Patent Application
20240384952
The present application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2023 113 162.1 filed on May 19, 2023. The entire contents of the above-listed application are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
The disclosure relates to a cooling tower for cooling process water—in particular, of a filling plant—and a method for monitoring and controlling such a cooling tower.
Cooling towers are common components of installations for filling liquid products, such as beverages, into containers, such as bottles. It is known in principle to continuously monitor, by measurement, machine parameters which relate, for example, to the transport and/or the cooling of the process water in the cooling tower. The same applies to parameters of consumable materials for cooling towers such as biocide, cleaning agent, or the like whose fill levels, consumption, and/or properties, such as concentrations, for example, can be continuously monitored. Measurements of such machine and consumable parameters then generally provide actual values that can be used to control or regulate the cooling tower, e.g., with regard to its cooling capacity, by comparing them with target values.
However, it is disadvantageous that the associated optimization and planning of operation requires a comparatively large amount of experience with the respective installation and personnel with corresponding qualification.
There is therefore a need for improvement in this regard, e.g., in order to optimize cooling towers more quickly after installation, maintenance, or production changeover, and/or with regard to a more efficient provision of consumables.
The stated object is achieved with a cooling tower and with a method for monitoring and controlling a cooling tower and likewise with a cooling tower comprising a filling plant as described herein.
The cooling tower therefore serves to cool process water—in particular, of a filling plant. In this regard, the cooling tower comprises: sensors for local monitoring of at least one consumable parameter in the form of an inflow, consumption, supply, and/or a property of a consumable of the cooling tower—in particular, to be mixed with the process water—and for monitoring at least one machine parameter of the cooling tower relating to the transport and/or the cooling of the process water, at least one data output for transmitting measurement data from the cooling tower obtained by means of such monitoring by sensor, at least one data input for receiving external control data for controlling the cooling tower, and a programmable logic controller for controlling the cooling tower on the basis of the received control data and measurement data obtained by means of monitoring by sensor.
The obtained measured data can therefore, in particular, be collected and processed centrally outside the cooling tower—for example, in a cross-machine monitoring system. The external control data can also be generated there and transmitted to the cooling tower.
A central processing of the measurement data and generation of the control data is therefore possible—for example, to offset the measurement data obtained with the sensors against each other and/or against historical measurement data. This makes it possible, for example, to predict how certain configurations of machine and consumable parameters can affect future production processes. Historical measurement data or other empirical values of cooling towers of comparable design can also be incorporated into the external or central data processing.
On this basis, the control data can be automatically generated and sent to the cooling tower in order, for example, to adapt a specific machine state and/or an operating mode of the cooling tower in a suitable manner. For example, at least one actuator of the cooling tower, e.g., a pump or a fan, can thereby be controlled directly, or an associated target value can be adjusted. This can relate to the at least one monitored consumable and/or machine parameter.
By definition, monitoring is understood here to mean a continuous measurement repeated at sufficiently short time intervals, so that a time profile of the monitored parameter within a running production or maintenance process can be determined or, for planning such a process, predicted.
Consumables in the sense of the present disclosure are in particular those for which batch-wise replenishment from transport containers or the like is required—for example, biocides (disinfectants), cleaning agents, acids, and alkalis for pH regulation, technical additives such as corrosion protection agents, and lubricants for drives. In contrast to this, consumption from (public) supply networks can be considered. In the sense of the present disclosure, power, gas, and fresh water consumption can therefore be regarded as machine parameters of the cooling tower and can be correspondingly monitored.
The described cooling tower is optionally an open evaporation cooling tower in which the process water is cooled by means of ambient air. These are brought into contact with one another in a manner known in principle in the region of filling bodies, whereby a part of the process water evaporates, and heat is removed from the remaining process water for the purpose of cooling.
In addition to the described application in a filling plant, the described cooling tower is also particularly suitable for cooling chemical production plants and cooling data centers or the like.
The described central evaluation of the collected measurement data and generation of the control data optionally take place in a cross-machine monitoring system for digital location-independent monitoring of machine states (condition monitoring tool, also called a watchdog), which can for example be provided in a data cloud or on associated servers in a manner known in principle, independent of location. In this case, “cross-machine” can also be understood to mean, in particular, “cross-plant,” i.e., for example, at least two production locations.
With such a cross-machine monitoring system, a display of measurement data, machine states, and/or recommendations for action on mobile terminals is also possible—for example, on a smartphone or a smart watch. Forecast data can also be determined and output in this way—for example, a possible remaining runtime of the cooling tower with available stocks of consumables. Instructions for the replenishment of certain consumables can also be output in a mobile manner. Such information can, for example, also be sent directly to the cooling tower in addition to the control data and displayed there.
