Sophisticated Heat Pump Air-Conditioning Technologies for Environment Creation

Market Expansion of Products Using Heat Pump Technologies
KUBO Toru

Trends in Air-Conditioning Systems, Hot-Water Supply Systems, and Heat Source Equipment Utilizing Environmentally Friendly Heat Pump Technologies
SUZUKI Hideaki
In the field of air-conditioning systems in recent years, products with high energy-saving performance have been developed based on core technologies including compressors, inverters, and refrigerant cycle systems, in particular, heat pumps are considered to be a renewable energy utilization technology in Japan and Europe. Products using heat pump technologies are expected to play a key role in reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the commercial and industrial sectors.
To address global environmental issues, Toshiba Carrier Corporation is making efforts not only to provide high energy-saving air-conditioning systems to the global market but also to develop high-efficiency heat source equipment for industrial fields such as heat pump chillers to reduce CO₂ emissions.

"SMMS-e Series" Multiple Air-Conditioner Systems for Building Use Meeting Global Market Requirements
KITANO Ryuji / YAMANE Hiromasa / INADA Yuji
In line with the expansion of the global market for multiple air-conditioning systems for building use, it has become necessary to actively meet specific customer requirements in each region.
Toshiba Carrier Corporation has been developing the "SMMS-e series" multiple air-conditioning systems for building use optimizing the specifications for each region based on a common platform incorporating the world's top-class technologies for energy saving and reduction of the burden on the environment. In order to enhance the competitiveness of these products in each region, we have incorporated a continuous heating technology into our European models and a technology to raise the upper limit of outside air temperature from 43°C to 52°C into our Middle Eastern models.

"Universal Smart X 3-Series" Air-Cooled Heat Pump Unit Offering Improved Energy Saving and Value-Added Functions
MUROI Kunio / UNNO Hirokazu / AOKI Toshimasa
Air-conditioning systems for business and industrial use have recently been required to provide higher performance and functionality in order to reduce the burden on the environment.
Toshiba Carrier Corporation has now developed the "Universal Smart X 3-Series" a module type air-cooled heat pump chilling unit that has achieved the highest operating efficiency in the industry and provides high-value-added functions including an enhanced harmonic suppression function and 99% power factor operation for the first time in the industry. The Universal Smart X 3-Series not only contributes to further reduction of the environmental burden, but also to reductions in installation space and cost by eliminating the need for additional harmonic suppression and power supply facilities when introducing inverter heat pump units. Due to these advantages, inverter heat pump units can be easily installed as a replacement for conventional heat source equipment in various locations.

"Ultra Power Eco Series" Air Conditioners for Retail Stores and Office Buildings in Japanese Market with Enhanced Energy Efficiency and Operating Temperature Range
NAKANO Hidekazu / SEITO Masaya / GAJINA Kenji
Toshiba Carrier Corporation has developed and released the "Ultra Power Eco series" air conditioners for retail stores and office buildings in the Japanese market. The Ultra Power Eco series achieves industry-leading levels of energy-saving performance significantly exceeding the target values specified by the Revised Energy Saving Law enforced from fiscal year 2015. In addition, the operating temperature range of the outdoor units has been expanded to a maximum outdoor temperature of 52°C for cooling and a minimum outdoor temperature of -27°C for heating. As a countermeasure against global warming, the models in this series utilize R32, a new refrigerant that has a lower global warming potential (GWP) compared with the conventional R410A refrigerant. The indoor unit of the Ultra Power Eco series is equipped with a newly designed 4-way cassette type ceiling panel that is 30 mm thick, the thinnest in the industry, and employs a straight and perpendicular line design. This contributes to energy saving and a comfortable indoor environment.

