Remote monitoring system for chillers "RISSA"
Aiming for energy savings in buildings using RISSA, a remote monitoring system for chillers
Contributing to the achievement of SDGs by conserving energy in large buildings
Global warming is a major theme of the SDGs. What can we do in our daily lives to prevent global warming? Changing our means of transportation to walking or biking. Contracting with power companies that use renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. One of the most common measures may be saving power. This refers to reducing our power consumption and CO2 emissions from power generation. Air conditioners in particular consume a great deal of energy in our homes. In addition to appropriate temperature settings, maintenance, such as cleaning dirty filters to maintain air conditioning performance, can also contribute to achieving SDGs.
What if the air conditioner is not for domestic use, but a large building? It is said that more than 40% of the energy consumed in office buildings is for "air conditioning," and maintenance of related equipment is a major step toward becoming carbon neutral due to its enormous energy-saving effects. We hold top market share for chillers and chiller-heaters, a core component used in high-power air conditioners used for temperature control in large facilities. However, these devices, which can be several meters long and tall, are far from easy to maintain.
Chillers are installed in all kinds of buildings, including stores, hospitals, public facilities, offices, factories and district heat supply facilities that provide air conditioning to multiple buildings collectively. Air conditioning is being used around the clock and each chiller inside it is affected by a different environment.
Developed "RISSA" to remotely monitor conditions
How can we ensure that they are constantly maintained to operate safely? EBARA has been exploring ways to remotely monitor the status of its products. This started in the 1980s. We used to record the operation status of chillers using control panels and sensors and check the data from the control center through a wired line every 30 minutes. In the event of an unexpected failure, an alert was issued, and EBARA’s engineers rushed to the site. This was a system established at a time when the Internet was not yet widespread.
These services were updated in 2022 as technology evolved. A new remote maintenance system for chillers, RISSA, monitors equipment status each minute via LTE and greatly increases the number of items that sensors can measure. The issue that RISSA seeks to resolve is to update maintenance work.
Currently, the replacement of parts in chillers is scheduled based on the years of operation, requiring a patterned inspection every few months. Periodic inspections prevent unexpected problems, and in the event of a problem, our engineers use measuring equipment and their five senses to diagnose equipment based on sound and vibration. If this work can be replaced by technology, it will be equivalent to periodic inspections every day and reduce the burden of daily inspections performed by customers, leading to further labor savings.
Aiming for "whole-city" energy savings while preventing breakdowns
RISSA can detect signs of failure with high accuracy, which can be managed by trends such as temperature and pressure data inside the chiller. This also contributes to energy savings. In the future, AI will be used to analyze big data, such as the operation data of chillers, to optimize the operation data of each system and minimize energy consumption by chillers and peripheral equipment. Our expertise in chillers, cooling towers, and pumps enables us to propose energy-saving ideas for total optimization.
We have also launched a data platform to manage these functions in the cloud. The EBARA Maintenance Cloud, commercialized in November 2022, is a cloud service that provides comprehensive monitoring of the facility environment through sensors installed in a range of equipment. It can monitor devices such as pumps, fans, and cooling towers. Linking the EBARA Maintenance Cloud to RISSA allows users to perform integrated monitoring and data utilization in facilities where multiple pieces of equipment are connected, thereby contributing to labor savings. Through the establishment of a maintenance network, we endeavor to make substantial progress in energy conservation across entire cities while preventing accidents through individually optimized part replacement.
Link to reference article: EBARA Maintenance Cloud
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