Lab Equipment Report

This report covers three equipment on which experiments were performed. The list contains:
Level Control Trainer
Flow Control Trainer
Double Pipe Heat Exchanger

Level Control Trainer

Objective:
To control the shift of set-point of the flow rate via continuous PI-control.

Apparatus:
The equipment being handled was GUNT Level Control Trainer.

 A transparent plastic tube serves as level holding tank.

To avoid spill it is equipped with an overflow pipe leading directly back to the supply
tank.
The outlet hand valve (HV1), mentioned number 3 in the diagram, allows to change the
level tanks drain rate and to cause disturbances.
A pump inside the water reservoir conveys the water through all the circuit.
A pneumatic control valve driven by compressed air serves as the actuator in the control
circuit.
It is supplied via the pressure regulator unit which is mounted on the side of the frame
indicated as number 7. It controls the air pressure.
A tank with an inspection glass serves as the supply reservoir tank.
The water level in the cylinder is determined by a pressure transmitter which allows
further processing of the measurement value by outputting a standardized signal.
The controller displays the ongoing live results.
The equipment is connected to the computer where the data can be recorded and we can
change variables and parameters also.

Procedure:
Procedure was followed step by step as explained in the equipment manual.
Start Up:
1. Ensured at start that drain valves are closed and the water level in the tank is sufficient.
2. Ensured the positioning of air and water inlet valves.
3. Turned on the equipment from the main supply button.

4. Waited for few seconds to make the system come to equilibrium.

5. The software also detected the respective equipment and main window appeared.
Typical Settings:
1. Opened HV1 to 40
2. Completely opened HV2
3. Closed HV3
4. Completely opened HV4
5. Set controller mode to continuous automatic mode
6. Set Kp (Gain) value to 2.0
7. Set Tn (Reset Time ) to 0.3 min
8. Set Tv (Rate Time) to 0.0 min
9. Put value of w1 (set point 1) to 200 mm
10. Put value of w2 (set point 2) to 400 mm
After setting these values:
1. Switched on pump
2. Set w1 to 200mm
3. Waited until the liquid level became stable.
4. Recorded the data with the help of software and observed the graph.
5. Changed the set point to 400 mm.
6. Observed the change in level and controller repositioned to maintain the level.
7. Let the system to get stable and recorded the values.
8. Introduced another change by setting the value to 550 mm.

9. Again observed the change

10. Recorded the value
11. Introduced disturbance by decreasing the set point to 300 mm.
12. Noted the values and observed the change in level and controller action.
Shut Down:
1. Closed the water flow by turning off the pump.
2. Set the valve positions back to zero.
3. Closed the air supply to the pneumatic controller.
4. Turned off the main power supply.
5. Exit the software.

Observations & Results:

As we can see in the graph below, W, the red line was set value, we set it to a constant
value of 200 mm, to maintain this level the controller acted spontaneously and tried to
maintain the level. In about 2 minutes time the reading gets stable as blue line coincides
with red one.
The again a change was introduced by changing the level to 400mm. The controller
opened in the response and maintained the level in less than a minute time.
Next change was to a higher level of 550 mm, after initial fluctuation, the system gets
stabilized immediately, with lower value of Y.
The final change was to drop down the value to 300 mm. The controller responded
accordingly and the system gets stable in less than 2 minutes time and stayed in perfect
equilibrium for next 10 minutes until the end of experiment.

Analysis & Conclusion:

The controller spontaneously reacts to the shift of set-point.
The controller signal (y) was fluctuating in the start. This shows that the Kp value
(GAIN) could be set to a little lower value than 2.0
The X value showed that there is no remaining control deviation as the lines were
perfectly coinciding with each other.
The controllers response time is faster than that of the system so the flow can be adjusted
accordingly.
The response time was quick; it means the control strategy was good enough for this
system.

Appendix:

Flow Control Trainer

Objective:
To control a shift of set-point of the flow rate via step PI-control

Equipment:
The equipment is GUNT Flow Control Trainer.

 The variable to be controlled is the flow rate in the system.

A sump tank is provided as the water reservoir which contains a submerged pump.
A variable area glass flowmeter displays the flow rate.
An electromagnetic flow meter is provided to monitor flow value.
A hand operated valve with a scale allows regulation of the water flow through the pipe
system and to cause disturbances.
An electrically operated control valve serves as the actuator in the control circuit.
A tank with an inspection glass serves as the supply tank.
The flow rate in the pipe system is determined by a magnetic-inductive flowmeter which
allows further electronic processing of the measurement value.
The equipment is connected to the computer where we can process the recorded data and
variations and settings can be introduced also.

Procedure:
Procedure was followed step by step as explained in the equipment manual.
Start Up:
1. Ensured at start that drain valves are closed and the water level in the tank is sufficient.
2. Ensured the positioning of valves.
3. Turned on the equipment from the main supply button.
4. Waited for few seconds to make the system come to equilibrium.
5. The software also detected the respective equipment and main window appeared.

Typical Settings:
1. Completely opened the hand valve, HV1
2. Set HV2 to 30 opening
3. Set controller mode to Step, Automatic mode
4. Set value of Kp (Gain) / (Xp = 1/Kp) to 5.0 / 0.2
5. Set Tn (Reset Time ) to 0.05 min
6. Set Tv (Rate Time) to 0.0 min
7. Put value of w1 (set point 1) to 600 Ltr/min
After putting these values, carried on the experiment by:
8. Switched on pump.
9. Set w1 to 600 ltr/h and waited until the value of flow rate has reached a state of stability.
10. After stability changed the value to 1000 ltr/h to get new set of data and observed the
action of controller.
11. Changed the value of flow rate to different flow rate value to observe the control action.
12. Noted the data and observed the change in flow rate and its control by the controller
action.
Shut Down:
1. Closed the water flow by turning off the pump.
2. Set the valve positions back to zero.
3. Turned off the main power supply.
4. Exit the software.

