IoT BASED AIR COMPRESSOR CONTROL

SYSTEM
Mrs.N.Padmavathi Dr..G.Nalinashini Dr.A.Chilambuchelvan
Assistant Professor/EIE, Associate Professor/EIE, Professor & Head/EIE,
RMD Engineering College, RMD Engineering College, RMD Engineering College,
Thiruvallur Thiruvallur Thiruvallur
padmavthirmd@gmail.com Gns.eie@gmail.com

Abstract— Air compressor is a machine that compresses
the air from a low inlet pressure to a higher desired pressure level.
The Vitality of the compressed air utilized for a variety of
applications. Piston chambers are used in pneumatic tools such as
High Pressure Air Tanks and Air Filter Regulators, I/P Converters
and Control Valves. The Yield that is used to power an air
compressor is converted to heat. Hot, drenched and squeezed air
from the compressor’s discharge is repulsed through an after cooler.
Moist air disturbs the instruments connected to the compressor. A
properly sized dryer will prevent liquid water within a compressible
air system. Control loops for pressure and temperature are installed
on the compressed air system. The control loops regulates the
pressure and temperature. There by maintaining smooth and
efficient operation of the compressor. Now a days Automation of
compressor control system is vital in all industries. The compressor
consists of a observation equipment to protect the compressor and
obviate production downtime.
Keywords— Air Compressor Control system, Node
MCU, Embedded system, Pressure transmitter
I. INTRODUCTION
In order to compress the air from a low inlet pressure to
desired value of pressure level, compressor is used. It
increases the pressure of the air by reducing its volume.
Work required for increasing the air pressure is available
from the prime mover driving the compressor. Electric
motors, internal combustion engines, steam engines, turbines
are used as prime movers.Compressed air powers many
different kinds of devices. It can be used to push a piston, as
in a jackhammer; it can go through a small air turbine to turn
a shaft, as in a dental drill; or it can be expanded through a
nozzle to produce a high-speed jet, as in a paint sprayer.
Two common concepts for the compression of air is
carried out by positive displacement and dynamic
compression.With reference to the paper [1] Positive
displacement compressors classified as the reciprocating
(piston) compressors, orbital (scroll) compressors and rotary
compressors (screw, tooth, and vane). The air is drawn into
one or more compression chambers, which is then closed
from the inlet. The volume of each chamber decreases and
the air is compressed internally. When the pressure makes it
to the built-in pressure ratio, a valve is opened and the air is
released into the outlet system.Air is drawn between the
blades on a rapidly rotating compression impeller and
accelerates to a high velocity is known as dynamic
compression. Gas is discharged through a diffuser, in which
the kinetic energy is transformed into static pressure. With
reference to the paper [2], An after-cooler is example. Some
components, such as multi-leveled equations, graphics, and
tables are not prescribed, although the various table text
styles are provided. The formatter will need to create these
components, incorporating the applicable criteria that
follow. a heat exchanger that cools the hot compressed air to
accelerate the water that otherwise would condensate in the
pipe system. Either water- cooled or air-cooled, is equipped
with a water separator with automatic drainage and should
be placed close to the compressor.Approximately 80–90% of
the accelerated condensation water is collected in the after-
cooler’s water separator. The temperature of the compressed
air after passing through the after-cooler is approx. 10˚C
above the coolant temperature, but can vary depending on
the type of cooler. It is mainly used in modern compressors.
II. AIR COMPRESSOR CONTROL SYSTEM
Compressors below 5–10 kW are
superintended by completely stopping the electric motor
when the pressure matches an upper limit value and by
restarting it when the pressure drops below the lower limit
value. This method required a large pressure difference
between the upper and lower limits, so that the heat load on
the electric motor minimized. Loading / unloading air is
main function of displacement compressor. Solenoid valve
is used to regulate the air supply from the compressor
according to the requirement. The control uses a pressure
switch with values for minimum pressure (loaded) and
maximum pressure (unloaded). The compressor works
within the limits of the set values.
Figure 1: Start Stop Control
The compressor is in idle mode when the air requirement
is very small period of idle mode is limited by a timer. If the
desired value reaches, the compressor stops and retains in