In a filling plant comprising the cooling tower, further measurement data and/or machine state data can also be determined and transmitted to the cross-machine monitoring system, e.g., from at least one measuring device for detecting at least one property of ambient air, from a heat exchange unit downstream of the cooling tower for cooling coolant water with the cooled process water, from a supply unit connected to the cooling tower for providing a consumable of the cooling tower, and/or from a disposal unit connected to the cooling tower for disposing and in particular processing the process water.
Thus, on the one hand, the operation of the cooling tower can be adapted promptly to the measurement data and/or machine state data ascertained in this way. On the other hand, such measurement data and/or machine state data can also be stored by the cross-machine monitoring system for later data evaluations and used for statistical evaluations or the like, for example. The production mode of the cooling tower can accordingly be effectively optimized both with regard to the current production mode in the filling plant and with regard to different empirical values with the cooling tower, cooling towers of the same type, and/or further production processes with the cooling tower.
In the method for monitoring and controlling a cooling tower, actual values of at least one consumable parameter are monitored by sensor relating to an inflow, consumption, supply, and/or a property of a consumable—in particular, metered to the process water—of the cooling tower, and actual values of at least one machine parameter which relates to the transport and/or cooling of the process water in the region of the cooling tower. Furthermore, measurement data obtained on this basis are sent to a region outside the cooling tower and, in particular, outside the filling plant, and, in return, data correspondingly provided from outside are received for controlling the cooling tower. Finally, the cooling tower is controlled on the basis of the received control data and measurement data obtained by means of the monitoring by sensor in an electronically programmed manner.
An embodiment of the disclosure is illustrated in the drawing. The single FIGURE schematically shows a cooling tower as a component of a filling plant and with a cross-machine monitoring system.
As can be seen from the FIGURE, the cooling tower 1 belongs to a filling plant 100 and can comprise, in a manner known in principle, a plurality of cooling cells 1a, 1b, 1c in which process water 2 trickles over filling bodies (not shown), and ambient air 12 flows around it in the process.
The cooling tower 1 comprises sensors 3, 4, 5, 6 for the ongoing local monitoring of at least one consumable parameter 7, 8 of at least one consumable 9 of the cooling tower 1, and for ongoing local monitoring of at least one machine parameter 10, 11 of the cooling tower 1 relating to the transport and/or cooling of the process water 2.
In the shown example, a first sensor 3 measures a first consumable parameter 7, which here is a filling level of a consumable 9, e.g., a biocide for disinfecting the cooling tower 1, whose supply here is shown only symbolized. Furthermore, a second sensor 4 measures a second consumable parameter 8 which here relates, by way of example, to a property of the consumable 9—for example, its concentration, temperature, or pH value.
A plurality of consumable parameters 7, 8 of the cooling tower 1 are monitored (independently of the shown embodiment)—for example, an inflow, consumption, supply, and/or a property of the respective consumable 9.
Monitored consumables 9 (independently of the shown embodiment) are in particular those which are used for production mode and the regular maintenance of the cooling tower 1 and are to be refilled as required, e.g., for hygienic and reliable evaporation cooling of the process water 2, for cleaning and/or separate disinfection of the cooling tower 1, and/or as auxiliary material for its units or actuators—for example, for the drive lubrication or the like.
As examples of machine parameters in the sense of the present disclosure, a first machine parameter 10 is measured here in the form of a transport speed of the process water 2 in the cooling tower 1 with a third sensor 5, and a second machine parameter 11 in the form of a temperature of the cooled process water 2 with a fourth sensor 6. Other conceivable machine parameters would, for example, be the conductance, the pH, or a microbiological characteristic value of the process water 2 or the like. The inflow and/or the temperature of the utilized ambient air 12 would also be machine parameters 10, 11 which relate to the cooling of the process water 2, since they can influence, for example, the cooling capacity of the cooling tower 1.
At least one consumable 9, e.g., a biocide and/or another technical additive, can be added automatically to the process water 2 passing through the cooling tower 1 in production mode—for example, by means of metering devices (not shown) known in principle. Likewise, for maintenance, a corresponding addition to a cleaning liquid and/or to flushing water (not shown) is possible.
The cooling tower 1 comprises at least one data output 13 for transmitting measurement data 14 which are obtained by at least one of the sensors 3 to 6. The measurement data 14 can be both raw data and measurement data processed in a suitable manner in the region of the cooling tower 1.
