Controlling Solar Water Pump using variable frequency drive by Android Application

The variable frequency drive (VFD) is the AC motor controller that is used to vary the speed of induction motor by changing the frequency supplied to the motor. This project also works on the principle of VFD and changes the flow of water pump. Android Application is used to vary the frequency of th

Project Title

Controlling Solar Water Pump using variable frequency drive by Android Application

Project Area of Specialization

Internet of Things

Project Summary

The variable frequency drive (VFD) is the AC motor controller that is used to vary the speed of induction motor by changing the frequency supplied to the motor. This project also works on the principle of VFD and changes the flow of water pump. Android Application is used to vary the frequency of the pump. When user changes the frequency from application than this frequency is updated on firebase and then given to NODE-MCU which is a WIFI chip than NODE will give this frequency to Arduino. Also, there are two power sources i.e. WAPDA and Solar Energy. It is the choice of user whether he want to run the pump on Solar or on WAPDA. This source selection is also made through the android application and relay operates accordingly. AC input coming from WAPDA is fed to the variable frequency drive (VFD) to drive the motor at variable speed, whereas Solar panel will first charge the battery than it is given to the inverter. 220V from WAPDA is transformed to low voltage by step down transformer than this AC is converted to DC voltage by the rectifier and this DC is given to DC bus to remove ripples which consists of filter capacitors, this act as filter that smoothens the DC than this DC is fed to the inverter that converts this DC into AC and at this stage the frequency is varied through the PWM. At last stage the voltage is increased by the step-up transformer to drive the motor. Android app is used to give the signal to the inverter that at which frequency we want to drive the motor than by the switching of MOSFETs at inverter the frequency is varied.

Project Objectives

Our foremost Objective is to drive an AC motor on variable frequency and additionally on dual input sources. Either we can run it on WAPDA or SOLAR supply. Switching is done through an Android App. In provincial and in backward areas, there is a lack of electricity. Along these lines, the field of horticulture endures the most because of unbalanced and inadequate accessibility of water. In our nation, 60 percent of calls depends on horticulture. Thus, the issues happening because of fewer vitality assets influence the nation income straightforwardly.

To upgrade the result in the field of agriculture, Sun based vitality can be a splendid decision. That is the reason we have used Sun oriented supply to water pumps. As a matter of first importance, it is shoddy, option and clean. Usually, the financial state of our ranchers isn't too great to even consider bearing costs of purchasing fuel for generators over and over. At the point when WAPDA supply isn't accessible, you can without much of a stretch change to Sunlight based supply. So, the major objective of the project to increase the productivity using SOLAR source has accomplished. Another main objective is to drive water pumps at variable frequency in efficient and economical way along with the prevention of motor from burning which is an issue at variable frequency.

AC motor’s speed is directly dependent upon frequency. As if voltage supplied to motor is 50Hz (usually in china), motor works properly. But if is given more than 50Hz, it runs faster than actual speed as at below 50 Hz, it runs slower than its actual speed. So, the deviation from actual speed can cause the motor burning.

To beat this issue, we have utilized VFD (Variable Frequency Drive). Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) is essentially utilized for the decrease of Energy Consumption and Energy Costs. VFD helps in Large vitality sparing at lower speed. It likewise lessens clamor and vibration level, just as decreases the warm and mechanical anxieties. Henceforth, bringing about the expanded existence of pivoting parts because of lower working pace which broadens gear life and lessen support. VFD fundamentally controls speed of the engine.

Generally, our task is created to use characteristic assets, to limit the generation cost, to encourage country and in reverse zones individuals, to give an elective wellspring of vitality, to run water siphon on double info sources, to ensure proficient execution, to upgrade profitability and to satisfy the fantasy of high income in horticulture

Project Implementation Method

Power supply has three connectors for connectivity of WAPDA, SOLAR and battery.

We want to run water pump on dual input sources WAPDA and SOLAR. Both input sources are connected to power supply chip and battery is also connected to it through connector. The question is that “how can we select our desired source of supply?”

When circuit is switched on, one input is passed to the inverter and another one is passed to the control circuit. Control circuit contains two micro-controllers i.e. ARDUINO-UNO and NODE MCU. These micro-controllers are used for communication purposes. Via these micro-controllers, we can decide on which source we want to charge our battery. Through android app, we can give commands to these micro-controllers to decide either SOLAR should be our input source or WAPDA. After decision, charging relay selects our desired source (either WAPDA or SOLAR) and provides a path to selected source’s output to the battery. Then there comes inverter which is used to change frequency. Inverter converts DC voltage into AC voltages. We have a step-up transformer which has been used to convert 12V AC voltage into 220V AC voltage. This has been done because motor’s running requirement is 220 AC voltage. In this way, water pump begins to operate. We have used IOT connectivity in our project to communicate devices through internet, specially, in our project through android app.