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same position until the pressure has dropped to the minimum
value. It has the limitation of slow regulation. The entire
compressor operation can be automized based on the signals
from microcontroller so that the switches are replaced with
pressure and temperature sensors. Opening and closing of the
damper is implemented by the motor through the pressure
transducer. The proposed system has quick and accurate
regulation within ± 0.2 bar.
Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) is used to
measure the temperature. One type of RTD is Positive
Temperature Coefficient (PTC). The PTC has the property of
change in resistance with increased temperature. The RTD is
connected to a controller, from which the signal is generated
to control the compressor.
III. PROPOSED BLOCK DIAGRAM
The compressor is furnished with monitoring equipment to
safe guard the compressor and prevents production downtime.
The transducer is used to sense the current condition of the
installation. Information from the transducers is processed by
the monitoring system. RTD consist of a metal resistor as a
transducer whose resistance increases as the temperature
increases. Electrical output from (change in resistance) RTD is
converted to a standard industrial current signal (4-20) mA.
The change in resistance from the strain gauge is then
translated to an electrical signal.
Figure 1.1: Proposed Block Diagram
Arduino Uno, a microcontroller (ATmega328P) board is
used to process the signals from the electrical pick – ups.
The monitoring equipment sends exemplar signal based on III. PRESSURE TRANSMITTER
the alarm limit through the sensor. A pressure transmitter is a transducer that converts the
pressure into electrical signal. The pressure transmitter
Compressor ON / OFF operation is based on controller utilized the ceramic thick-film technology for
signal and an equipment is inadequate to restart when a cut- the measurement of pressure.
out gives an alarm value. Compressor operations are based
on a control panel by directly reading the status of pressure Principle of Pressure Measurement
and temperature sensor. The internal electronics converts the raw sensor signal into
a filtered, amplified, temperature-compensated and
On smaller installations, it A simple alarm is sufficient for standardized 4-20 mA signal. The output signal is delivered
monitoringthe operation of small compressor. ESP8266 through a standardized connector or a cable for signal
module is facilitated for central monitoring of larger processing
compressor installations. The abovementioned module has
the trend facility in which the temperature and pressure Temperature Transmitter
signals of the compressor are utilized to provide the Temperature Transmitter is a type of transducer that
graphical representation (Trend analysis) for the last 24 converts a non electrical quantity into electrical signal as a
hours. The graphical curves are used to analyze the entire function of temperature. The relationship between an RTD
compressor safety operation region. resistance and the surrounding temperature is highly
predictable, allowing for accurate and consistent
temperature measurement. In many cases, the temperature of
a remote process must be monitored. Common temperature
sensing devices such as RTD’s produce very small signals.
These sensors can be connected to a two-wire transmitter that
will amplify and condition the small signal. Once
conditioned to a usable level, this signal can be transmitted
through an ordinary copper wire and used to drive
equipments such as meters, data loggers, chart recorders,
computers or controllers
The RTD input transmitter will draw 4 mA of current from
a DC Power Supply when measuring the lowest temperature