The transmission of the measurement data 14 is to be understood to mean the export thereof to a region outside the cooling tower 1, and in particular to an area outside the filling plant 100 comprising the cooling tower 1.
The cooling tower 1 comprises at least one data input 15 for receiving external control data 16, i.e., such as are generated outside the cooling tower 1 and in particular outside the filling plant 100 comprising said cooling tower for controlling the cooling tower 1 and are imported from there.
During production mode, the measurement data 14 are exported continuously, and the receipt of the external control data 16 is then continuously possible.
The cooling tower 1 comprises at least one programmable logic controller 17 for controlling the cooling tower 1 by means of the control data 16 received via the at least one data input 15, and by means of at least a portion of the measurement data 14 which are obtained by means of the sensors 3 to 6. These measurement data 14 can be processed internally by the controller 17 and/or already suitably processed by the respective sensor or measuring device and transferred thereto. The at least one programmable logic controller 17 may include a processor with memory holding programming for carrying out the operations, including control functions, as described herein.
The control data 16 can, for example, be target values of individual consumable parameters 7, 8 and/or individual machine parameters 10, 11 which, for controlling the cooling tower 1, can be compared to the actual values determined by the sensors 3 to 6 in a manner known in principle. However, the control data 16 can also be control signals for directly controlling actuators of the cooling tower 1. For example, the control data 16 can be used to control a fan 18 for transporting ambient air 12 through the cooling tower 1 and/or at least one pump 19 for conveying the process water 12.
The described control functions (or regulation functions) are to be understood as examples of the aforementioned control of the cooling tower 1 and are based upon corresponding programming of the controller 17, which in principle have a known architecture and can comprise input and output functions for operators.
The measurement data 14 are exported and the control data 16 are imported here between the cooling tower 1 and a cross-machine monitoring system 30, which can also be referred to as a condition monitoring tool or so-called watchdog.
The cross-machine monitoring system 30 operates on the basis of a data cloud and can therefore be provided, for example, on external servers.
The export and/or import of the measurement data 14 or of the control data 16 is possible, for example, wirelessly from/to the cooling tower 1. It would also be conceivable to equip individual cooling cells 1a to 1c with their own data outputs 13 and data inputs 15 of the described type in the sense of a modular design of the cooling tower 1 (not shown).
The measurement data 14 sent by the cooling tower 1 can be stored and evaluated in the cross-machine monitoring system 30. On the one hand, these can be assigned to the cooling tower 1 overall and, on the other, to individual cooling processes (production batches) of the cooling tower 1 or the filling plant 100. This enables statistical evaluations of the measurement data 14 even over a plurality of cooling processes in the sense of historical process/plant optimization.
The cross-machine monitoring system 30 can also process measurement data of other process units of the filling plant 100 and compare and/or offset them with measurement data 14 of the cooling tower 1.
For example, the filling plant 100 can comprise: a bottle washing machine 40 for empty bottles; a filling machine 50 for dispensing filling products; a disposal unit 60 for waste water disposal and optionally processing the process water 2; a supply unit 70 for providing a consumable 9 such as, for example, chlorine dioxide; a tunnel pasteurizer 80 assigned to the cooling tower 1; and/or a heat exchange unit 90 in which cooling water for at least one of the mentioned process units is cooled by means of the process water 2 cooled in the cooling tower 1.
Such process units can in each case optionally transmit associated measurement data 44, 54, 64, 74, 84, 94 by corresponding data export to the cross-machine monitoring system 30, wherein these can be consumable and/or machine parameters of the respective process unit.
A cross-machine evaluation of measurement data 14, 44, 54, 64, 74, 84, 94 in the monitoring system 30 is therefore possible, and therefore a correspondingly comprehensive creation and transmission of external control data 16 to the cooling tower 1 is possible.
The cross-machine monitoring system 30 can also work across plants, for example, including measurement data 214, 314 which are transmitted by at least one cooling tower 201, 301 of at least one further filling plant 200, 300. Likewise, measurement data of other process units (not shown) of the corresponding filling plant 200, 300 can be transmitted to the cross-machine monitoring system 30.
By a cross-plant evaluation of measurement data 14, 214, 314 of cooling towers 1, 201, 301 which can be structurally identical with regard to certain specifications, a plurality of measurement data of the described type can be offset with one another and used as the basis for the output of external control data 16 for the cooling tower 1. Numerous empirical values can therefore be used both for cross-machine process and plant optimization within the filling plant 100 and across plants, i.e., taking into account a plurality of filling plants 100, 200, 300.
