1. Automated Demand Response in Office Buildings: A Field Experiment
To explore the possibility of implementing a demand response (DR) program for commercial buildings in Japan, we studied the impact on load and the customer acceptance of demand response air-conditioning and lighting load control through a field experiment at two office buildings located in the Tokyo Electric Power Company service area in the summer of 2012 and winter of 2013. The summer experiment results show that automated DR (ADR) control can be expected with some certainty to reduce demand, but it decreases the working efficiency of workers on the controlled floors. This implies that advanced ADR control techniques having little effect on working efficiency are needed to gain customers’ acceptance. In the winter experiment, the effectiveness of ADR control in shedding load was unclear, and further research is needed to develop winter DR techniques. We also describe Azbil’s cloud-based services, which provide DR functions.
2. Airflow Management for Data Centers
Optimization of the air conditioning system is important in achieving a balance between energy efficiency and reliable operation of a data center. In particular, airflow management is essential. Since the cooling of IT equipment is a problem related to the reliable operation of the data center, saving energy is not easy. However, it is possible to improve cooling efficiency by eliminating overcooling and hot spots by airflow management. In this article, we describe AdaptivCOOL data center thermal environment solutions that achieve high cooling efficiency and resolve heat problems by airflow control and simulation technology.
3. Development of Plant Energy-Saving Solutions by Raising Awareness — Advancing from “Visible” to “Actionable”
By introducing the concept of “actionable” as an improvement over “visible” we have developed an energy criticalindicator display package that motivates the collective effort of employees in order to save energy. This article describes our efforts made in conjunction with the Environment Promotion Department, a center of energy-saving expertise in the azbil Group, as well as our development themes for the future.
4. Wall-Mounted Building Monitoring System for Enegy Efficiency Support and Equipment Networking
The demand for energy efficiency in small and medium-sized buildings has been increasing every year. Although the savic-net™FX2compact system was developed for small and medium-sized buildings, it offers an energy efficiency support function which is equivalent to those of our company’s top models, making it possible to provide system monitoring and energy control functions which are on the same level as those available for large buildings. This has enabled energy optimization for the whole building. Also, monitoring screen visibility and operability have been improved. This article introduces the savic-netFX2compact system’s energy efficiency support function, system network function, screen design, and operability.
5. An Advanced Process Control Solution Based on Model Predictive Control
This article is concerned with an advanced process control system, and in particular, with the control and optimization technology used in it. A model predictive controller plays a central role in this system. The controller is designed to reduce tuning efforts, which is accomplished by a three-degree-of freedom structure, a control mechanism using a reference trajectory and free response, automatic setup of controller output calculation, and normalized adjustment parameters. Target values for the controller are provided from a steady state optimizer that handles integrating processes by mean of a novel method described in this article. In addition, our solution includes a plant-wide optimization module, which is intended to cooperate with the model predictive controllers. A numerical example illustrates that this cooperation enables optimization of the entire plant, including both steady state and transitional behavior.
6. A Real-Time, Wide-Range Method of Measuring Steam Quality
Measuring steam quality can help to increase the efficiency of industrial heating processes and airconditioning systems. Furthermore, in various industrial applications that use steam for heating or drying, slight changes in steam quality greatly affect the manufacturing process. This article reports on the development of a real-time wide-range steam quality sensor, which makes use of near-infrared light absorption technology.
7. Development of a Sapphire-Based Capacitance Diaphragm Gauge for Atomic Layer Deposition
Recently, with the increasing miniaturization of semiconductor devices, a film deposition technique called atomic layer deposition (ALD) has become a mainstream process in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Excellent step coverage and precise film thickness control are advantages of this film deposition technique. However, because ALD is based on surface chemical reactions, the film can be deposited even inside the capacitance manometer used for vacuum measurement, resulting in sensing error. In this article we describe a new sapphire-based capacitance diaphragm manometer suitable for use with the ALD process, in which the sensor chip and its package design were optimized by means of numerical analysis.
