PilotE² Permafrost

PilotE² Permafrost calculates the performance of thermodynamic refrigeration or heat pump cycles based on the principles of thermodynamics.

It is a combination of direct and indirect methods, as it uses the best of both. It uses the direct method to determine the instantaneous efficiency and also calculates the evaporator and condenser energy to determine the useful demand.

It uses only ten measurement points in a basic cycle: one electric meter, two pressure sensors (compressor high and low) and five temperature sensors.

PilotE² Permafrost is more reliable, complete and accurate than other methods. It allows the following KPIs to be calculated:

• Heat and Cooling Power (kW).
• COP/ EER coefficient of performance
• Overall System Efficiency
• Compressor Isentropic Efficiency
• Condenser Efficiency
• Evaporator Efficiency
• Electrical Energy Consumption
• Flow Rate, Power and Air/Water
• Temperature Delta
• Superheat/Supercooling Values

PilotE² Permafrost is an open solution that allows a simple and secure connection to any cloud platform to which data is sent via MQTT, such as Amazon Web Services. This is how it integrates with our energy intelligence platform, Cirrus AI, which uses artificial intelligence algorithms to optimise the plant’s operating point at any given moment for optimal consumption.

Articae requires numerous solutions encompassed within a framework of cutting-edge technology, such as:

• Industry 4.0: Applied to refrigeration. This includes the use of automation, industrial IoT, digital twin, cloud computing, big data and AI and data science.
• Artificial intelligence and data science: Articae develops its own algorithms based on Neural Networks and Machine Learning for multi-objective optimisation.
• Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT): We use industrial IoT gateways and IoT communication protocols (MQTT, OPC UA) for communication with the AWS platform in the cloud.
• Cloud computing: We work with AWS for the development of Cirrus AI. In addition our Energy Management SaaS, Cirrus EMS, is also hosted in the cloud.
• Big Data: We use large volumes of data to create the plant models and to train the algorithms.
• Digital twin: We create a digital model of the physical plant that is shared in the same way as the physical plant and allows us to train the optimisation methods before transferring them to the plant control system.

PilotE² Permafrost sends data to the Cirrus EMS platform. Cirrus EMS is a cloud-based SaaS software with many advanced features and tools for energy and cost analysis, dashboards, reports, KPIs, IPMVP projects and much more.

PilotE² Permafrost is an HVAC&R plant monitoring system, capable of sending email alerts in case of thresholds or malfunctioning events. Using HTML5 web applications, operators or maintenance staff can access from any connected device to monitor the plant in real time.

PilotE² Permafrost is a customised adaptive control system for each installation that aims to optimise the energy performance of the systems being optimised, adapting the operating point to the most optimal operating conditions at all times.

It communicates with Cirrus AI, via MQTT protocol, which calculates the optimal operating parameters in real time and relays them to the PLC or SCADA of the plant dynamically to maximise overall performance:

• Compressor operating sequence
• Start and stop setpoints
• Operating setpoints (pressures, temperatures, etc.)

Conventional control VS Adaptive control

A conventional control system is designed to adjust linear and time invariant systems. This approximation is true for fixed operating points with small fluctuations. When this approximation is no longer true, the behaviour of conventional controllers is no longer good and the systems start to work at a non-optimal operating point, resulting in a loss of performance and, therefore, an increase in consumption. Adaptive control, on the other hand, is able to adapt by changing its control parameters, maintaining good control of the process.