Solar Based Air Compressor Pump Using A Flow Switch

Power & ElectricalsTECHNOLOGY
450

C. Sneha, S. Pratyush, V. Sailaja, Sreekala M.
(Electrical and Electronics Department, Amrita School Of Engineering, Bangalore, India)

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This paper’s objective is to determine a different method to operate a solar based air compressor pump. A solar panel is used to convert the solar energy to voltage, which is used to operate an air compressor via a battery. This system can be used in both remote and commercial areas. It can be used for tire inflation, spray painting etc. Initial researchers have used a microcontroller interfaced to the solar cells to control the air compressor output. Here a pressure switch is used instead of a microcontroller to control the air flow. This approach simplifies the system design and eliminates the use of any programmable hardware.

KEYWORDS:
Solar panel, battery, Buck Converter, air compressor, pressure switch

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I. Introduction:
With the advent of the recent energy crisis, there has arrived a need to explore the capacity and applications of the available renewable resources. Solar energy has greatest potential of all the sources of renewable energy. The sun gives us 1000 times more power than we need. But most of it goes untapped. Research is ongoing on the different applications in which solar energy can be implemented. Initial experiments on a solar based air compressor have been done using a solar panel connected to a charge controller which controls the battery charging. The battery is used as a backup to run the compressor which is otherwise done by the panel. A microcontroller is used to program the entire system. It measures the pressure of the air pressure in the load (say the tire). It compares the pressure to a reference value and increases or decreases the output to the load accordingly [1-2]. This system though is not entirely reliable and is expensive. Here a buck converter has been used in place of a charge controller. Both the buck converter and the solar panel have been simulated using Matlab (Simulink) [3-6]. After a detailed analysis a reciprocating (piston type) air compressor was chosen [7-10] and to further improve the system the microcontroller has been replaced with a pressure switch. This way a simpler, more economical system is implemented.

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II. System Design Description
In this experiment battery will not be used as a backup. Instead, the solar panel will charge the battery and the battery will be used to run the compressor. Using such a steady source will make the system more reliable. The charge controller will be replaced by a buck converter. The converter will control the voltage to the battery and provide unidirectional charging. This makes the system cost effective in the long run.

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Finally the microcontroller is replaced by an industrial pressure switch. The pressure switch can be calibrated for a particular range of pressure. This will eliminate the need of a microcontroller making the system simpler. The primary goal is to make the system cost effective and easy to use so that it can be implemented for different applications irrespective of whether it is a rural or an urban locality. Initially controlling any energy source was a simple ON and OFF mechanism with no regulation. But the need has arisen to be able to control the sources for different conditions in order to cut down the power losses and obtain the maximum efficiency under any given situation. For this purpose optimum utilization of energy has become the objective of the paper. Here an air compressor is operated with solar energy for the application of tire inflation. Using a renewable energy source makes it reliable and the use of a flow switch makes for a less complex system without compromising the output regulation.

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The hardware has been divided into two sections- battery charging section and Pressure control section.In the battery charging section solar panel charges a rechargeable battery through a DC-DC (buck) converter. In the pressure control system, with the battery as a constant DC source the air compressor is operated. The output is regulated by a pressure switch. A 5W panel is used as the renewable source whose maximum output voltage is 24V and minimum is 17V, depending on the intensity of the incident sunlight. The variable DC output from the solar panel is given to a buck converter to get a stepped down output voltage needed to charge the battery. The buck converter steps down variable DC voltage to 12V to charge a 12V, 1.3Ah lead-acid rechargeable battery. The gating pulse to the MOSFET is fed using a 555 timer pulse generator. With a battery as a constant DC source of 12V it is given to the air compressor load of 250 PSI (18 bar), 12V. A pressure switch is used to control the output of the air compressor. The pressure switch can be calibrated for a particular range of pressure. When the pressure reaches the calibrated set point, the switch automatically opens to stop the air compressor.

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III. Results and Analysis
1. Solar Panel Simulation and testing
Solar panel testing was done as seen in Figure 3. Initial simulation results gave a result about 17 V for normal weather conditions as seen in Figure 4. Further testing was done by varying the irradiance level and an output range of 17 to 23 Volts depending on the irradiance level was observed.

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2. Pulse Generator testing
The pulse generator circuit was implemented using a 555 timer IC. The output of the pulse generator circuit was given to the TLP circuit. And the output of the TLP circuit was given to the gate of the buck converter. As seen in the Figure 5 the Buck Converter was simulated and gave an output of about 12V for an input of 17 to 18V. Using the simulation theoretical values for a range of input values was obtained as seen in Table 1.
Figure 6 shows the Buck Converter hardware testing. Testing the hardware gave practical values for input range for which the simulation was conducted as seen in Table 1.

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4. Hardware results
In the hardware pulse generator gives pulses to the Buck Converter. A TLP is used for the drive and amplification circuit. Using solar panel as an input for the Buck Converter the system was tested as seen in Figure 7 to obtain the values as shown in Table 2.

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IV. Conclusion
This paper presents an initiative to implement renewable energy into the application of an air compressor system. This makes the system more reliable and efficient. Pressure switch makes this system simple and easy to control without need for programming. The buck converter makes the system less complex and minimizes energy losses. Finally solar energy makes it non-polluting, reliable, and sustainable and can produce energy anywhere where there is sunlight. Solar Power doesn’t require any major mechanical parts avoiding maintenance issues and noise problems. Also there are continual advancements in solar panel technology which are increasing the efficiency and lowering cost of production. To improve the system a closed loop control can be implemented for the buck converter which will facilitate automatic duty ratio control based on variable input supply. The input from the solar panel is variable so closed loop can automatically regulate duty ratio to give the required constant output voltage.

V. References

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  • Mustafa A. Al Refai Matlab/Simulink Simulation of Solar Energy Storage System” International Journal of Electrical, Computer, Electronics and Communication Engineering Vol. 8, 2014, pp. 293-298
  • Mahesh Gowda N M, Yadu Kiran, Dr. S.S Parthasarthy,” Modelling of Buck DC-DC Converter Using Simulink”, International Journal of Innovative Research in Science Engineering and Technology, Vol. 3, Issue 7, 2014, pp. 14965-14975
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