Determination of the Pump Flow Characteristic using the

CE117 Process Trainer

FERRER, Kenneth Glenn S.
2014-06380
ME 176: Control Systems I
1st Semester 2018-2019

Introduction

The CE117 Process Trainer is a control process apparatus which allows for the manipulation of the
following parameters: flow, level, temperature, and pressure. Thus, investigations may be done regarding
the given parameters. Water is used as the working fluid as it is the safest option. For this experiment, the
relationship between the pump voltage and the flow rate is explored.

Data and Results

Table 1: Increasing pump voltages and corresponding flow voltages

Pump Flow Voltage
Voltage Up Reading Down Reading
1.6 0.2 -
2 1.1 1
3 2.1 2.1
4 3 3
5 3.5 3.6
6 4 4
7 4.4 4.4
8 4.7 4.7
9 4.9 5
10 5.2 5.2

6
5 Up Reading
Flow Voltage

4
3 Down Reading
2
1 R² = 0.997 Log. (Up Reading)

0 R² = 0.997
Log. (Down
0 5 10 15 Reading)
Pump Voltage

Figure 1: Pump voltage vs. flow voltage (Up and Down reading)
Analysis

Water does not start flowing until pump voltage is increased to 1.6 V. It can be seen from Table 1 that
the flow rate increases as the pump voltage is increased from 2 to 10 volts. Up and down reading was
done to prevent hysteresis and to account for the head loss during up reading. Figure 1 shows how the
graph of the pump voltage versus flow voltage looks. It can be clearly observed that the relationship is not
linear. Using the trendline analysis of Excel, different trendlines were used to model the graph. The
closest trendline was found to be the logarithmic curve. The logarithmic trendlines created resemble both
graphs (up and down) and indicates that the pump and flow voltage have a logarithmic relationship. The
R2 value obtained for both up and down readings is 0.997 which further verifies the claim that the
relationship is logarithmic.

Conclusion

Some of the flow voltages are different when the up and down readings are compared which could be
attributed to the head loss experienced by the fluid during transit from the reservoir to the tank. The pump
flow characteristic was determined to be logarithmic instead of linear as proven by the data obtained from
the CE117 Process Trainer. More data points could have been used to further prove that the relationship is
logarithmic.

References

CE117 Process Trainer User Guide