EE 3092 Laboratory Practice v

PNEUMATIC CONTROL SYSTEMS

Instructed by: Mr.M.D.M.C. Goonawardhane

Name

: S.W.Amarasinghe

Index No. : 090019X Group : G 01 : 13/01/2012

Date of conduct

Date of submission: 27/01/2012

Discussion.

1. Advantages of pneumatic control systems. Simple design

The machines using pneumatic control techniques are designed with standard components such as cylinders and valves which are simple in controlling compressed gases. Ease of control.

The compressed air can be controlled easily with basic components. Their control is based on simple on-off of air flow. Reliability.

The pneumatic control systems tend to have longer life compared to the other control systems. The maintenance issues are not occurring often. The equipment used in the control is less damaged by the vibrations and shocks because the working medium is compressed air. The excessive forces are absorbed by the compressed gas during operation. Ease of storage and generation.

The pressurized air is easy to generate. Only the compression and purification to the air is needed. The pressurized air can be stored and get used even with no electric power. Safety.

The possibility of fire hazards is very minimum compared to the hydraulic oil systems. The pneumatic systems can also be designed to withstand overload conditions safely. Light weight.

The pressurized air is very light compared to the other working fluids. The equipment parts like valves are light in weight. Environment friendly.

Since the atmospheric air is used as the pressurized gas, it can be directly released to the atmosphere with no pollution. Ease of transportation and fast work medium.

Compressed air can be transported to long distances using pipe lines. Since the light weight and no viscosity and low friction it moves very fast.

2. Disadvantages of pneumatic control systems. Require a good maintenance.

Two important aspects should be considered in maintaining a pneumatic system. One is to ensure the clean, reliable and dry air supply. The other thing is It should be inspected for correct operation and have to adjustments in order to get an efficient out put since the pneumatic controllers and thermostats can get drift offs from the set point with long time operation. Not suitable for remote monitoring. Human monitoring is needed for remote applications. Otherwise an electronic monitoring system is required for doing adjustments and recording readings. Precise controlling is difficult.

Since the air speed and the position of the equipment cannot be controlled very precisely, it is less accurate than electrical and hydraulic actuators. Space consuming.

Large space is required to set up a pneumatic control system compared to electrical and electronic control systems. Main reason for that is the equipment used in pneumatic control are relatively large.

3. Industrial Applications of Pneumatic Control Systems. The pneumatic control systems are widely used in industrial purposes from single components to complete systems which are used in bulk material handling. Pneumatic engineering is spread in a wide area of conveying applications, start up services, field services and spare parts. Plastic industry is a field where pneumatic control systems are heavily used. Plastic processes such as plastic extrusion, plastic molding are automated with the pneumatic control systems. The transportation of powder and granular bulk materials from unloading area to the storing and dust collection systems, conveying to feeding, blending, scaling and softening operations and drying systems are all pneumatic control systems. Similar systems are used in the industries like chemical and mineral industry, food and ingredient processing and compounding.

Pneumatic systems are also used in the road sweeper brush operation and controls. This controls the operation of cylinders that are used to raise and lower the brushes on road sweepers. In the electric railway systems. cylinder to operate shoe gear for collecting the electrical current from the third rail is using pneumatic control system. Other thing is cylinder and control systems to raise and lower the pantograph on trains for collecting the electrical current from the overhead line. Also the windscreen viper systems used in trains are controlled with pneumatic control systems. Heavy duty valves for gas turbines which are used in vent valve applications on gas turbines are controlled by pneumatic systems. Air spring systems are used for many lifting, pushing, turning, tilting and twisting actions in mechanical systems in the industry.