Other

Monitek, Inc.

University of Colorado

Qcoefficient, Inc

Concepts Eti, Inc.

Vincent J Cushing

Gregor P Henze

Charles D Corbin

David M Karon

Gregory S Pavlak

Sandro Plamp

Sandeep K Patel

Building energy consumption is controlled by operating energy consumptive devices according to a control plan determined by: using a software building model to simulate building behavior over a simulation period in accordance with predicted circumstances and in accordance with multiple control plans; for at least one of the control plans, re-simulating building behavior a plurality of times each with a different perturbation imposed, with each perturbation corresponding to a different degree of participation in a grid market, to thereby determine an amount of participation in the grid market available to the building; resimulating building behavior a plurality of times imposing said determined participation amount as a constraint; and selecting an optimal control plan based on the last round of resimulations. The selected optimal control plan may also be derived through combining buildings or energy response attributes associated with different buildings to form synthetic resources for optimal deployment to the grid.

Systems and methods using decision analysis for controlling energy consumption and facilitating building participation in ancillary energy markets

Buildings or facilities containing energy consuming or energy generating devices may be optimized for efficient energy usage and distribution. Energy consumption or generation by a building or components may be controlled by a system comprising a building model for predicting behavior of the building given predicted future conditions and possible control inputs. An optimization component running an optimization algorithm in conjunction with the building model may evaluate the predicted building behavior in accordance with at least one criterion and determine a desired set of control inputs. Commercial building thermal mass may be harnessed to continuously and optimally integrate large commercial building HVAC operations with electric grid operations and markets in large metropolitan areas. The service may be deployed using scalable, automated, web-based technology.

Integration of commercial building operations with electric system operations and markets

An electromagnetic flow meter (EMFM) accurately measures both the complete flow rate and the dynamically fluctuating flow rate of a fluid by applying a unipolar DC voltage to excitation coils for a predetermined period of time, measuring the electric potential at a pair of electrodes, determining a complete flow rate and independently measuring the dynamic flow rate during the 'on' cycle of the DC excitation, and correcting the measurements for errors resulting from galvanic drift and other effects on the electric potential. The EMFM can also correct for effects from the excitation circuit induced during operation of the EMFM.

Electromagnetic flow meter having a driver circuit including a current transducer

An electromagnetic flowmeter works with insulating liquids, and includes circuitry for handle drifting zero-point offset and triboelectric noise occurring in turbulently flowing dielectrics. Two signal processing schemes are presented&#x2014;using high frequency induction and low frequency induction, but instead of measuring total voltage, the processor senses total voltage differentials, smooths the differentials, then integrates (sums) them such that the three components of total voltage are articulated&#x2014;and, importantly, the flow voltage component itself is measured.

Comprehensive electromagnetic flowmeter

Each wheel of an inline roller skate incorporates multiple tires, with a center tire allowing straight-ahead skating and the two side tires allowing maneuvering forces. Leaning the skate such that none of the tires makes good contact with the skating surface causes the skater to skid sideways. By increasing the roll angle, the skater engages more sideways friction of the side tires, and comes to a controlled stop. By modulating the roll angle, a skilled skater can control the rate of deceleration. An added nose wheel allows the skater to tilt toward the toe, like an ice skater, to reduce straight line contact with the skating surface, and enable curvilinear skating.

Inline roller skate and wheel construction

A flowmeter for measuring the volumetric discharge in an open channel makes two measurements: (1) velocity at a fixed point, and (2) fluid level. A level-discharge function which is a function of level alone is then generated in response to the measured level, and the discharge function and velocity measurement are multiplied to obtain the volumetric discharge. For more accuracy, in a conduit through which fluid is flowing, a single velocity measurement at a point has a value v.sub.s, from which is inferred the effects of velocity profile in the conduit. A flowmeter in a second embodiment makes use of this such that a level-velocity-discharge function directly produces the volumetric discharge, using inputs from the velocity and level signals. In a third embodiment, when the conduit is full, the level measurement is dispensed with, and a velocity-discharge function directly produces the volumetric discharge, using input from the velocity sensor.

Open channel flowmeter

A voltage to frequency converter or conditioner adapted for use with electromagnetic flowmeters produces a signal whose output frequency is related to measured flow while compensating for power frequency interference and variations in magnet current or magnetic induction B. The driving signal is summed with a feedback signal and coupled to a sampling integrator which drives the detector. The output of the detector (which may be integrated) is provided as the input to a VCO for producing the desired output signal. The VCO output is also coupled into a feedback circuit to which is also coupled a reference voltage which is at least proportional to the magnetic induction B or magnet current I. In one embodiment of the invention, an up/down counter is up counted using the VCO's output as a clock for a fixed time and is then down counted by a clocking signal related to power main's frequency. The time required for the down count operation is used to meter the feedback voltage to the summing junction at the input of the integrating sampler. This metering of the feedback voltage may be eliminated by the use of a multiplying DAC which produces an analog voltage corresponding to the product of the reference voltage and the count attained in the up/down counter which is modified so as to eliminate the necessity for down counting and is rather reset at the beginning of each integration period.

