Combustion controlling device and method

Abstract

A flame detection adjusting portion adjusts a preset reference threshold value based on a sensor output indicating disturbance light obtained from a flame sensor before an ignition attempt in combustion equipment and outputs an obtained adjusted threshold value, and a combustion flame detecting portion detects a presence or an absence of a combustion flame in the combustion equipment based on the sensor output obtained from the flame sensor during combustion in the combustion equipment and an adjusted threshold value.

1 . A combustion controlling device that controls a combustion in combustion equipment based on a presence or an absence of a combustion flame in the combustion equipment detected from a sensor output of a flame sensor, the combustion controlling device comprising:
 a flame detection adjusting portion that adjusts a preset reference threshold value based on the sensor output obtained from the flame sensor before an ignition attempt indicating disturbance light in the combustion equipment and outputs an obtained adjusted threshold value;   a combustion flame detecting portion that detects the presence or the absence of the combustion flame in the combustion equipment based on the sensor output obtained from the flame sensor during the combustion in the combustion equipment and the adjusted threshold value; and   a combustion controlling portion that controls the combustion in the combustion equipment based on a combustion flame detection result obtained by the combustion flame detecting portion.   
     
     
         2 . The combustion controlling device according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the flame detection adjusting portion calculates an adjustment value indicating a magnitude of disturbance light by performing statistical processing on a plurality of sensor outputs obtained from the flame sensor before the ignition attempt, adjusts the preset reference threshold value by adding the adjustment value to the preset reference threshold value, and outputs the obtained adjusted threshold value.   
     
     
         3 . The combustion controlling device according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the preset reference threshold value includes a first reference threshold value and a second reference threshold value less than the first reference threshold value,   the flame detection adjusting portion outputs a first adjusted threshold value obtained by adjusting the first reference threshold value and a second adjusted threshold value obtained by adjusting the second reference threshold value, the second adjusted threshold value being less than the first adjusted threshold value, and   the combustion flame detecting portion detects the presence of the combustion flame in the combustion equipment when the sensor output of the flame sensor obtained during the combustion in the combustion equipment is equal to or greater than the first adjusted threshold value and detects the absence of the combustion flame when the sensor output is equal to or less than the second adjusted threshold value.   
     
     
         4 . A combustion control method that controls a combustion in combustion equipment based on a presence or an absence of a combustion flame in the combustion equipment detected from a sensor output of a flame sensor, the method comprising:
 adjusting, by a flame detection adjusting portion, a preset reference threshold value based on the sensor output obtained from the flame sensor before an ignition attempt indicating disturbance light in the combustion equipment and outputting an obtained adjusted threshold value;   detecting, by a combustion flame detecting portion, the presence or the absence of the combustion flame in the combustion equipment based on the sensor output obtained from the flame sensor during the combustion in the combustion equipment and the adjusted threshold value; and   controlling, by a combustion controlling portion, the combustion in the combustion equipment based on a combustion flame detection result obtained in the combustion flame detecting step.