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ON-OFF CONTROLLER FOR LEVEL PROCESS STATION

AIM:
Design an On Off controller for controlling a level process station by using suitable
computing software.

REQUIREMENTS:
VLPS 001, PC, Data acquisition card with system, Patch chord, Loop cables, LabVIEW
software.

SPECIFICATION:
Software : LabVIEW 7 software

Input : 230V AC/50Hz

Output :+24V DC, 750mA, +5V DC/3A, +12V DC/200mA

Control valve : Equal percentage

Rotameter :(100-1000)LPH

Pump : 0.5Hp, 2700rpm, 1500LPH

Process tank : 35 Liters

Leveltransmitter : Capacitive Type

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 I TO V
CONVERTER

BLOCK DIAGRAM

Fig.1 ON-OFF controller of level process station

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THEORY:

LEVEL TRANSMITER
In industry, liquids such as water, chemicals, and solvents are used in various processes.
The amount of such liquid stored can be found by measuring level of the liquid in a container or
vessel. The level affects not only the quantity delivered but also pressure and rate of flow in and
out of the container.
Level sensors detect the level of substances like liquids, slurries, granular materials, and
powders. The substance to be measured can be inside a container or can be in its natural form
(e.g. a river or a lake). The level measurement can be either continuous or point values.
Continuous level sensors measure the level to determine the exact amount of substance in a
continuous manner.Point-level sensorsindicate whether the substance is above or below the
sensing point. This is essential to avoid overflow or emptying of tanks and to protect pumps from
dry run.
Capacitance Level Measurement:
Capacitive level transducer is an example of indirect measurement of level

Fig : Capacitance type level transmitter

Principle:

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The principle of capacitive level measurement is based on change of capacitance. An insulated
electrode acts as one plate of capacitor and the tank wall (or reference electrode in a non-metallic

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vessel) acts as the other plate. The capacitance depends on the fluid level. An empty tank has a
lower capacitance while a filled tank has a higher capacitance.
A simple capacitor consists of two electrode plate separated by a small thickness of an insulator
such as solid, liquid, gas, or vacuum. This insulator is also called as dielectric.
Value of C depends on dielectric used, area of the plate and also distance between the plates.

C =0

Where:
C = capacitance in picofarads (pF)
0 = a constant known as the absolute permittivity of free space
A = effective area of the conductors
d = distance between the conductors
This change in capacitance can be measured using AC bridge.
Advantages of Capacitive level measurement:
Relatively inexpensive, Versatile, Reliable, Requires minimal maintenance, Contains no
moving parts, Easy to install and can be adapted easily for different size of vessels, Good range
of measurement, from few cm to about 100, Rugged, Simple to use, Easy to clean, Can be
designed for high temperature and pressure applications.

Applications of capacitance level

Liquids, Powered and granular solids, Liquid metals at very high temperature, Liquefied
gases at very low temperature, Corrosive materials like hydrofluoric acid, Very high pressure
industrial processes.

ON-OFF controller

On-Off control is the simplest form of feedback control. An on-off controller simply
drives the manipulated variable from fully closed to fully open depending on the position of the
controlled variable relative to the setpoint. A common example of on-off control is the
temperature control in a domestic heating system. When the temperature is below the thermostat

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setpoint the heating system is switched on and when the temperature is above the setpoint the
heating switches off.

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 There is, however, a bit of subtlety applied in practical on-off systems. If the heating
switches on and off the instant the measured temperature crossed the setpoint then the system
would chatter -repeatedly switch on and off at very high frequency. If this happened the boiler
wouldn't last very long! To avoid chattering, practical on-off controllers usually have
a deadband around the setpoint. When the measured value lies within this dead-band the
controller does nothing - its only when the value moves outside that action is taken. The effect of
this is to introduce continuous oscillation in the value of the controlled variable - the large the
dead-band the higher the amplitude and lower the frequency.Although on-off is a very cheap
form of control it is rarely used in process control applications because of the oscillation it causes
in the controlled and manipulated variables. In a connected process these oscillations would be
propagated right through the system.

PROCEDURE:

Indication

Block diagram:

1. Select function pallet >> input >> DAQ Assist.

2. Acquire signal >> analog input >> Level >> select analog input channel (ai0-ai15) >>
finish.
3. Select connection diagram and give whole connections.
4. Configuration >> settings range and acquisition mode set to continuous mode.
5. Function pallet >> arithmetic & comparison >> comparison >> greater than function.
6. Function pallet >> arithmetic & comparison >> comparison >> less than function.
7. Function pallet >>arithmetic& comparison >> numeric constant.
8. Function pallet >> Input >> DAQ assist.
9. Generate signal >> digital output >> line output >> select port 0 line 0 >> finish.

Front panel

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1. Control pallet >> graph indicators >> graph
2. Control pallet >> indicator >> numeric indicator.
3. Control pallet >> indicator >> LED.

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 4. Configuration >> generation mode >> N samples >> run.
5. Connect sound alarm to the digital output line of the DAQ. Comparing signal is given as
input to the DAQ assistant 2.

Controller

Block diagram

1. Select function pallet >> output >> DAQ Assist.

2. Generate signal >> analog output >> Level >> select analog output channel (ao0-ao1) >>
finish.
3. Select connection diagram and give whole connections.
4. Configuration >> settings range and acquisition mode set to continuous mode.
5. Function pallet >> arithmetic & comparison >> comparison >> greater than function.
6. Function pallet >> arithmetic & comparison >> comparison >> less than function.
7. Function pallet >>arithemetic& comparison >> numeric constant.

Front panel

1. Control pallet >> indicator >> numeric indicator.

2. Control pallet >> indicator >> LED.

RESULT:

Designed and controlled a level process station using On Off controller in LabVIEW.

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