Signal conditioner for electromagnetic flowmeter

An electromagnetic flow meter includes a preamplifier with extremely long time constant to achieve wide band operation. To alleviate undesirably long recovery from transients and the like, an effective dc bias is obtained by periodically resetting the bias levels. The invention is applicable outside the field of electromagnetic flow meters.

Electromagnetic flow meter with wide band preamplifier

An electromagnetic fluid flow meter includes a probe or spool type transducer whose output is coupled through a preamplifier to a sampling switch. The output of the sampling switch is processed by a signal processing amplifier and then coupled through a phase sensitive demodulator to utilization circuits. To reduce the effect of spurious signals, a storage device is connected at the output of the phase sensor demodulator, such as a capacitor. The effect of the spurious voltages is eliminated by first detecting the presence of a spurious voltage or occurrence of an event capable of producing a spurious voltage and then disabling the phase sensitive demodulator so that the signal previously applied to the utilization circuits, which is also stored on the storage device, is maintained during the presence of the spurious voltages. In one form of the invention in which the electromagnetic flow meter is of the spool type, spurious voltages may be induced by triboelectric effects. Such voltages are sensed by comparing the absolute value of the signal against a reference. In another embodiment in which the flow meter may be of a probe type suspended in an open channel, spurious signals may be induced by vertical motion of the probe. Vertical velocity, when sensed, produces a signal to disable the phase sensitive demodulator. The disablement may be for either a predetermined period of time or only so long as the spurious voltage exists.

Electromagnetic fluid flow meter with tolerance to spurious signals

A probe type magnetic flow meter is arranged for accurate measurement in environments which exhibit debris especially debris which is of a character which may tend to cling to the probe. The probe, which has a longitudinal axis, is mounted to be immersed in the flowing liquid medium, and is constrained by a coupling so that the angle between the longitudinal axis and a direction perpendicular to direction of flow of the flowing medium is an acute angle of at least a predetermined magnitude, for example, at least 45.degree.. Typically, the probe may be attached to a mounting collar or rod which is, in turn, supported by an adapter which may then be slip-fit into a pipe and some or all of these components, in addition to the probe itself, may be immersed in the flowing liquid medium. The leading edge of all apparatus immersed in the flowing liquid medium is arranged in such a way that debris contacting this apparatus is subjected to natural force from the flowing liquid medium resulting in motion of the debris in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the transducer until the debris reaches the furthest extent of the probe and is shed. Embodiments are disclosed wherein the probe measures velocity and open channel flow or in pressure flow, for example, in a full conduit.

Probe type electromagnetic flow meter with debris shedding capability

An electromagnetic flow transducer capable of mounting onto any selected point of a continuous cable without requiring the cable to be cut. The flow transducer has a housing, which surrounds the cable, having an appropriate hydrodynamic shape to minimize the disturbance to the flow sought to be measured. The housing also includes magnetic field producing means therein as well as a plurality of sensing electrodes mounted on, or extending slightly beyond, the surface of the housing. The cable onto which the transducer is mounted may perform the function of supporting the transducer, and any other transducers mounted below it, as well as transmitting signals to surface mounted apparatus or power therefrom to one or more of the transducers. In the alternative, the cable may only perform the function of transmitting signals to surface mounted apparatus and/or power therefrom, or it may be employed solely to support the transducer as well as any other transducers mounted below it.

Clamp on electromagnetic flow transducer

An electromagnetic water current meter includes a cylindrical transducer body of circular cross-section with two pairs of electrodes, each pair of electrodes rotated 90.degree. around the transducer axis with respect to the other pair. Each electrode extends beyond the surface of the body of the transducer and each pair of electrodes lie in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the transducer. The planes of each of the pairs of electrodes are offset with respect to each other preferably by a distance equal to the diameter of the transducer. Each electrode is preferably of the form of a truncated cone.

Electromagnetic water current meter with staggered stick out electrodes

An electromagnetic water current meter has associated therewith apparatus to provide an artificially generated field having a direction of predetermined orientation relative to a known coordinate system. In addition to the conventional signal processing apparatus associated with the electromagnetic water current meter, additional signal processing apparatus is provided to produce signals related to the orthogonal components of the artificial field relative to the unknown orientation of the transducer. Signal responsive means is provided which responds to the electromagnetic water current outputs, as well as to the signals representative of the orthogonal components of the artificial field to produce output signals representative of the flow velocity in a coordinate system determined by the direction of the artificial field.

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Deerfield, IL, United States of America

Vincent J Cushing