"ESTIA 4 Series" Residential CO₂ Refrigerant Heat Pump Hot-Water Supply System Complying with Energy-Saving "Top Runner" Standards
ANDO Fumiya / WAKATSUKI Kazuhito / YAGUCHI Masahiko
Since carbon dioxide (CO₂) refrigerant heat pump hot-water supply systems in the residential market were added as one of the energy-saving "top runner" target products in March 2013 in Japan, each company in the industry has been working on the further improvement of energy-saving performance.
Toshiba Carrier Corporation has developed the "ESTIA 4 Series" CO₂ refrigerant heat pump hot-water supply system for the residential market, based on its proprietary energy-saving technologies for premium models of the "ESTIA 3 Series," which received the 2014 Energy Conservation Grand Prize. By further improving the efficiency of both hot-water production and heat utilization, all models of the ESTIA 4 Series have achieved the energy-saving target standard values two years ahead of the originally scheduled 2017.

Heat Recovery Type Heat Pump Modules Using Low-Temperature Waste Heat and Unused Energy
MATSUSHITA Kaoru / MORITA Takeru / MATSUMOTO Yuki
Toshiba Carrier Corporation has developed two types of heat recovery type heat pump modules as replacements for conventional combustion type heat source equipment, with the aim of reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. These two modules, developed using our advanced heat pump technologies, utilize electricity as a power source.
The "Heat Recovery CAONS," a new model of heat recovery type heat pump module that features twin-rotary inverter compressors in the refrigeration cycle and employs R134a refrigerant, produces hot water with a maximum temperature of 85°C using waste heat, etc. as a heat source. This reduces not only CO₂ emissions but also costs compared with combustion type heat source equipment. The connectable module design makes it possible to select the optimal capacity taking risk distribution into consideration more easily than in the case of integrated type products, and to add modules when the load increases. The other newly developed module, the "Heat Recovery SFMC," is a heat recovery type heat pump module mainly for air-conditioning systems. This module makes it possible to supply hot or chilled water using the heat of underground water by switching the refrigerant flow.

"Parcellized-CIM" Standard and Its Application to SCADA/EMS Platform for Power Grid Systems
WANG Lan / MAKINO Shigeyuki / MURAYAMA Hiroshi
Accompanying the dissemination of smart grid technologies and the introduction of full liberalization of the electricity market, there is a growing need for technologies that facilitate the exchange of information among different electric energy systems. The Common Information Model (CIM), defined in the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) 61968/61970/62325 standards, is used to exchange data. However, there are some issues in the conventional CIM Unified Modeling Language (UML) model, such as the inability to manage the versions of each entity, nor difficulties to edit and manage the model and its instances in an integrated manner.
To resolve these issues, Toshiba has proposed the IEC 62656-3 standard defining an interface between the UML and the tabular modeling methodology of IEC 62656, in which transformation rules between metamodels of the UML and IEC 62656 are specified. Accordingly, a CIM UML model can be represented in a set of structured spreadsheets called "Parcellized-CIM." Based on Parcellized-CIM, we have also developed the "parcimoser" framework for the design, construction, and maintenance of databases for power grid systems. The parcimoser has been incorporated into a transmission and distribution supervisory control and data acquisition/energy management system (SCADA/EMS) platform. Consequently, such SCADA/EMS platform with the parcimoser can seamlessly integrate applications developed by different vendors in a power system.

Application of Production Simulation Technology to Medical Examination Services
SUGIYAMA Naomi / NATOMI Tomo / TESHIMA Fumiaki
Toshiba is making efforts to create new business value in the healthcare field by not only supplying products but also providing enhanced user experiences, with the aim of offering total solutions in a broad range of spheres including preventive medicine, prognosis/nursing care, and health promotion in addition to the various types of medical systems that it is already providing for diagnosis and treatment.
In the field of preventive medicine, we have now applied a production simulation technology used for production design and work efficiency improvement to medical examination services such as comprehensive medical examinations and periodic health examinations, in order to reduce the waiting time of examinees in medical examination facilities. We have established examination route management methods to reduce the waiting time of examinees by leveling workloads in bottlenecked inspection areas, and confirmed the effectiveness of these methods through the results of simulation tests using actual data.

