control apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is a computer system.
Each process executed by the monitoring / control apparatus 100 may be executed as an interrupt routine by a timer interrupt activated every predetermined time, and the execution timing is not particularly limited.

A series of processes related to the above-described process is stored in a computer-readable recording medium in the form of a program, and the above-described process is performed by the computer reading and executing this program.
That is, each process in the monitoring / control apparatus 100 is realized by a central processing unit such as a CPU reading the above program into a main storage unit such as a ROM or RAM, and executing information processing and arithmetic processing. It is what is done.

Here, the computer-readable recording medium means a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a semiconductor memory, or the like. Alternatively, the computer program may be distributed to the computer via a communication line, and the computer that has received the distribution may execute the program.
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the air conditioner monitoring system is not limited to the above-described illustrated example, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is.

  In the present invention, since cooperative control in a plurality of air conditioners and cooperative control between a plurality of air conditioners and each information processing device can be realized, the present invention is useful for an air conditioner monitoring system, an air conditioner monitoring method, and the like. .

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the air conditioner monitoring system by this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the air-conditioner monitoring system which uses SNMP. It is a figure which shows the example of arrangement | positioning and wiring connection of an air conditioning machine and information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the air conditioner monitoring system which uses an air conditioner controller. It is explanatory drawing for estimating the refrigerating-cycle high pressure side pressure. It is a figure which shows the example of arrangement | positioning of the temperature sensor in the conventional air conditioner monitoring system. It is a figure which shows the example using the temperature sensor with a built-in information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a temperature monitoring screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a temperature alarm screen. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of cooperation control of an air conditioning machine. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence in the case of monitoring the high voltage | pressure side pressure of an air conditioner and performing cooperation control. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of operation | movement in case there exists a spare machine. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure which controls an air conditioner based on the operating efficiency of an air conditioner, and the upper limit temperature of information processing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence in the case of stopping an information processing apparatus and reducing heat generating load. It is a figure for demonstrating the monitoring states of the conventional air conditioner and information processing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network wiring 2, 2n Information processing apparatus 3 Rack 4 Rack row 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 11n Air conditioner 21 Air conditioner monitoring cable 30 Air conditioner controller 31 Air conditioner state monitoring process part 32 Air conditioner control process part 33 High pressure side pressure related processing section 34 High pressure side pressure information collection processing section 35 High pressure side pressure monitoring processing section 36 High pressure side pressure determination processing section 37 High pressure side pressure prediction processing section 38 Predictive high pressure side pressure determination processing section 39 High pressure side pressure reduction control processing Unit 40 air conditioner life leveling unit 41 representative point temperature sensor 42 intake air temperature sensor 43 blown air temperature sensor 51 built-in temperature sensor of information processing device 100 monitoring / control device 101 control unit 102 communication interface 110 processing program unit 111 Integrated monitoring processing unit 112 Air conditioner control processing unit 113 Information processing device Temperature monitoring processing unit 114 Temperature alarm screen display processing unit 115 Heat generation load reduction processing unit 116 High pressure side pressure related processing unit 117 High pressure side pressure information collection processing unit 118 High pressure side pressure monitoring processing unit 119 High pressure side pressure determination processing unit 120 High pressure side pressure Prediction processing unit 121 Predictive high pressure side pressure determination processing unit 122 High pressure side pressure reduction control processing unit 123 Air conditioner life leveling processing unit 124 Air conditioner operation efficiency monitoring processing unit 130 Database 131 Equipment state monitoring information 132 Air conditioner complement table 133 Influence degree Association table 134 Information processing device priority order table 135 Preliminary machine plan change information 136 Information processing device upper limit temperature information

Claims (2)

An air conditioner monitoring system that arranges a plurality of air conditioners and performs air conditioning in the zone,
High pressure side pressure information collecting means for collecting measured values of the high pressure side pressure of the refrigeration cycle of each air conditioner;
High pressure side pressure monitoring means for monitoring the measured value of the high pressure side pressure of each air conditioner collected by the high pressure side pressure information collecting means;
High pressure side pressure determining means for determining whether the high pressure side pressure exceeds a predetermined threshold for each air conditioner;
High pressure side pressure prediction means for predicting the high pressure side pressure of each air conditioner after a certain time based on the measured value of the high pressure side pressure of each air conditioner collected by the high pressure side pressure information collecting means;
Predicted high pressure side pressure determining means for determining whether or not the high pressure side pressure predicted by the high pressure side pressure predicting means for each air conditioner exceeds a predetermined threshold;
When the high pressure side pressure determination means determines that the high pressure side pressure of any air conditioner exceeds a predetermined threshold, or the predicted high pressure side pressure determination means determines that the high pressure side pressure of any air conditioner is constant If it is determined that the time after exceeding a predetermined threshold value, air-conditioning equipment monitoring system that, comprising a high pressure side pressure reduction control means for controlling so as to increase the cooling capacity of the other air conditioner. An air conditioner supplement table that defines the priority of which air conditioner will enter supplementary operation when the cooling capacity of a certain air conditioner is lost;
An air conditioner control means for performing supplementary control so as to increase the cooling capacity of another air conditioner with reference to the air conditioner supplement table when the cooling capacity of a certain air conditioner is lost. The air conditioner monitoring system according to claim 1 .

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