Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology

Faculty of Engineering Technology, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn

Malaysia
84600 Pagoh, Johor Darul Ta’zim

LABORATORY REPORT
CONTROL LABORATORY
Subject Name and Code ENGINEERING
BNJ 37301
LABORATORY IV
Title of Experiment Basic Tests and Transducer Calibration

Course Code BNJ 37301

Section 1

Semester and session 20212022/2

Lecturer/Instructor/Tutor’s 1. Ts. Dr. Izuan Amin Bin Ishak

Name 2. Mohd Fuad Bin Yasak
Group Members Matric
Assessment
No.
1. SUM JING YU AN190189 Theory (C2) 10 %
Observation (P3)
2. LAI SWEE YONG CN190006 15 %
Results (P2)
3. ALLYSSA AMANDA AN190165 20 %
Calculation (P4)
4. MUHAMMAD SYAZANI
BIN SHAHRUL ZAMAN
AN190089 10 %
Discussions (C4)
5. 25 %
Date of Experiment Conclusion (C2)
15 %
References (C1)
28 MARCH 2022 5%
Date of Submission
TOTAL 100%

4 APRIL 2022 TOTAL COGNITIVE 55%

Approved stamp
TOTAL 45%
PHYSCOMOTOR
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

TABLE OF CONTENTS I
LIST OF APPENDICES

1.0 THEORY 1

2.0 RESULTS 2

3.0 CALCULATION 5

4.0 OBSERVATION 6

5.0 DISCUSSIONS 7

6.0 CONCLUSION 9

REFERENCE 10

ATTACHMENT 11

I
1.0 THEORY

Generally, a liquid level control system is a system which is specifically

designed to control the fluid level in tanks. These system’s primary goal is to control
the rate at which the pump delivers fluid to the tank so that it can reach the desired level
inside the tank. Other than that, the liquid level system’s purpose is to maintain a
specific level of fluid inside the tanks [1]. The basic components in liquid level system
are fluid tanks, measurement system (flowrate and liquid level sensor), controller and
actuator (pump motor) [2]. The controller in the liquid level system generates the
control signal that will then converted by the actuator into the desired signal and fed to
the plant to perform the desired action. Then, the fluid from the water reservoir,
powered by the pump motor is then allowed to fill the tank with a fluid flowrate of X
cm3 /min, when the control signal is generated by the controller and received by the
pump.

In addition, the fluid flowrate is generally relied on the voltage supply to the
pump, which is controlled by the controller. According to Alexander [3], the changes
in the flow rate is due to variation of applied voltage, which the applied voltage is
linearly proportional to the fluid flowrate. Other than that, flowmeter is function as an
instrument that measures the water speed or fluid flowrate when passes through it. In
this experiment, the CE105 Coupled Tanks apparatus used consist of two type of flow
meter, which are water flow sensor and rotameter. For the water flow sensor, the hall
effect principle is used, where water flows through the valve will rotates the rotor. Then,
the rotation of the rotor induces a voltage difference in the conductor in the sensor [4],
and the voltage difference is linearly proportional to the rate of rotation caused by the
fluid flowrate. Whereas for rotameter, as fluid passes, it raises the float. Thus, greater
fluid flowrate will lift the float higher [5]. Lastly, the magnitude of output voltage of
the water level sensor will increase as well as the height of water level increase [6].

1
2.0 RESULTS

a) Part 1 - Pump Calibration Characteristic

Table 1: Experimental result for pump supply voltage against flowrate, for
both increasing and decreasing flowrates

Flowrate Increasing Pump Supply Decreasing Pump Supply

(𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝟑𝟑 /𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦) (V) (V)
0 0 0
400 2.46 2.41
1000 3.45 3.31
1500 4.40 4.00
2000 5.27 5.25
2500 5.92 6.12
3000 7.38 7.37
3500 8.31 8.28
4000 9.59 -

Pump Supply Voltage against Flowrate

12

10
Pump Supply Voltage, V

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
Flowrate, 𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦^𝟑𝟑/𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐢𝐧𝐧

Increasing Pump Supply (V) Decreasing Pump Supply (V)

Figure 1: Pump supply voltage against flowrate

2
 b) Part 2 - Flowmeter Calibration Characteristic

Table 2: Experimental result for measured flowmeter output against actual

flowrate for both increasing and decreasing flowrates

Flowrate Increasing Pump Supply Decreasing Pump Supply

(𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝟑𝟑 /𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦) Flowmeter Output (V) Flowmeter Output (V)
400 1.11 1.15
1000 2.55 2.60
1500 3.97 4.05
2000 5.31 5.41
2500 6.72 6.72
3000 7.90 8.03
3500 9.18 9.16
4000 10.15 -

Pump Supply Flowmeter Output Voltage against Flowrate

Pump Supply Flowmeter Output Voltage, V

12

10

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
Flowrate, 𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦^𝟑𝟑/𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐢𝐧𝐧
Increasing Pump Supply Flowmeter Output (V)
Decreasing Pump Supply Flowmeter Output (V)

