Hvac Experiment

German Jordanian University
School of Applied Technical Sciences

Mechatronics Engineering Department
ME 3431 Automatic Control systems Lab
EXPERIMENT 9
HVAC Trainer
Objectives:
To be familiar with HVAC system.

Control the temperature of the system using both On/Off, and PI controller.
Introduction:
HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, three functions often combined
into one system in today's modern homes and buildings. Warmed or cooled or dehumidified air
flows through a series of tubes - called ducts - to be distributed to all the rooms of the building.
The principles of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) are based on:
a. Thermodynamics
b. Fluid mechanics
c. Heat transfer
HVAC trainer that is used in this experiment, consist of plexiglass duct, with a heater in one end
and a blower in the other end. The heater is a halogen lamp and the blower is a variable-speed fan.
There is a thermistor sensor placed inside the duct to measure the temperature of the chamber and
another thermistor sensor outside the chamber to measure the room temperature.
Figure1 : Heating and Ventilation Trainer (HVAC)
The temperature measured at the thermistor inside the chamber is to be controlled using the heater
voltage while the fan is ran at a constant speed. Heat is transferred to the thermistor by radiation
from the heater and by convection from the air stream. Radiative heat transfer is highly nonlinear
and it is therefore difficult to model the system by first principles. As a result, empirical tuning
will be used to control the system. This heat transfer plant is very similar to the systems that are
used to control wafer temperature in semiconductor manufacturing.
HVAC Trainer Components:
The components comprising the Heating and Ventilation Trainer are labeled in Figure 2, and
described in Table 1.
Figure2 : HVAC Chamber Components
Table 1
ID #
1
2
3
4
5
Description
Halogen light bulb (heater)
Fan: The blower is a 24-Volt variable-speed fan (For Cooling)
Thermistor chamber temperature sensor
Chamber (Duct)
Thermistor ambient temperature sensor
In this experiment, two types of control will be used:

On/Off Control
PI control
PART I : ON/OFF CONTROL
On-off control is one of the simplest control types. It is usually used in many basic controls, such
as heating and cooling buildings to regulate temperature. In this experiment, on/off controller will
be used to control the temperature inside the chamber.
In the feedback loop used in HVAC, a temperature sensor continuously measures the temperature
inside the chamber. This continuous measurement is critical because it allows the HVAC system
to react to disturbances to maintain a stable temperature.
Principle of Operation:
The HVAC system is activated when the temperature outside is outside the desired range, and
deactivate while within the range. The heater is switched on when the temperature is lower than
the desired value, and switched off when the temperature is higher than the desired value. A block
diagram of a system with relay feedback is shown in Figure 3.
Figure3 : Block Diagram of the Heater System
To perform this control process, a sensor measures the current temperature and compare it to the
set point. And so, the HVAC system would turn on or off to reach this point.
This is one of the simplest temperature control systems. However, this type of controller generally
produces oscillations in the output; meaning that rooms temperature goes too high and too low
continuously, this could be avoided by using PID based feedback control.
HVAC Trainers Interface ( Front Panel):

The HVAC On-Off Control virtual instrument implements a relay to control the temperature of
the chamber. This instrument can also be used to model the dynamics between the heater voltage
and the temperature. Table 2 lists and describes the main elements of the HVAC On-Off Control
virtual instruments user interface. Every element is uniquely identified through an ID number as
located in Figure 4.
16
14
1
3
17
15
12
4
5
6
7
8
13
9
10
11
Figure4 : HVAC On/Off Control Interface
Table 2: HVAC On/Off Control Interface Components
ID #
1
Label
Chamber Temp.
Symbol
Tc
Ambient Temp.
Ta,m
Ta
Calibrate
Signal Type
Amplitude
Frequency
Offset
9
10
11
Vh_amp
Vh_off
Th
Vh,amp
Vh,off
Th
12
Temperature
Tc , Tr
13
14
15
16
17
Voltage
Device
Sampling Rate
Stop
Heater OFF
Vh
Description
Temperature inside chamber numeric display.
Temperature outside chamber numeric display
(i.e. measured room temperature).
Latched ambient temperature that is added to
reference temperature from Signal Generator.
Sets the red latched ambient temperature to the
measured ambient temperature.
Type of signal generated for the input voltage
signal.
Generated temperature reference signal amplitude
input box.
Generated temperature reference signal frequency
input box.
Generated temperature reference signal offset
input box.
Heater voltage amplitude input box.
Heater voltage relay offset input box.
Heater relay width.
Scope with reference temperature (in blue) and
measured chamber temperature (in red).
Scope with applied heater voltage (in red).
Selects the NI DAQ device.
Sets the sampling rate of the VI.
Stops the LabVIEW VI from running.
Enables heater when pressed in.
Unit
C
C
C
C
Hz
C
V
V
C
C
V
V
Procedure:
a. Calibration
After Powering up ELVIS, and before running any of the labs, follow this procedure to calibrate
the system.
1. Open the QNET_HVACT_On_Off_Control.vi.
2. The cooling fan is automatically activated when the Prototyping Board Power (on the
ELVIS unit) is switched on.
3. Make sure the correct Device is chosen.
4. Run the QNET_HVACT_On_Off_Control.vi.by pressing the arrow symbol below the
menu bar.
5. Let the actual temperature Tc in the temperature scope settle, then adjust the temperature
scope scales to see both the actual temperature signal.
6. Calibrate the temperature sensors by clicking on the Calibrate button. This will align the
chamber temperature ,Tc, to the measured ambient temperature, Ta.
b. On/Off Control
After calibrating, the control will be activated by pressing on Heater OFF button.
Exercise 1: Fixed Set-Point

