Associations
INTEGRATED DEVICES FOR SMALL QUANTITIES OF DATA Integrated devices offer more complex designs , allowing the user to gain more access to more data in a single device . The previous systems were always one to one : one bottle cooler , one controller , one data point . Now in a hospital , for instance , with five packaged air conditioning units on the roof , now you ’ re connecting multiple devices to a single point . It ’ s a more expensive system but collectively it ' s cheaper . A Modbus RF45 , a serial connection data chain from the physical connections to upload files to the cloud for data capture .
Different brands of ACs all spit out data in different ways but the Modbus system allows us to accept multiple different brands of the units into the same suite in the same system . These devices do not need the customer ’ s network in order to function . In that way , it solves the customer ' s problem and solves your problem as well at the same time . Each device can support up to 10 controllers of all different brands with up to 300 bulk variables – set points , temperatures , alarms and the like – making it perfect for packet units installations , where multiple devices can be connected to a single point .
This information is collected from the local devices , packaged and sent to the cloud for storage . You cannot access the data directly from the onsite devices – only online . Access to the data is only from the cloud . You can also write the set points from the cloud .
It ' s therefore important that we remain compliant with cyber security being one of the biggest key risks right now . All the data is protected using encryption keys . Within these cloud-based platforms you can define different communities which enables management of who can view the data . This is important to customer relations .
If you ' re on your cell phone , tablet or computer it will change the interface to suit : more compact without full functionality , or the expanded version .
DATA COLLECTION FOR RETAIL OR LARGE QUANTITY DEVICES This particular cloud solution is based around retail – but doesn ' t mean it has to be only retail . It is suited to the scale of retail with possibly 140 fridges or 200 devices on a single site . Other systems would not cope with the sheer scale . That ' s why IoT with dashboards for thermodynamic analytics , alarms and energy makes the data relatable for humans to turn data into action . This is the biggest reason for doing IoT in the first place . This solution is like a master monitoring system for all your monitoring systems in the field . It is the master BMS system that we have .
The key reasons for this form of data collection are : ȃ Knowledge of the systems throughout the dedicated training ȃ Improving performance through system design support ȃ Guaranteed performance for proper system configuration
The attendees at the SAIRAC Tech Talk hosted at ACRA on 16 March 2023 .
ȃ Total control over the system through our digital platforms , and ȃ Continuous optimisation through thermodynamic energy consultancies
This latter point works by taking a group ’ s worst site and improving its performance , then the next worst site and so on - thus you constantly move the goalpost and improve energy consumption , making them less expensive to run .
There are 20 000 systems globally connected to this cloud solution , with over 650 000 controllers within that environment , two million variables and one trillion data points being analysed . Customers are able to see which sites are hurting performance and which ones are doing well . It allows a retailer which has say five different types of technologies , to identify that three work well , but the other two not so much , thereby allowing the retailer to shift towards what works best with the business . One of the biggest improvements has proven to be a 50 % reduction in operating costs by cutting labour and visibility of the problem .
It also helps with identifying which stores need a revamp and which can be left alone – by studying their thermodynamic and energy consumption savings , spotting the outliers such as human behaviour around individual fridges . We can often narrow an issue down to the behaviour of a single person not shutting a door properly .
This is not just retail but opens the door to a total store solution , but full BMS : refrigeration , light , air conditioning , heating , racking , switchboard , energy usage , potentially expanding into generators , solar , UPS management , battery life monitoring and such .
Cybersecurity is an issue , and the architecture will optimise infrastructure to guarantee information is protected through encrypted data , using protocols that comply with the most strategic security standards for the development of advanced filtering and hosted by the massive global infrastructure of Amazon servers . RACA
www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I May 2023 15