Systems and methods for monitoring electrical components of a chiller system

Abstract

A monitoring system is configured to monitor an environment within an enclosure of a heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and/or refrigeration (HVAC&R) system. The monitoring system includes a sensor configured to acquire data indicative of an environmental parameter value within the enclosure. The monitoring system also includes a controller configured to receive the data from the sensor, to determine occurrence of a thermal event within the enclosure based on the data, and to instruct a circuit breaker of the HVAC&R system to transition to a fault configuration in response to determining the occurrence of the thermal event.

1 . A monitoring system configured to monitor an environment within an enclosure of a heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and/or refrigeration (HVAC&R) system, comprising:
 a sensor configured to acquire data indicative of an environmental parameter value within the enclosure; and   a controller configured to:
 receive the data from the sensor; 
 determine occurrence of a thermal event within the enclosure based on the data; and 
 instruct a circuit breaker of the HVAC&R system to transition to a fault configuration in response to determining the occurrence of the thermal event. 
   
     
     
         2 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the data comprises a concentration of carbon monoxide within the enclosure. 
     
     
         3 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the data comprises a concentration of particulate matter suspended in air within the enclosure. 
     
     
         4 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , comprising the circuit breaker, wherein the circuit breaker is configured to monitor a magnitude of electric current directed through the circuit breaker to an electrical component of the HVAC&R system, and wherein the circuit breaker is configured to transition to an open circuit configuration to interrupt flow of electric current to the electrical component in response to the magnitude exceeding a threshold value. 
     
     
         5 . The monitoring system of  claim 4 , wherein, in the open circuit configuration, the circuit breaker is configured to direct electric current from a power supply to the controller. 
     
     
         6 . The monitoring system of  claim 5 , wherein, in the fault configuration, the circuit breaker is configured to interrupt flow of electric current from the power supply to the controller and to interrupt flow of electric current to the electrical component. 
     
     
         7 . The monitoring system of  claim 6 , comprising an indicator configured to provide a visual indication indicative of the occurrence of the thermal event in response to interruption of the flow of electric current to the controller. 
     
     
         8 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the occurrence of the thermal event in response to a determination that the data from the sensor is indicative of the environmental parameter value exceeding a threshold value. 
     
     
         9 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the occurrence of the thermal event in response to a determination that the data from the sensor is indicative of the environmental parameter value exceeding a threshold value for a predetermined time interval. 
     
     
         10 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to transmit an alert message to an electronic device in response to determining the occurrence of the thermal event. 
     
     
         11 . The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises:
 a housing; and   a magnet coupled to the housing, wherein the magnet is configured to enable removable mounting of the sensor to the enclosure.   
     
     
         12 . A method, comprising:
 acquiring, via one or more sensors, data indicative of an environmental parameter value within an enclosure of a heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and/or refrigeration (HVAC&R) system;   determining, via a controller, occurrence of a thermal event within the enclosure based on the data; and   instructing, via the controller, a circuit breaker of the HVAC&R system to transition to a fault configuration in response to determining the occurrence of the thermal event.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein determining the occurrence of the thermal event comprises determining, via the controller, the occurrence of the thermal event based on the environmental parameter value exceeding a threshold value at an instance in time or based on the environmental parameter value exceeding the threshold value for a predetermined time interval. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein instructing the circuit breaker to transition to the fault configuration comprises causing, via the controller, the circuit breaker to interrupt a flow of electric current from a power supply to an electrical component disposed within the enclosure. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein acquiring the data comprises monitoring, via the one or more sensors, a first concentration of carbon monoxide within the enclosure, a second concentration of particulate matter suspended in air within the enclosure, or both. 
     
     
         16 . A heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and/or refrigeration (HVAC&R) system, comprising:
 a circuit breaker configured to direct an electric current from a power supply to an electrical component disposed within an enclosure of the HVAC&R system;   a sensor configured to acquire data indicative of an environmental parameter within the enclosure; and   a controller configured to:
 receive the data from the sensor; 
 determine occurrence of a thermal event within the enclosure based on the data; and 
 instruct the circuit breaker to transition to a fault configuration to interrupt flow of the electric current to the electrical component in response to determining the occurrence of the thermal event. 
   
     
     
         17 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 16 , wherein the circuit breaker is configured to transition to an open circuit configuration to interrupt the flow of the electric current to the electrical component in response to a magnitude of the electric current exceeding a threshold value. 
     
     
         18 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 17 , wherein the circuit breaker is configured to direct an additional electric current from the power supply to the controller in the open circuit configuration and to block flow of the additional electric current from the power supply to the controller in the fault configuration. 
     
     
         19 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 18 , comprising an indicator configured to provide a visual indication indicative of the occurrence of the thermal event in response to interruption in the flow of the additional electric current to the controller. 
     
     
         20 . The HVAC&R system of  claim 16 , comprising an additional sensor configured to acquire additional data indicative of the environmental parameter within the enclosure, wherein the controller is configured to determine the occurrence of the thermal event in response to:
 the data from the sensor indicating that a value of the environmental parameter exceeds a threshold value; and   the additional data from the additional sensor indicating that the value of the environmental parameter exceeds the threshold value.