First Order Dynamics Thermometer Aim To determine the time constant of a first order system (thermometer) from its

s response to a step change in the forcing function. Apparatus 1. 2. 3. 4. Thermometer Oil bath with a heater Stop watch Cotton to wipeout oil from thermometer Procedure 1. Heat the oil bath to temperature 150oC( in our observations we started with 100oC as heater was not functioning properly) 2. Dip the metallic block into oil bath and let temperature of the thermometer be above 140oC (we kept it 96oC) 3. Take out the thermometer & wipe it clean 4. At reading of 146oC, start taking readings 5. For every 6oC/4oC drop, take the readings 6. Now stop the readings when its near to ambient temperature 7. Repeat step 3 to 6 but instead for 140oC go for 120oC and 100oC(in our observations we took readings for 2nd and 3rd case from 80oC and 70oC) Theory Consider a thermometer in flowing stream of fluid (air) whose temperature x varies with time. We want to find out the variation in temperature of thermometer y with respect to time. Assumptions: All resistance to heat transfer resides in the film surrounding the thermometer bulb The temperature of whole mercury is homogeneous The thermal capacity is only of mercury, not of glass covering & bulb metal

1. 2. 3.

Balance Ha(x-y) = mcp ( ) A = surface area available for heat transfer H = film heat transfer coefficient Cp = specific heat of mercury In steady state ha(xs ys) = 0 Xs and ys are air and mercury temperature at steady state. For making the equation in deviation variable form: subtract (2) from (1) X = x xs and Y = y-ys X-Y = ( )

(1)

(2)

(3)

Have units of time. It is known as time constant & as m, Cp, h, and A all are constant for this setup. T value remains same. So in (3) X-Y = ( ) (4) Taking laplace transform: = () s+1 (5)
() 1

For a step chance of A: X(s) = A/s Putting (5) in (4) and taking laplace inverse Y(t) = A(1 - / ) As we have / , it will take a long time for system to reach its steady state. Therefore y(t) approaches A asymptotically. Value of y(t) reaches 63.2% of its final value after one . Observations
Temp (C) 100 96 90 86 80 76 70 66 60 56 50 46 40 37 Time (sec) 0 15 35 36 66 87 103 118 139 173 198 242 335 648 1 avg =160.91 232.42 206.00 145.83 176.14 185.10 162.84 155.74 141.72 148.73 130.28 130.37 120.83 155.81 94.30 87.49 87.17 78.47 73.27 69.74 66.74 62.98 57.84 54.70 50.22 43.98 37.14 Time constant (1) Temp pred (C) error

1.77 2.79 1.36 1.92 3.59 0.37 1.12 4.96 3.29 9.39 9.18 9.95 0.38

Temp (C) 80 76 70 66 60 56 50 46 40 36

time (s) 0 28 46 66 96 131 181 320 610 1196

2 300.78 183.04 177.10 163.32 171.88 164.75 227.15 277.62 314.19 2 avg = 219.98

Temp pred (C) 74.62 71.51 68.34 64.09 59.81 54.76 45.51 37.81 35.20

error 1.81 2.16 3.54 6.81 6.80 9.53 1.07 5.47 2.23

Temp (C) 70 66 60 56 50 46 40 36

time (s) 0 17 32 57 87 119 187 288

3 140.08 95.10 111.58 102.68 102.81 96.10 81.00 3 avg =104.19

Temp pred (C) 64.73 60.74 55.25 50.19 46.17 40.82 37.21

error 1.92 1.24 1.33 0.37 0.37 2.04 3.35

Graph:

Temperature vs time for reading set 1

110 100

Temperature (oC)

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 time (s) 100 Predicted

Temperature vs time for reading set 2

90 80

Temperature (oC)

70 60 50 40 30 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 time (s) 80 Predicted

Temperature vs time for reading set 3

80 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 time(s)

Temperature (oC)

70 Predicted

Calculation The average time constant for thermometer system for three set of readings = [160.91 + 219.98 + 104.19]/3 = 161.695 s Result The average time constant for thermometer system is 161.695 seconds.