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 of the process. Then, as the temperature rises, the RTD
transmitter will draw proportionally more current, until it
reaches 20 mA. This 20 mA signal corresponds to the RTD’s
highest sensed temperature. The transmitter’s internal signal-
conditioning circuitry (powered by a portion of the 4-20 mA
current) determines the temperature range that the output
current signal will represent
IV. ARDUINO UNO
Arduino Uno is a microcontroller family of
ATmega328P. It consist of 14 digital pins, 6 analog inputs, a
16 MHz quartz crystal, a USB connection and a power jack.
The ATmega328 on the Arduino Uno comes
preprogrammed with a boot loader that allows you to upload
new code to it without the use of an external hardware
programmer.
Arduino Uno has a number of facilities for
communicating with a computer, another Arduino, or other
microcontrollers. The ATmega328 provides UART TTL
(5V) serial communication, which is available on digital
pins 0 (RX) and 1 (TX).
Figure 1.2: ARDUINO UNO
The Arduino Software (IDE) includes a serial monitor
which allows simple textual data to be sent to and from the
board. The ATmega328 also supports I2C (TWI) and SPI
communication. The Arduino Software (IDE) includes a Wire
library to simplify use of the I2C bus. A SoftwareSerial
library allows serial communication on any of the Arduino
digital pins.
V. INTERFACING THE TRANSMITTER TO ARDUINO
The Pressure and Temperature Transmitters provides a 4-
20 mA output signal when powered by an external power
source. A 24V DC Switched Mode Power Supply (SMPS) is
used as the external power source. In industrial process
control, analog 4-20 mA current loops are used for electronic
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signalling, with the 4-20 mA signal representing 0-100% of
the range of measurement. These loops are used both for
carrying sensor information from field instrumentation, and
also carrying control signals to the process modulating
devices.
The Arduino board reads analog inputs in the form of a
voltage signal. Hence, the 4-20 mA signal must be converted
to a voltage to be interfaced with the Arduino. A 250 Ω
resistor is connected across the ends of the current loop.
When the current flowing through the loop is 4 mA, the
corresponding voltage is 4 mA * 250 Ω = 1V. For a current of
20 mA, the corresponding voltage is 20 mA * 250 Ω = 5V
The 250 Ω resistor converts the 4- 20 mA current signal
into a 1 - 5V voltage signal
Figure 1.3: Air Compressor with Transmitters
The compressor is turned OFF when the
temperature of the compressed air falls below its lower limit.
The control actions are programmed inside the ArduinoUno.
The operating parameters may be viewed through the
Operator Display (LCD) at the location of the
installation.Serial Monitor over the USB or serial connector
is used to view the operating parameters of the compressor.
The monitoring system has the data logging facility through
which, trend analysis carried out over a day. Further
operation of the air compressor (planning) is based on the
trend analysis.When the pressure reaches its lower limit, the
compressor is turned ON. The air is forced into the storage
tank and the pressure starts to increase. The compressor runs
in a safe state.
When the pressure of the compressed air reaches its upper
limit, the compressor is turned OFF. ‘Pressure High’ alarm is
indicated at this instant. Storage tank reaches its maximum
capacity. The air is stored inside the storage tank, and is used
when demanded. The condition of the compressor is viewed
by an indicator, which turns red when the compressor is OFF
and green when the compressor is ON. As the discharge
pressure reaches 80% of its upper limit, the pressure gauge
 points to the red region. The yellow region denotes the range
when the discharge pressure reaches 60% of its upper limit.
Figure 1.4: Current to Voltage Conversion using
250Ω Resistor
Figure 5.3: Interface during Compression of Air
Figure 1.5: Interface when Discharge Pressure
reaches its Set Point
Figure 1.5: Interface during Compression of Air
Pressure reaches its Set Point. Pressure and temperature limits
are programmed inside the Arduino Uno. Changes in pressure
and temperature limits requires uploading an updated Sketch
using the Serial Port (COM).As the compressed air is
demanded, the pressure starts to drop. The compressor
remains in OFF condition and is allowed to reach a safe
operating range. When the pressure falls below its lower limit,
the compressor is turned ON.
Figure 1.6: Interface during Discharge of
Compressed Air
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Troubleshooting facility on this compressor is used to
monitoring the pressure and temperature parameters of the
equipment over a day. So that the logical troubleshooting
carried out to easily to identify the reason for the downtime.
If any fault identified compressor is shut down immediately
and compressor reset blocked manually until the miscue of
the equipment rectified. When the temperature of the
compressed air crosses it upper limit, the compressor is
turned OFF. ‘Temperature High’ alarm is indicated at this
instant. The temperature gauge changes gauge changes to
red when the temperature crosses its upper limit. Air is
allowed to cool during this period. As the compressed air is
cooled down sufficiently, the compressor is turned ON.
Figure 1.7: Interface during High Operating Temperature
IV. CONCLUSION
The proposed model is directed to an
improved and energy- efficient control method for an air
compressor control system based on the compressor
discharge pressure and its operating temperature. The
compressor is transistorized with an observation
equipment to safeguard the compressor and obviate the
production downtime. Future embodiments on the model
relies on a lightweight, optimized protocol that can be
supported by the smallest measuring and monitoring
devices, and transmitting data over far reaching networks;
remote starting and stopping with an intuitive display.
An intuitive display hierarchy within the human cognitive
limits presents an overview of a large portion of a process,
without losing the ability to drill down into other displays for
greater levels of detail and control functionality.

REFERENCES

[1].https://www.atlascopco.com/en- compressors/wiki/compressed-air-
articles/ Displacement-and-dynamic-compression

[2].https://www.docsity.com/pt/manual-de-ar- comprimido-
4/4830300/

[3].Atlas Copco Airpower NV, Compressed Air Manual 8th

Edition, 2015.

[4]. Ernest A. Doebelin, Measurement Systems, 2007.

[5] CTX Industrial Pressure Transmitter,

https://www.baumer.com/ch/en/pro duct-overview/process-
sensors/pressure-measurement/for- industrial-applications/for-
air-and- gas-applications/c/14378/products.

[6]. Rosemount™ 248 Temperature Transmitter,

http://www.emerson.com/en-us / catalogue/rosemount - 248 -
Temperature Transmitter.

[7]. Arduino - Getting Started,

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/

[8].ESP8266ATInstructionSet,
https://www.espressif.com/sites/default/files/documentation

[9]. Getting Started with ThingSpeak,

https://in.mathworks.com/help/thingspeak.html

[10]. REST API, https://in.mathworks.com/help/thingspeak/

rest-api.html

[11]. Nicholas Able, Michael Peters, James Christopher Collins,

Srinivasa Rao Yenneti, Compressor System and Method for
Conditioning Inlet Air, US Patent 15211828, Filed July 15 2016.

[12]. Scott William Weber, Clinton Lee Thompson, Compressor

Temperature Control, System and Method, US Patent 20170341757,
Filed May 15 2017.

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