Observations & Results:

Data Table was generated with software as follows.
FLOW CONTROL
Data Start
X
l/h
09:30:26
09:30:46
09:31:06
09:31:26
09:31:46
09:31:06
09:32:26
09:32:46
09:33:06
09:33:26
09:33:46
09:34:06
09:34:26
09:34:46
Data End

TRAINER
W
l/h
600.6175
600.2500
600.8625
600.4950
600.1023
600.0041
1004.5375
1004.6600
1003.4350
1003.8025
1002.3125
1001.0055
1000.0023
1000.0021

Y
l/h
600.0000
600.0000
600.0000
600.0000
600.0000
600.0000
1000.0000
1000.0000
1000.0000
1000.0000
1000.0000
1000.0000
1000.0000
1000.0000

KP
75.8623
44.1164
54.1171
51.6301
19.4621
41.8835
26.3702
37.5774
49.4129
38.3236
48.1240
51.3912
16.3535
43.6480

TN
min
5.0000
5.0000
5.0000
5.0000
5.0000
5.0000
5.0000
5.0000
5.0000
5.0000
5.0000
5.0000
5.0000
5.0000

TV
min
0.0500
0.0500
0.0500
0.0500
0.0500
0.0500
0.0500
0.0500
0.0500
0.0500
0.0500
0.0500
0.0500
0.0500

Analysis & Conclusion:

The controller spontaneously reacts to the shift of set-point, but the controller signal only
rises slowly.
The reaction was faster using some bigger Kp (Kp = 1/Xp) value (GAIN). The
fluctuations are due to higher value of gain which is changing also.
The Tn value (RESET TIME) ensures that there is no remaining control deviation.
The control quality is acceptable for this system as it stabilizes the system to the values of
600 & 1000 ltr/hr in less than 2 minutes time with little variations.

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
9:29:31

9:30:14

9:30:58

9:31:41

9:32:24

9:33:07

9:33:50

9:34:34

9:35:17

Double Pipe (Tubular) Heat Exchanger

Objective:
Comparison of Parallel Flow and Counter and representation of temperature curves.

Apparatus:
Apparatus is GUNT WL 110 Heat Exchanger with service unit.

Base plate

Couplings

Connecting block

Bolts

Right housing half

Regulator valve for hot water

Tank cover

10 Regulator valve for cold water

(V1)

Left housing section

Control and display panel

(V2)

WL 110.01 Tubular Heat Exchanger:

Fig A : WL 110.01 with base plate

Figure above shows the WL 110.01 Tubular Heat Exchanger with base plate.
The tubular heat exchanger consists of two double tubes.
In the double tubes, the transparent outer tube allows the stainless steel inner tube to be
seen.
Two separate areas are created, the tube area (inside the inner tube) and the shell
(between the inner tube and the outer tube).
Both the tube areas and the shells of the two double tubes are connected in series.
Cold and hot water flow along the inner tubes either in the same direction (parallel flow)
or in opposite directions (counter flow).

Procedure:
Start Up:
Attached the tubular heat exchanger on the service unit.
Connected the plug for the hot water temperature (TI2).

 Connected the plug for the cold water temperature (TI5).

Connected the hoses for hot water into the corresponding connections on the tubular heat
exchanger.
Connected the hoses for cold water into the corresponding connections. Turned on the
PC also and started the GUNT software.

Operation:
Turned on the power supply switch.
Checked the water level in the hot water tank.
Opened the regulator valve for cold water V2 and the regulator valve for hot water V1.
Started the pump.
Set the desired hot water set point SP(T7 ) on the controller to 70 C.
Set the desired cold water flow rate using the regulator valve V2 and the desired hot
water flow rate using the regulator valve V1.
Turned on the heater.
Recorded the data values until equilibrium.
The water temperature T7 is no longer rising.
The measured values only change slightly.
The heat flow values Qh and Qc are similar.
Repeated the process for both counter and parallel flow arrangements.
Shut Down:
When the experiment is complete, first turn off the heater.
Then stopped the pump.
Closed the valves V1 and V2.

 Close the cold water feed at the cold water mains.

Turned off the main power supply button.

Observations & Results:

Values were noted down once stabilized.

Values of km was noted down from measured values from the software.

was noted from measured value file or can be calculated as: = . .

Where,

ln( )

and = 3 4 , = 1 6

Experiment

Run

Flow

Direction

Ltr/min

SP
(T7)
o

km

kW/(m2K)

kW

T1

T3

T4

T6

PF

1.4

70

65

50.3

9.2

21.9

1.30

1.29

CF

1.4

70

68

53.1 12.7 25.1

1.28

1.25

Conclusion & Analysis:

The temperature profiles were observed during the experiment. The difference between
the efficiency of heat exchange in parallel and counter mode was observed and it was
quite clear also.
Temperature of cold stream rise more sharply in counter flow as compared to parallel
flow due to higher heat transfer rate.
Gradient of heat transfer remains constant for counter flow.

Appendix:
Counter Flow Profile:

Counter Current Flow

80
70

Temperature

60
50
Hot Fluid

40

Cold Fluid

30
20
10
0

Parallel Flow Profile:

Parallel Flow
70
60

Temperature

50
40

Hot Fluid

30

Cold Fluid

20
10
0