Experiment 7: Temperature Control of Heat Exchanger

( TBC 4/4/2009, 4/3/2011 )

Objective:
I.

To implement a feedback temperature control of the hot water exiting a doublepipe heat exchanger.

Introduction: Feedback Control Configuration

The control configuration is similar to the configuration given in experiment 6. The signal

is a voltage ranging from 0 to 5 volts. The actuator block includes both the voltage to
pressure (E/P) transducer, compressed air supply and the steam control valve. The signal 
represents the amount of steam entering the heat exchanger. The signal  is the
temperature measured using an RTD sensor, while  is the setpoint temperature.

Figure 1. Feedback loop.

For this experiment, we will implement a simple proportional-integral control law:
1


        


PI Control:

(1)

Because of the possibility of saturation in the control valves, integral windup needs to
be addressed if PI control were to be used, i.e. the integral term of the PI controller
continues to unnecessarily grow during saturation. Strategies that try to solve the integral
windup problem are known collectively as anti-reset windup approaches. Thus, instead
of (1), we could implement an additional logic that shuts off the integral windup during
saturation conditions such as:


     !" #
!"   $

(2)

0 if
) 0 or
* 1

$%



otherwise

(3)

(4)

II. Procedure/ Tasks:

A. Build the data-aquistion/control setup (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Control Setup.

B. Create the RTD sub-VI ( refer to lab 6)
C. Create the Saturation Check sub-VI ( Figure 2. ). The Greater than or Equal
block can be found in the Functions palette, [Programming]


[Comparison]
menu,while the Or block can be found in the Functions palette,
[Programming]


[Boolean] menu. To access the TF indicator, hover the cursor
around the exit terminal of the Or block, then [Right-Click] and select
[Create]


[Indicator].

Figure 2. Saturation Check sub-VI.

D. Create the PI Controller sub-VI (See Figure 3). The Subtraction and
Division block can be found in [Programming]


[Numeric] menu. The
Select block can be found in [Programming]


[Comparison] menu. The
Integral block can be found in [Mathematics]


[Integ & Diff] menu, then
select Time Domain Math. A properties window should pop-up, then select
[Integral] and [Continuous] buttons then click [OK]. Finally, to obtain the TF
button, hover the cursor around the middle terminal of the Select block, then
[Right-click] and select [Create]


[Control].

Figure 3. PI Control Block.

E. Create the Actuator sub-VI by renaming the Dimmer subVI of lab 6 and setting
the minimum voltage to 0 volts and maximum to 5 volts.
F. Combine the parts and create the Control System VI (see Figure 4). Note that
the Feedback Node block will appear automatically after connect the
Saturation Check subVI to the PI Controller subVI. Also, for the Write
block, choose the [no header] and [one column only] buttons.

Figure 4. Control System VI.

Figure 5. The Front Panel for Control System VI.

G. Startup the heat exchanger system (See Appendix A) and select 20% mark on the
rotameter.
H. Connect the transducer to the controller unit and begin tests below.
(For the items below, use the setpoint of 401.)
I. Perform a step test and obtain an FOPTD model. (See Appendix C)
J. Use the Cohen-Coon tuning rules and apply them to the system. Note your
observations.
K. Shut down the heat exchanger system (See Appendix B).

III.

Observation:

Cohen-Coon Tuning Method:

1. FOPTD model found:

2. Cohen Coon Tuning:

Calculations:

Kc :

23 :

3. Response observation:
Temperature Response:

Control Signal Response:

Appendix A. Heat Exchanger Startup

( based on procedure for heat transfer coefficient experiment found in CM3215 developed by F.
Morrison, revised for CM3310 by T. Co)
Experimental Procedure
CAUTION: Always wear insulated gloves when adjusting the steam valve, when touching
uninsulated piping or when handling condensate. The equipment may be hot at the
beginning of lab.
If the TA has not done it yet, connect the transducer to the compressed air supply and to the
steam valve. (see Figure A1.)