1. Click on Heater OFF button, to activate control.
2. Examine the actual temperature (in red), and reference temperature (in blue) responses in
the Temperature (C) scope, and observe the voltage scope with time.
3. Export both Temperature & Voltage charts with time. (Right-Click on each chart, then
choose Export >> Export simplified image.
4. Find both upper & lower limits, using the saved charts.
Upper Limit = -------------------------, Lower Limit = ----------------------5. Vary the relay width (Th) from control parameter section between 0.01 to 1 C. Observe
the Temperature chart, what do you notice on the upper & lower limits?
6. Vary the offset in the signal generator gradually, between 0.5 and 2. Observe the
Temperature chart, what do you notice?
7. Click on stop button to stop running the process.
PART II : PI CONTROL
PI control uses a proportional integral control loop, the oscillations that occur with on/off
control can be avoided by using a linear proportional and integrating controller. This type of
controller used when more exact conditions are required, such as: laboratories, manufacturing
plant, or processing centers.
Figure5 : Block Diagram of Heater PI Closed-Loop System
Procedure:
a. Calibration
As Explained in Part I.
b. PI Control
After calibrating, the control will be activated by pressing on Heater OFF button.
Exercise 2: Qualitative PI Control

1. Observe the control parameters and set the amplitude of signal generator to zero.
2. Click on Heater OFF button, to activate control.
3. Examine the actual temperature (in red), and reference temperature (in blue) responses in
the Temperature (C) scope, and observe the voltage scope with time. Click on Stop
button.
4. Export both Temperature & Voltage charts with time. (Right-Click on each chart, then
choose Export >> Export simplified image.
5. Compare both scopes with ones in On/Off control.
6. Click on Stop button.
7. Set Ki to 0, and change the proportional gain Kp to 2.
8. Click on the arrow to start the process. Observe the temperature response then export the
chart.
9. Set Kp to 10 and repeat the previous step.
10. Attach both charts, and compare the temperature response at low Kp, and at high Kp.
Explain the effect of the proportional gain on the temperature response.
11. Set Kp to 0.5, and change the integral gain Ki between 0.25 and 2.
12. Attach two charts, one of them for temperature response at low Ki, and the other at high
Ki. Explain the effect of the integral gain on the temperature response.
Exercise 3: Design PI Controller

a. Find the proportional gain [Kp], and integral gain [Ki] needed to satisfy the following
specifications, then set the calculated values in control parameters section, export
temperature scope:
+ . + .
Hint:
C.S equation = s2 + 2 s + 2
=
Where Kv = 0.00625 C/(V.S), Kv: HVAC model gain
b. Tune the controller by changing the values of control parameters to achieve better
response. Hint: Take 0.5 as a step for Ki values and 2 for Kp values.
Export Temperature scope after 2 cycles.
Requirements
1. For each part, you should follow the procedures and answer all question.
2. Attach all charts with discussion.
3. Tell me your opinion about this experiment and give one suggestion to
improve it.

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German Jordanian University

School of Applied Technical Sciences

To be familiar with HVAC system.

Figure1 : Heating and Ventilation Trainer (HVAC)

Figure2 : HVAC Chamber Components

In this experiment, two types of control will be used:

PART I : ON/OFF CONTROL

Figure3 : Block Diagram of the Heater System

HVAC Trainers Interface ( Front Panel):

Figure4 : HVAC On/Off Control Interface

Table 2: HVAC On/Off Control Interface Components

Exercise 1: Fixed Set-Point

7. Click on stop button to stop running the process.

Figure5 : Block Diagram of Heater PI Closed-Loop System

Exercise 2: Qualitative PI Control

Exercise 3: Design PI Controller

Where Kv = 0.00625 C/(V.S), Kv: HVAC model gain

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