Engineering Manual o.. - HVAC.Amickracing

CONTROL FUNDAMENTALSFigure 22 shows a sample control loop for basic two-positioncontrol: a thermostat turning a furnace burner on or off inresponse to space temperature. Because the thermostat cannotcatch up with fluctuations in temperature, overshoot andundershoot enable the temperature to vary, sometimesconsiderably. Certain industrial processes and auxiliaryprocesses in air conditioning have small system lags and canuse two-position control satisfactorily.TEMPERATURE(°F)OFFON7574737271BASIC TWO-POSITION CONTROLOVERSHOOTCONDITIONDIAL SETTINGDIFFERENTIALTHERMOSTATFURNACE7069SOLENOIDGAS VALVE68UNDERSHOOTCONDITIONC2715Fig. 22. Basic Two-Position Control Loop.75TIMETIMED TWO-POSITION CONTROLTIMED TWO-POSITION CONTROLGENERALThe ideal method of controlling the temperature in a space isto replace lost heat or displace gained heat in exactly the amountneeded. With basic two-position control, such exact operationis impossible because the heating or cooling system is eitherfull on or full off and the delivery at any specific instant iseither too much or too little. Timed two-position control,however, anticipates requirements and delivers measuredquantities of heating or cooling on a percentage on-time basisto reduce control point fluctuations. The timing is accomplishedby a heat anticipator in electric controls and by a timer inelectronic and digital controls.In timed two-position control, the basic interaction betweenthe controller and the final control element is the same as forbasic two-position control. However, the controller respondsto gradual changes in the average value of the controlled variablerather than to cyclical fluctuations.Overshoot and undershoot are reduced or eliminated becausethe heat anticipation or time proportioning feature results in afaster cycling rate of the mechanical equipment. The result iscloser control of the variable than is possible in basic twopositioncontrol (Fig. 23).TEMPERATURE(°F)OFFONFig. 23. Comparison of Basic Two-Position and TimedTwo-Position Control.HEAT ANTICIPATION74737271706968TIMECONTROLPOINTC2089In electromechanical control, timed two-position control canbe achieved by adding a heat anticipator to a bimetal sensingelement. In a heating system, the heat anticipator is connectedso that it energizes whenever the bimetal element calls for heat.On a drop in temperature, the sensing element acts to turn onboth the heating system and the heat anticipator. The heatanticipator heats the bimetal element to its off point early anddeenergizes the heating system and the heat anticipator. As theambient temperature falls, the time required for the bimetalelement to heat to the off point increases, and the cooling timedecreases. Thus, the heat anticipator automatically changes theratio of on time to off time as a function of ambient temperature.Because the heat is supplied to the sensor only, the heatanticipation feature lowers the control point as the heatrequirement increases. The lowered control point, called“droop”, maintains a lower temperature at design conditionsand is discussed more thoroughly in the following paragraphs.Energizing the heater during thermostat off periodsaccomplishes anticipating action in cooling thermostats. Ineither case, the percentage on-time varies in proportion to thesystem load.ENGINEERING MANUAL OF AUTOMATIC CONTROL21