In our project, step down transformer has been used to convert 220V into 12V which is requirement of battery to be charged. So, voltage is stepped down to meet charging requirement.Selected power for step down transformer in our project is 100W and current is 10 A.

    Bridge rectifier’s main purpose is to convert AC voltage into DC voltage. We have connected a battery which will be charged either on WAPDA supply or on SOLAR supply. Basically, SOLAR supply gives DC voltage so we don’t need to rectify it. But we’ve to rectify WAPDA supply because DC voltage is charging requirement of the battery.

In power circuit, basically we have three ports. One for WAPDA supply, second for SOLAR supply and third is for battery.We give our dual input sources to power supply to provide two options. SOLAR and WAPDA. Battery is also connected to power supply circuit to be charged through one of two input sources.

There are two ICs used in control circuit. This is because of the fact that we have used two micro controllers in our circuit. So, we have to provide each of them 5 volts supply. The purpose of these capacitor is to remove noise with values 100nF and 220nF.

We have connected two wires but made a connection for four wires (two as a backup). We have put headers on 9th,10th,11th and 12th pins. We generate PWM on 9th and 10th pins and 11th and 12th pins are on backup for the case of failure so that we can promote 4-bit communication by applying another ARDUINO UNO.

The android app has been developed to control the frequency and thus control the speed of the motor.

Benefits of the Project

In Electro-mechanical world, frequency variation causes distinctive issues, such as burning of AC motors. Thus, an adjustment in voltage can likewise generate a similar sort of problems. There were a great deal of clamor and vibration levels, little gear lives and numerous others.
To conquer this issue, there was a requirement for such sort of gadget that could deal with the variation of frequency, ensure the correct working of engine and stay away from the engine from wearing out. VFD diminishes the electrical and mechanical stresses, bringing about the expanded existence of pivoting segments. It likewise builds hardware life.

    There is a need for such kind of device in the industry which gives us effective results and can be operated on the variable frequency and prevent the motor from burning out. In this way, we’ve established a project in which an AC motor works upon dual sources WAPDA and SOLAR at variable frequency. To handle the problem of burning of motor due to variation in frequency, a device VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) has been used.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

    We have got two outputs from power circuit. One is given to control circuit and other is given to inverter. Both are of 12 volts. In inverter circuit, we have two TLP350 optocouplers. Two gate driver IC s are also placed here each has value of IR2110. There are four IRF1407 MOSFETs which are in H bridge format.
We have 12 volts in inverter now. But the optocouplers can not be operated on 12 volts. They require 20 volts to operate so that we have used a boost converter. Boost converter basically converts 12V into 20V which is requirement of proper working of optocouplers.
There are two resistors attached to optocouplers. Each of them is of 330 ohms. They are built-in so we have to attach them to the optocouplers. There are two modules here. Each module contains one optocoupler, gate drive IC and two MOSFETs.
Each optocoupler is given an input through PWM generation by ARDUINO-UNO on 9th and 10th pins. We have given 5 volts PWM to each optocoupler. Two pins Hi and Li of both gate driver ICs are short. We have now 20 volts PWM but we have given 5 volts PWM. Gate driver ICs are run over 5 volts. So, to convert 20V into 5 volts, we have used 5.1V Zener diode with a resistor connected to it in series as circuit requirement. Zener diode converts then 20V PWN into 5V PWM.
So, we have 5 volts PWM on Hi and Li pins of both gate driver ICs. We require 12 volts on VCC pins of both gate driver ICs and 5 volts on VDD pins of both gate driver ICs. So, we have used two configuration ICs 7812 and 7805. 7812 gives 12 volts on VCC pins and 7805 gives 5 volts on VDD pins of both gate driver ICs.
There are two other pins of both gate driver ICs i.e. Hout and Lout. On Hout, we have 24 volts (double of 12V due to bootstrap capacitor) and on Lout, we have 12 volts. 12 volts are given to low MOSFET and 24 volts are given to high MOSFET for both modules.
If there is no load condition, then there will be high chances of saturation of gate driver ICs. To avoid saturation of ICs, we have used four Zener diodes each of them is of 15 volts. Four resistors are connected to each Zener diode in series.
In MOSFETs, center pin is drain, right pin is source and left pin is gate. Free willing diodes are connected to MOSFETs between source and gate pins. Then the MOSFETs output is given to step up transformer.

IoT is an extension of internet connectivity through physical devices over internet. Due to facility of IOT, devices can communicate over internet and can be controlled remotely.
We have designed android app in MIT App Inventor 2. There are two views in it. One is designer view and other one is block view. First of all, we link our google account to site of MIT App Inventor 2. Then we create a new project. On the left side, user interface contains buttons, images etc. we want to add. Similarly, some useful functions like sharing, file management etc. are also in user interface.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Type of Industry

Energy

Technologies

Internet of Things (IoT)

Sustainable Development Goals

Affordable and Clean Energy, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com