Figure 2: Pump supply flowmeter output voltage against flowrate

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 c) Part 3 – Level Sensor Calibration

Table 3: Experimental result for level sensor characteristic for Tanks 1

Liquid Level Increasing Pump Supply Decreasing Pump Supply

(mm) Sensor Output (V) Sensor Output (V)
0 0 -0.30
50 0.85 1.07
100 2.68 3.00
150 4.66 4.98
200 6.64 6.91
250 8.55 -

Pump Supply Sensor Output Voltage against Liquid Level

9
8
Sensor Output Voltage, V

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
-1 0 50 100 150 200 250
Liquid Level, mm

Increasing Pump Supply Sensor Output (V)

Decreasing Pump Supply Sensor Output (V)

Figure 3: Pump supply sensor output voltage against liquid level for Tank 1

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 Table 4: Experimental result for level sensor characteristic for Tanks 2

Liquid Level Increasing Pump Supply Decreasing Pump Supply

(mm) Sensor Output (V) Sensor Output (V)
0 0 0.02
50 1.88 2.15
100 3.85 4.26
150 5.94 6.36
200 8.00 8.36
250 10.06 -

Pump Supply Sensor Output Voltage against Liquid Level

12
Sensor Output Voltage, V

10

0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Liquid Level, mm

Increasing Pump Supply Sensor Output (V)

Decreasing Pump Supply Sensor Output (V)

Figure 4: Pump supply sensor output voltage against liquid level for Tank 2

3.0 CALCULATION

In this experiment, there are no calculations required on the experimental

results obtained.

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4.0 OBSERVATION

From the experiment, for part 1 which is the pump calibration characteristics,
we noticed that as the flowrate increases, the increasing in the pump supply as well as
the decreasing in the pump supply increases little by little. The minimum increasing
pump supply was 2.46 V while minimum decreasing pump supply was 2.41 V at the
lowest flowrate 400 cm^3/min. At the highest flowrate 4000 cm^3/min, the maximum
data collected of the increasing pump supply was 9.59 V while for decreasing pump
supply was 8.28 V at flowrate 3500 cm^3/min.

For part 2, flowmeter calibration characteristics, we collected data from the

lowest flowrate 400 cm^3/min to the highest 4400 cm^3/min. The increasing and
decreasing pump supply flowmeter increases steadily over the flowrate. At the
minimum flowrate 400 cm^3/min, we collected the lowest increasing pump supply
flowmeter at 1.11 V and decreasing pump supply flowmeter at 1.15 V. At the highest
flowrate 4000 cm^3/min, the maximum data collected of the increasing pump supply
flowmeter was 10.16 V while for decreasing pump supply was 9.16 V at flowrate 3500
cm^3/min.

For part 3, level sensor calibration for Tank 1, the data collected from liquid
level 0 mm to 250 mm. The increasing and decreasing pump supply output increases
gradually as the liquid level increases by 50 mm each time until 250 mm. At the
maximal liquid level 250 mm, the increasing pump supply output was 8.55 V. The
decreasing pump supply output highest data was at liquid level 200 mm which is 6.91
V.

For part 3 of the level sensor calibration in Tank 2, similar as in Tank 1, the data
collected was for liquid level from 0 mm increases 50 mm up to 250 mm. At the
minimal liquid level 0 mm, the increasing and decreasing pump supply sensor output
were at their lowest which are 0 V and 0.02 V respectively. The increasing and
decreasing pump supply sensor output increases progressively as the liquid level
increases. The uttermost data for the increasing pump supply sensor output was 10.06
V at the highest liquid level 250 mm while for decreasing pump supply sensor output
was 8.36 V at liquid level 200 mm.

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 Overall, the CE105 coupled tank apparatus consists of two liquid tanks, where
the tank is used to accept incoming liquid while keeping the liquid variation at the
desired output level to supply outflow of liquid at a constant speed. Each tank has a
scale level that proportional to the signals level sensor and it has a variable speed pump
forces liquid into the first tank.

We observed that each tank has a level sensor that gives output signals
proportional to the water level in each tank. A scale on each tank allows us to check the
level-sensor calibration. The basic control problem is to regulate the liquid level in one
of the tanks by varying the speed of the circulating pump. A variable-speed pump forces
water into the left-hand tank. A valve connects this tank to a second tank, if needed, for
two-tank experiments. A rotameter-type flow meter shows the flow rate. An electronic
flow meter measures the flow rate [7].

5.0 DISCUSSIONS

Based on the experimental results obtained, it can be significantly observed that

the voltage supplied to the pump is linearly proportional with the fluid flowrate, either
for the phase of increasing flowrate or decreasing flowrate. As known that the pump
motor consisted of an electrical induction motor that converted to electrical energy into
mechanical energy, then the mechanical energy is used to rotate the pump and pull the
water in through the inlet and push out through the outlet of the pump. Therefore, by
controlling the magnitude of voltage supplied to the pump motor, any variation in
voltage supply will lead to variation in RPM (revolution per minute) of the pump motor.
Thus, the higher the magnitude of voltage supply to the pump motor, the faster the
pump rotate, and hence the higher the volumetric flow rate.

