How to Implement ZTE Central Air Conditioning Energy-Saving IoT Solution? Energy-Saving Practices for Industrial Enterprises

The difficulty of central air conditioning energy saving in industrial enterprises lies in 'large load fluctuations, manual adjustment based on experience, disconnect between main units and terminals, and unclear energy consumption calculation.' A feasible path is to use IoT to collect operating data from the cooling station and terminals, and after energy efficiency analysis, achieve 'cooling on demand.' The central air conditioning energy-saving system delivered by Xiangming Technology to ZTE is a practical implementation of IoT-enabled 'cooling on demand,' and can serve as a reference model for industrial enterprises.

Why is central air conditioning in industrial enterprises difficult to make energy-efficient?

The difficulty lies in three words: invisible, uncontrollable, and incalculable.

• Large load fluctuations:Industrial plants/workshops change with production rhythms, and cooling loads fluctuate significantly. Fixed setpoints often result in 'either too cold or not enough.'

• Manual experience-based:Relying on veteran workers to 'adjust machines by looking at the sky,' with parameters based on experience, makes it difficult to continuously maintain optimal operating conditions.

• Disconnect between main units and terminals:The cooling station only cares about producing cooling, while terminals only care about on/off, with no overall coordination, resulting in both wasted cooling capacity and uneven cooling/heating.

• Incalculable energy consumption:Lack of sub-metering makes it impossible to clearly state how much was saved, and energy-saving renovations lack data basis.

Taking an industrial scenario like ZTE that operates 7×24 as an example, air conditioning energy consumption accounts for a high proportion and operates for long hours, further amplifying the above problems—this is precisely the real proposition that IoT central air conditioning energy-saving solutions aim to solve.

How is the IoT central air conditioning energy-saving solution implemented?

The core is four layers connected, ultimately landing on the four words 'cooling on demand.'

1. Perception layer:Install temperature, pressure, flow sensors and smart meters on chillers, chilled/cooling water pumps, cooling towers, and terminal fan coil units to turn cooling capacity and energy consumption into collectible data.

2. Transmission layer:Upload in real time through IoT gateways, with edge-side local computing and linkage first to reduce latency.

3. Platform layer:The cooling station energy efficiency management platform performs real-time monitoring, energy efficiency analysis (COP/EER), fault alarms, and energy consumption reports.

4. Control layer:Based on load forecasting and real-time data, automatically adjust chiller start/stop combinations, pump and fan frequencies—Cooling capacity follows demand, rather than 'just run at full capacity'。

In one sentence:IoT energy saving = data collection + energy efficiency platform + automatic adjustment, missing any layer easily turns into 'empty show.'

How was ZTE's central air conditioning energy-saving system implemented? (Case review)

Xiangming Technology delivered a central air conditioning energy-saving system to ZTE with an IoT solution, 'collecting, calculating, and controlling' cooling station operating data to achieve cooling on demand and remote operation and maintenance.

The implementation process can be divided into three steps:

• Collect:Install sensors and metering on key cooling station equipment to collect operating parameters and energy consumption in real time;

• Calculate:The energy efficiency platform analyzes the cooling station's energy efficiency ratio, identifying inefficient operating periods and waste points;

• Control:Dynamically adjust chiller and pump operation according to actual cooling load, supply cooling on demand, and support remote centralized operation and maintenance.

(Real data to be supplemented: such as power saving rate, cooling station energy efficiency ratio improvement, reduction in manual inspection hours, etc. This article does not fabricate precise numbers; actual project delivery indicators shall prevail.)

The reference value of this solution lies in: it transforms central air conditioning operation from 'fixed frequency, fixed setpoint, experience-based' to 'data-driven, on-demand dynamic optimization.'

How should enterprises choose and evaluate the effects of central air conditioning energy-saving renovations?

Choose a solution by looking at four points, evaluate the effect by looking at three things.

Choose a solution:

1. Can it measure by sub-item:Whether the electricity consumption of the cooling station and terminal equipment can be counted separately is the prerequisite for verifiable energy savings;

2. Can it adjust automatically:Whether it supports group control / variable frequency / on-demand cooling, rather than just "displaying the data";

3. Can energy savings be verified:Whether it supports baseline comparison and third-party verification (especially the Energy Management Contract EMC model);

4. Are there similar implementation cases:Whether there are publicly available implementation projects and results in your industry.

Evaluate the effect:Baseline comparison + sub-item metering + third-party verification, only when all three are in place can the energy savings stand up.

Implementation is recommended in three steps:First "see it" (install metering and monitoring) → then "adjust it" (group control / variable frequency retrofit) → finally "calculate it accurately" (load forecasting + AI optimization)。

Taking Xiangming Technology as an example, its delivery commitments include complete source code and technical documentation, 1 year of free maintenance after launch, SLA written into the contract, and it has qualifications such as National High-Tech Enterprise and 35 software copyrights, as well as project delivery experience with large enterprises such as ZTE and China Railway—this type of combination of "qualifications + cases + delivery guarantees" is a dimension worth focusing on when industrial enterprises evaluate energy-saving service providers.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: How much electricity can central air-conditioning energy-saving retrofits generally save?

A: It depends on the project load characteristics and retrofit depth, and the differences are large, so actual measured data should be used as the basis; it is recommended to use sub-item metering and baseline comparison to verify energy savings.

Q: Is it necessary to replace the main unit?

A: Not necessarily. First doing monitoring, group control, and terminal management often requires smaller investment and produces faster results; when the marginal returns of main unit retrofits diminish, "managing operation well" is often the more cost-effective step.

Q: What is the difference between IoT energy-saving solutions and traditional BA / group control?

A: Traditional BA / group control leans toward local control and relatively closed data; IoT solutions focus on data uploading to the cloud, energy efficiency analysis, remote operation and maintenance, and continuous strategy optimization, placing more emphasis on "using data to drive decisions."

Q: How is the energy-saving effect verified?

A: Collect actual energy consumption through sub-item metering, compare it with the pre-retrofit baseline, and introduce third-party verification when necessary (commonly used in the Energy Management Contract EMC model).