EP-4739918-A1 - METHOD FOR CONFIGURING A PUMP, PUMP FOR BEING CONFIGURED BY IMPLEMENTING SUCH A METHOD AND SYSTEM COMPRISING SUCH A PUMP

Abstract

The method (101) comprises: - (101) reading an identifier of a first pump, - (102) searching said identifier in a table matching identifiers of pumps with respective pump type codes, - (104) retrieving from the table a pump type code corresponding to said identifier, - (106) inputting said pump type code into a second pump, A plurality of pump performance curves is stored in the second pump. The method (101) further comprises: (108) selecting, among the plurality of pump performance curves, at least one set of pump performance curves corresponding to said pump type code.

Inventors

• VORGOD LAURSEN, Jesper
• DANIELSEN, CARL-CHRISTIAN
• BECH-LISBERG, Ole

Assignees

• Grundfos Holding A/S

Dates

Publication Date

20260513

Application Date

20240926

Claims (1)

1. Claims 1. A method (101) for configuring a pump (21), preferably a circulation pump, the method (101) comprising: (102) reading an identifier (3) of a first pump (1), (104) searching said identifier (3) in a table matching identifiers of pumps with respective pump type codes, (106) retrieving from the table a pump type code corresponding to said identifier (3), (108) inputting said pump type code into a second pump (21), wherein a plurality of pump performance curves is stored in the second pump (21), and wherein the method (101) further comprises: (110) selecting, among the plurality of pump performance curves, at least one set (300, 310) of pump performance curves corresponding to said pump type code. 2. Method (101) according to claim 1, further comprising: (112) configuring the second pump (21) to work according to said set of pump performance curves. 3. Method (101) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said plurality of pump performance curves includes data comprising: values of motor rotation speeds of a motor (22) of the second pump (21), a predefined maximum value for the motor rotation speeds, a predefined minimum value for the motor rotation speeds, values of hydraulic heads of the second pump (21), and values of motor power limits, each value of motor rotation speed being inferior to a respective value of motor power limit at a given value of hydraulic head, wherein said selecting of at least one set (300; 310) of pump performance curves comprises associating said values of hydraulic heads with said values of motor rotation speeds. 4. Method (101) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said plurality of pump performance curves includes i) a mathematical model, ii) values of motor rotation speeds of a motor of the second pump (21), and iii) values of motor power limits, and wherein said selecting (110) of at least one set (300; 310) of pump performance curves comprises applying the mathematical model to values of motor rotation speeds of a motor of the pump so as to calculate values of hydraulic heads of the pump, each value of motor rotation speed being inferior to a respective value of motor power limit at a given value of hydraulic head. 5. Method (101) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said set of pump performance curves comprises three or more pump performance curves (301, 302, 303; 311, 312, 313), and wherein said values of motor rotation speeds are associated with said values of hydraulic heads such that said three or more pump performance curves (301, 302, 303; 311, 312, 313) are substantially equally spaced, more preferably equally spaced, in a diagram representing points of said three or more pump performance curves (301, 302, 303; 311, 312, 313), for example in a head-flowrate diagram, at a motor rotation speed close to or equal to zero. 6. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said set (300; 310) of pump performance curves comprises a number of pump performance curves ranging from one to nine, preferably from two to five, more preferably equal to three. 7. Method (101) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said selecting of at least one set (300;310) of pump performance curves is performed by actuating a user interface (26), the user interface (26) being preferably arranged on the second pump (21), the user interface (26) including a single button (28), for example a touch button or a touchless button or a tactile button, the single button (28) being preferably configured for shuffling within numbers displayed on the user interface (26) by an increment of one for each shuffling. 8. Method (101) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: displaying (116) said pump type code on a display (29), the display (29) being configured to display two or three symbols, preferably two, the symbols being for example digits or hexadecimal symbols, the display (29) being preferably arranged on the second pump (21). 9. Method (101) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reading (102) is performed with a readout device (51), the readout device (51) being preferably a handheld readout device, forexample a smartphone or a tablet, and wherein the readout device (51) includes a software application configured: for operating the searching (104) of the identifier in the table, for operating the retrieving (106) from the table a pump type code, and/or for operating the inputting (108) of the pump type code into the second pump, the readout device (51) and the second pump (21) having respective communication ports suitable for sharing data. 10. A pump (21), preferably a circulation pump, comprising a display (29), the pump (21) being designed to be configured by implementing a method (101) according to any one of the preceding claims, a plurality of pump performance curves being stored in the pump (21). 11. A system (201) comprising a pump (21) according to claim 10 and a readout device (51), preferably a handheld readout device.

