Airedale has launched Cloud Diagnostics, an advanced HVAC performance management tool available on your phone, tablet or laptop, in response to the pressure operators and facility managers are under when working with cooling equipment that is increasingly critical to business operations.
Airedale has worked with data science experts to develop a new family of cloud-enabled products which can be installed in new and existing equipment like air handling units, chillers and precision air conditioners, allowing them to be connected, monitored and analysed via a secured communication channel to the Airedale Cloud Diagnostics servers. Cloud Diagnostics has been developed to be retrofitted with no disruption to service and offers several key benefits that can really lift the pressure off people tasked with keeping HVAC systems running safely and efficiently.
Leak detection
An emerging feature of the predictive maintenance ability of Cloud Diagnostics is a leak detection algorithm. By being able to recognise the operational features and patterns that signal a leak, detection can occur at very low levels, saving a client significant costs and environmental damage. Most leaks are detected today at around 20%, which is when a drop in performance becomes more obvious to facilities personnel, but in tests Airedale Cloud Diagnostics was able to report a suspected leak at 5%. This early detection has huge implications not only on cost savings, but also safety and environmental targets
Live dashboard
The information gathered by Cloud Diagnostics is reported on a live dashboard, which is available on any internet-connected device, and alerts can be delivered immediately via SMS or email. This allows for any issues to be recognized early and responded to immediately, avoiding disruption and expensive call outs. Data aggregation can be configured to report the latest data received as well as extracting KPIs for a comprehensive visual analysis of the unit’s performance. (e.g. chiller average supply water temperature for last 7 rolling days).
Predictive maintenance
Predictive maintenance is the key to optimising asset management for any critical equipment. HVAC units connected to Cloud Diagnostics are analysed for performance, utilising many algorithms and machine learning techniques, whereby the unit’s performance is measured on a variety of relevant factors which are all analysed for deviations against ‘normalised’ behaviour, both instantaneously and over time as well.
If a drop in performance against operating conditions is detected, this will act as an early warning system for the customer/maintenance team to investigate further. Being able to identify threats and faults in advance of them happening has a huge cost saving benefit, both in terms of emergency repairs, call out fees and downtime costs to the business.
Security
Airedale’s products are part of the critical infrastructure of a building or a data centre and therefore it is imperative that they are secured both from physical and network access. Airedale Cloud Diagnostics has been designed with security in mind, utilising the latest technology and security practices. Access to the Airedale Cloud Diagnostics portal is via a web-based portal with valid SSL certificate, using the same technology as internet banking and other secure portals.
Reece Thomas, Controls product manager for Airedale says, “Airedale Cloud Diagnostics is something I am incredibly excited about, given the huge cost and environmental benefits it can offer our clients. All that is required to connect a piece of equipment to the service is a gateway into the unit for the system to collect and transfer data, some form of internet connection and a 24Vdc power supply.”
Reece continues, “The ability for connected units to be able to learn from and compare against each other utilising intelligent unit modelling means that the performance analysis techniques continually improve and get stronger over time, making things like leak detection a much simpler and more efficient process”
Reece concludes, “Another benefit of sharing data anonymously is that Airedale can use the data collected to analyse and determine how to better improve our products based on actual customer usage profiles. The benefits to this are endless and our clients can be absolutely assured of security and anonymity.”