In the CE105 Coupled Tanks apparatus used, there are two types of flow meter
used to measure the fluid flow rate, which are flow sensor and rotameter. However,
only the outputs of the flow sensor will be discussed, while the outputs from rotameter
are act as references during experiment. Based on the graph obtained, it clearly showed
that the output voltage of flowmeter and fluid flowrate have a linear relationship
between each other. The flow sensor is basically consisted of a plastic valve, a water
rotor and a hall effect sensor. When the water passes through the flow sensor, it will

7
rotate the rotor, and an induced voltage difference that can be measured by hall effect
sensor is produced in the conductor. Thus, the higher the fluid flowrate, the faster the
rotor rotate, the greater the voltage induced, as proved in the experiment.

Other than that, based on the experimental result, it shown that the output
voltage of level sensor shown a linear relationship with the liquid level, same for both
Tank 1 and Tank 2. When the liquid level is at 0 mm, voltage output from the level
sensor is about 0 V, and the voltage output from level sensor increase as liquid level
increase. In simple, the water level sensor consisted of a series of ten exposed copper
traces arranged in interlace position, which are five power traces and another five sense
traces. Theses traces will not connect to each other, unless they bridged when the level
sensor is submerged into the water. The fundamental working principle of level sensor
is just similar to a variable resistor, whose resistance changes to the water level. The
resistance produced is inversely proportional to the height of water level. For instance,
the higher the water level, the better conductivity and hence lower resistance, while
lower water level will have low conductivity and hence higher resistance. Therefore,
the water level sensor will produce an output voltage corresponding to resistance in
order to obtain the height of water level.

Lastly, based on the overall results obtained, it can be seen that there is only a
minor of dissimilarity for the pump supply increasing and decreasing phase. This minor
error may due to systematic error from sensor itself, or human error that happened when
recording the experiment data under a speedy situation, and hence lead to low accurate
results.

8
6.0 CONCLUSION

CE105 Coupled Tank Apparatus is a control system that has been used for the
development of control theory related with the liquid level control in the experiment.
Its main goal is to help the researcher to understand the concept of liquid level control
in which the rate of fluid flow to the tank will be control with the help of measurement
system, controller, and actuator. They are the main components for the liquid level
control system in the experiment.

In the experiment, the flowmeter and level sensor are the measurement system
for liquid level control system, which will measuring the condition of fluid flow to the
tank. So, the accuracy of the flowmeter and level sensor is important in the experiment.
For flowmeter, the pipe with large diameter will help to increase the accuracy of the
flowmeter to get the same results on repeated runs under the same operating condition
and the result will be remain within the standard measurement range. For level sensor,
the transducer with more accuracy will help the sensor to receive the signal of condition
of fluid flow in the tank in the short time without any delay. Other than that, the pump
motor is the actuator that receive the signal from controller to allow the fluid flow from
water reservoir to the tank. It is also an important component in the experiment. The
pump motor with the smaller size can prevent the pressure drop in the pipe for the fluid
flow in the pipe to make sure the result of experiment be accurate. After that, there will
be a need of initial voltage for the pump motor to turn on the impeller to create the low
pressure in the pipe for sucking the fluid flow into the tank.

Last but not least, the liquid level control system in the experiment still has some
improvement need to be achieve, which are the quality of flowmeter and level sensor,
and the shape of pump motor to ensure the results that gain from the experiment will
be more accurate.

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REFERENCE

[1] Electronic Coach (n.d). Liquid Level Control System. Retrieved on April 1, 2022,
from https://electronicscoach.com/liquid-level-control-system.html

[2] M. Sami Fadali, Antonio Visioli (2020). Introduction to digital control.

Retrieved on April 1, 2022 from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/level-control-system

[3] Alexander, M. S., Smith, K. L., & Stark, J. P. (2005, October). Voltage Effects
on the Volumetric Flow Rate and Thrust produced in Electrospray Propulsion
Systems. In 29th International Electric Propulsion Conference.

[4] Elprocus (n.d). Water Flow Sensor Working and Its Applications. Retrieved on
April 1, 2022 from https://www.elprocus.com/a-memoir-on-water-flow-sensor/

[5] OMEGA Engineering Ltd (March 16, 2018). An Introduction to Flow

Measurement with Rotameters. Retrieved on April 1, 2022, from
https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=15410

[6] Sabar, Sabar & Anjani, Dewi & Wijaya, Sastra. (2021). Water Level Detection
System based on Arduino and LabVIEW for Flood Monitors using Virtual
Instrumentation. Al-Fiziya: Journal of Materials Science, Geophysics,
Instrumentation and Theoretical Physics. 4. 29-35. 10.15408/fiziya.v4i1.19808.

[7] AYVA (n.d). TecQuipment Coupled Tanks Apparatus – CE105. Retrieved on

April 3, 2022, from https://www.ayva.ca/eng/product/coupled-tanks-
apparatus/.

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ATTACHMENT

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