Description

METHOD FOR CONFIGURING A PUMP, PUMP FOR BEING CONFIGURED BY IMPLEMENTING SUCH A METHOD AND SYSTEM COMPRISING SUCH A PUMP FIELD [0001] The present disclosure is directed to a method for configuring a pump. The present disclosure is further directed to a pump designed to be configured by implementing such a method. The present disclosure is also directed to a system comprising such a pump. [0002] The present disclosure is in the field of pumps and methods for configuring such pumps, in particular circulation pumps for hydraulic installations, installations for heating or circulating hot water. BACKGROUND [0003] Usually, in order to replace a first pump in a hydraulic installation by a second pump to be connected to the hydraulic installation, a service person must first carry out a configuration method comprising analyzing the first pump to retrieve its working parameters and then configuring the second pump based on the working parameters retrieved from the first pump. As the hydraulic installations come in many different configurations, there can be many possible sets of working parameters, which complicates the configuration method. [0004] Some known replacing pumps (second pumps) can be provided with a given number of pump curves, from which a user can choose. However, it happens often that these pump curves only approximate the actual working parameters of the first pump that is to be replaced. This also complicates the configuration method, and it might decrease the efficiency or even the service life of the hydraulic installation. Further, the manufacturer or dealer of pumps must make a large number of pumps with various characteristics available for the users to be able to configure the second pump correctly. [0005] A huge number of pump curves would be required to allow a replacing pump to mimic the many possible working parameters of all existing first pumps. However, providing a pump with such a huge number of pump curves would require a costly memory for the second pump to store a very large batch of data. Further, it might be long and complicated for the service person to configure the second pump and find the suitable pump curves among a huge number of pump curves. This might require a costly and cumbersome user interface for helping the user navigate all the pump curves. [0006] There is thus a need to provide a simplified configuration method and a more versatile replacing pump, while maintaining a reasonable cost, serviceability and/or footprint of the pump. SUMMARY [0007] It is thus a first object of the present invention to provide a versatile method for configuring a pump that can be operated easily and that allows for the replacement of many existing pumps, yet at reasonable cost, serviceability and/or footprint of the pump. According to this object, it is provided a method for configuring a pump, preferably a circulation pump, the method comprising: - reading an identifier of a first pump, - searching said identifier in a table matching identifiers of pumps with respective pump type codes, - retrieving from the table a pump type code corresponding to said identifier, - inputting said pump type code into a second pump, wherein a plurality of pump performance curves is stored in the second pump, and wherein the method further comprises: - selecting, among the plurality of pump performance curves, at least one set of pump performance curves corresponding to said pump type code. [0008] Thus, the analysis of the first pump can be made easily, and the plurality of pump performance curves stored in the second pump enables to mimic a large number of first pumps. Preferably, the first pump may be a pump to be replaced and the second pump may be a replacement pump. The first or second pump may be a pump driving a mixing loop, a boiler pump or a stand-alone circulator pump positioned outside a boiler or other appliance for circulating water in a heating system. [0009] According to an embodiment, the method may further comprise: configuring the second pump to work according to said set of pump performance curves. [0010] Thus, once the second pump is configured, it can work like the first pump, for example in a hydraulic installation. [0011] According to an embodiment, said plurality of pump performance curves may include data comprising: - values of motor rotation speeds of a motor of the second pump, - a predefined maximum value for the motor rotation speeds, - a predefined minimum value for the motor rotation speeds, - values of hydraulic heads of the second pump, and - values of motor power limits, each value of motor rotation speed being inferior to a respective value of motor power limit at a given value of hydraulic head, wherein said selecting of at least one set of pump performance curves may comprise associating said values of hydraulic heads with said values of motor rotation speeds. [0012] Thus, such values can define many pump performance curves for controlling the second pump. The m