With the aid of the described export of measurement data 14 and import of external control data 16, machine functions, the supply of consumables, and/or the maintenance of the cooling tower 1 can be automatically controlled remotely, e.g., by the cross-machine monitoring system 30, i.e., by a digital route or by online management.
The sensors 3 to 6 can monitor both consumable parameters 7, 8 such as for example concentrations and/or fill levels of consumables 9, such as for example additives for the process water 2 or the like, also machine parameters 10, 11 which can, for example, be a water temperature, a water quality, a water consumption, an energy consumption, a pump pressure, a filter permeability, or the like.
Likewise, ambient conditions or environmental parameters, e.g., the external air temperature and/or the external air humidity in the region of the cooling tower 1, and/or microbiological parameters, e.g., of the process water 2, can be measured and incorporated as measurement data 14 into the external data evaluation and generation of control data 16.
The detection of the measurement data 14 and the transmission of the control data 16 are therefore possible fully automatically together with the associated control of the cooling tower 1. For example, control signals for individual actuators of the cooling tower 1 can be transmitted directly thereto, and/or operating modes or control programs of the cooling tower 1 can be automatically selected by means of the control data 16.
Measurement data 94 obtained in the downstream cooling or generation of cooling water can also be included in the processing of the measurement data 14 and the generation of the control data 16. For this purpose, the cooling power there can be continuously monitored in production mode, for example. As a result of inadequate cooling power, the cooling tower 1 can automatically react to any deviations from target values by means of the external control data 16.
The cross-machine monitoring system 30 can use self-learning algorithms in order to successively optimize the efficiency of the plant cooling or the maintenance of the cooling tower 1 on the basis of an increasing wealth of experience of measurement data 14.
On the basis of the received measurement data 14, the cross-machine monitoring system 30 can automatically react to specific machine states or fault states of the cooling tower 1 or to evaluations of the measurement data 14 and, for example, carry out a remote diagnosis and/or initiate troubleshooting remotely.
In addition, measurement data 14 from the cooling tower 1 can be directly processed in a manner known in principle, e.g., in the controller 17, in order to generate internal control data (not shown).
With the cooling tower 1 and the described method for the monitoring and control thereof, the process conditions of the plant cooling can be successively improved by an additional evaluation of historical measurement data 14 (earlier cooling processes/production batches). In addition, consumables 9 can be used more efficiently, and their replenishment can be automatically organized reliably and as required.
The collected measured data 14 can in principle be used across sites for comprehensive external data analysis and optimization of cooling processes.
In the described cooling tower 1 or with the described method, machine parameters 10, 11, e.g., relating to the function of drives, the formation of deposits in pipes/lines, the operability of valves, the cooling capacity of individual cooling cells 1a, 1b, 1c, the metering of biocides for disinfection, the function of pumps, the functionality of metering and measuring devices, and the like, can be centrally monitored and optionally optimized automatically.
Possible error sources and the personnel requirement for these purposes can thereby be considerably reduced.
The use of consumables 9 can be correspondingly optimized, e.g., of oxidizing biocides (such as chlorine dioxide or chlorine bleach liquor) or organobiocides/non-oxidizing biocides (such as isothiazolinones) for disinfection of the cooling tower 1 or of the process water 2, the use of cleaning agents, of technical additives such as agents for corrosion protection, for suppressing scale formation or for stabilizing hardness, and/or acids and alkalis for pH regulation. Likewise, the consumption of lubricants, e.g., for drive lubrication, within the cooling tower 1 can be minimized.
By means of the described sensors 3 to 6, for example, the fill level, consumption, and/or a property such as the concentration of certain consumables 9, e.g., of biocides for disinfection, can be monitored. Likewise, for example, a water quality such as pH, visual cleanliness, turbidity, microbiological load, or the like of the process water 2 can be continuously monitored. Tests of the material compatibility are also possible—for example, the corrosiveness of certain consumables 9 in lines and on the inner walls of the cooling tower 1.
On the basis of the measurement data 14, maintenance processes can be automatically requested or initiated, e.g., cleaning the cooling tower 1, wherein the cleaning agents used therefor would then be regarded as consumables 9, or a preparation of process water 2.
The type, collection, and arrangement of the described sensors 3 to 6 and the actuators controlled by means of the control data 16, such as for example the fan 18 and the pump 19, are merely exemplary and representative of other sensors, actuators, and assemblies of cooling towers 1 known in principle. This also applies to the aforementioned consumable parameters 7, 8 and machine parameters 10, 11.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102023113162.1 | May 2023 | DE | national |