E/P
Transducer

Figure A1. Connecting the transducer to the air supply and steam valve.
Begin water flow in the loop as follows:
1. Start water flow through the pipe as follows. Make sure that tank T-02 is empty and
clean. Close the drain valve (DV-2).
2. Open water valve WV-10 and fill T-02 with water. Once the tank is filled, the water
control float valve will shut-off water flow. The water control float valve keeps water
level constant at a set point.
3. Make sure valves WV-1, WV-2, and WV-3 as well as the needle valve WV-5 are all
closed. Turn on pump P-01.
4. Direct the water through the pipe by opening valve WV-1. Turn three-way valve
WV-4 knob to direct the water flow through rotameter FI-01. Make sure that valves WV6 and WV-7 are closed. Adjust three-way valve WV-8 to direct water to the heat
exchanger E-01. Turn three-way valve WV-9 knob to direct water to T-02.
5. Fix the water flow rate to 20% on FI-01 by using needle valve WV-5.
Begin flow of steam through the outer jacket of the heat exchanger as follows:
6. Position three-way valve SV-3 to direct flow through the steam trap 1.
7. Open the main steam valve SV-1.
Drain condensate from the line as follows:

8. Check with the TA to see if this step has been done; if not, using insulated gloves,
position the black rubber drain hose located downstream of SV-2 in a Styrofoam bucket.
One team member should stabilize the bucket and hose.
9. Using insulated gloves, open SV-2 slowly to drain all of the line condensate into the
bucket. Close SV-2 when steam begins to come out of the hose. Dispose of the
condensate in a floor drain do not use the sink drain. Clean up any water spills with
paper towels.
10. Return the rubber hose to common drain.
Start steam flow
11. Open DV-1. Turn three-way valve WV-9 knob to direct water to T-01. Verify that the
pump is on and that water is circulating through the inside of the heat exchanger. Do not
recirculate water back to tank T-02.
12. Open main air valve AV-1 and set the control valve FV-06 to 18 psig.

Appendix B. Heat Exchanger ShutdownProcedure

( based on procedure for heat transfer coefficient experiment found in CM3215 developed by F.
Morrison, revised for CM3310 by T. Co)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Set the air pressure regulator to 0 psig using the pressure regulator.
Close the main air valve AV-1.
Close main steam valve SV-1.
Return all drain hoses to the common drain.
Allow the cold water to circulate through the loop to cool the heat exchanger for at least 3
minutes. Stop when the piping at the cold-water exit of the heat exchanger is cool to the
touch.
6. Close valves WV-1 and needle valve WV-5.
7. Turn off pump P-01
8. Close main water valve WV-10.
9. Position three-way valve WV-9 to direct flow to Tank T-02.
10. Drain all tanks.
11. Dry off any wet surfaces with paper towels. Turn off all the electronic devices and
properly store them.
12. (If you are in the last session of the day, detach the transducer from the compressed air
line and the steam valve then reconnect air line directly to steam valve).

Appendix C. Obtaining an Empirical FOPTD Model

1. If it is not yet implemented in the Control System VI, include a [Write Meas File] block
(which can found in [Express]


[Output] menu.
2. Make sure that the temperature is initially at steady state.
3. Introduce a step change in controller output
, then collect the data up to the point where
the temperature settles to a new steady state. ( One simple way to manually introduce
step change is to set   0 and then use
4!5 to input a value between 0 and 1.)
!"!!5:

The FOPTD model has the solution given by the following:



9
7

if  )   ;:5<

8
 >  > ;:5<
7=!"5: > ?=!"5: > !"!!5: @ exp >
 if  C   ;:5<
6


(5)

4. You can use Excel solver to find the model (see Figure C1) by minimizing RMS through
changing of tdelay, tau, T_init and T_final. Note: you can find t0 from the point where

had a step change.

=SQRT(AVERAGE(F8:F2008))
=IF=(E8-C8)^2

=IF( B9<$B$1+$B$2, $B$4,

$B$5 - ($B$5-$B$4)*
EXP( -(B9-$B$1-$B$2)
/$B$3) )

Figure C1. Spreadsheet for obtaining FOPTD.

Note: process gain  can be found as



=!"5: > !"!!5: #

?
=!"5: >
!"!!5: @

(6)