Cooperative Load Carrying Technologies for Two Quadruped Walking Robots to Reduce Risk of Radiation Exposure during Decommissioning Work
UEDA Koji / SUGANUMA Naotaka / NAKAMURA Norihito
At the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, several operations in the decommissioning work are taking place in a high-level radiation environment. The need has therefore arisen for remote devices to perform various simple tasks including the carrying of equipment and construction materials on behalf of workers in order to reduce the risk of radiation exposure.
Toshiba developed a quadruped walking robot to carry packed work tools, which has been applied to the reactor building investigations. In order to carry long and heavy loads such as pipes, we have now developed the following cooperative load carrying technologies using two quadruped walking robots: (1) a control technology to synchronize the timing of the start of walking of two robots, and (2) a control technology to maintain a constant distance between two moving robots while ensuring a sufficient margin for each robot. Experiments using two robots in which these technologies had been implemented confirmed that they could carry and unload a pipe of 2 m in length and 45 kg in weight on a floor with a level difference of 100 mm.

Hydro Generators of Sogamoso Hydroelectric Power Plant, Colombia
KINOSHITA Kentaro / ISHIZUKA Hiroaki / TOJO Hirotaka
In Colombia, hydroelectric power generation accounts for a large proportion of overall power production due to the country's abundance of water resources. The Sogamoso Hydroelectric Power Plant of ISAGEN S.A. E.S.P., located north of Bogota, the capital, successfully started commercial operation in December 2014. The total output of the plant is 820 MW, which is equivalent to 8.3% of the total electricity demand in Colombia.
The Toshiba Group supplied three hydro generators with the largest capacity in Colombia as well as electrical balance of plant (BOP) facilities during the approximately 5-year term of this project, in conjunction with its bases for the hydroelectric power generation business in Japan, China, North America, and Colombia. We have now supplied hydro generators providing about 45% of the total hydroelectric power generated in Colombia, and are contributing to the country's use of renewable energy through the ongoing development of hydroelectric power plants.

µEMS for Smart Grid Demonstration Project on Penghu Island, Taiwan
KHOR Mei Lian
With the ongoing introduction of renewable energy systems in recent years, it has become necessary to improve the efficiency of electricity supply and demand on isolated islands that have to supply power independently and to construct smart grids in urban areas that already have developed social infrastructure systems including water supply, railway, and electric power networks. In Taiwan, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has been conducting the Smart Grid Demonstration Project on Penghu Island aimed at the construction of an energy management system (EMS) that will maintain the electricity supply and demand balance of the isolated island when the power grid is connected to the main island via a submarine cable in the future.
Toshiba has supplied its µEMS (micro energy management system), developed as a primary platform for the monitoring and control of electricity supply and demand, to ITRI as part of the above project. The µEMS offers a voltage regulation function for the power distribution system, a function to control fluctuations in the output of photovoltaic (PV) power generation facilities, and a function to optimize the use of renewable energy systems connected to the existing power grid by controlling the energy storage system (ESS) and the inverters of PV power generation facilities through power generation prediction and planning applications for renewable energy systems.

Data Anonymization Technique to Protect Privacy
KOIKE Masanobu / Pakin OSOTKRAPHUN / ITOH Hidemasa
With the ongoing introduction of business models that enhance the added value of products and services and create new value through the use of personal data, anonymization is expected to be a vital technology protecting personal privacy. Among data anonymization techniques, k-anonymization is the most promising because a record in a k-anonymized dataset is guaranteed not to be linked to an individual with a confidence level of more than 1/k. However, the knowledge obtained from a k-anonymized dataset is less precise than that in the original dataset due to information loss that occurs during the k-anonymization process.
Toshiba has now developed a k-anonymization algorithm that reduces the amount of information loss by about 30% compared with existing techniques. This technique achieves effective utilization of personal data with higher accuracy while protecting personal privacy.