INT J APPL ELECTR PHYS & ROBOT, Vol. 2 No. 1 January (2014) pp.

812
ISSN: 2203-0069
International Journal of Applied
Electronics in Physics & Robotics
Research-in-Progress
Design and Performance Evaluation of an Automatic
Temperature Control System in an Incubator
Sani Mohammed Lawal
1,
, Mansur Umar
1
, Idris Muhammad
2
(1) Electrical/Electronic Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, Nigeria.
(2) Computer Engineering Department, School of Technology, Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria, Nigeria.
Copyright 2014 Australian International Academic Centre, Australia
doi:10.7575/aiac.ijaepr.v.2n.1p.8
Article history:
Received 13 December 2013
Reviewed 18 December 2013
Revised 24 January 2014
Accepted 26 January 2014
Published 29 January 2014
Abstract. This paper aimed at designing and evaluating the performance of a circuit that can be used in
an egg incubator, capable of controlling and monitoring of the required temperature automatically within
the range of 32 to 39

C in a chamber using nonlinear sensor with possible linearization. Monitoring of

temperature can be done using different types of sensors such as infrared sensors, thermal cameras, or any
other alternative temperature measurement technique. This paper considers the use of thermistor due to its
ruggedness and high level of sensitivity. Thermistor is a semiconductor device which senses the temperature
in the chamber and the action of its output is send to a comparator which serves as a switching device
in the circuit with the help of fast action of relay. The development of embryos in an incubator is highly
sensitive to the environmental temperatures, studies shows that temperature manipulations around 38

C can
be appropriate for hatching. The circuit consists of different stages: Power stage, stabilizing and amplifying
stage, sensing and comparing stage, switching stage and loading stage respectively. All the stages work
simultaneously to control the temperature in the chamber within the hatching period of 21 days with periodic
turning of eggs manually. The performance evaluation and its output response show a favorable outcome as
compared to standard hatching period.
Keywords: Temperature, thermistor, comparator, control, incubator, chamber.
1 Introduction
The egg incubator is an equipment designed to give
eggs the necessary condition for hatching such as tem-
perature, humidity, ventilation and sanitation for a spec-
ied period of time before hatching. This paper aimed
at improving the productivity of the Nation and the pro-
vision of a cheap source of protein. It is also aimed at
simplifying the work in the farm and at the same time
increasing the output. The incubator is constructed in
form of a box that is made up of plywood for retaining the
heat generated by the bulbs inside the box (chamber) and
has two holes on both sides for proper ventilation. There
is a water tray inside the chamber (box) which is in the
incubator for the control of humidity, and the incubator
has the capacity of hatching 50 eggs, which is placed in-
side the chamber by means of net arrangement. The sup-
ply to the control circuit of this incubator is 240 V (AC)
which will step down to 24 V (AC) and later being recti-
ed by bridge rectiers to 22 or 23 DC voltage that will
pass through the circuit. The bulbs are installed in the
chamber, to provide heat at a conditioned temperature
ranging between 32 to 39

C based on other ranges used

[3]. The power-supply unit from the rst stage which in
employed to power the electronic circuit of the system.
This stage provides the necessary DC voltage current re-

Corresponding author: S.M. Lawal

: +234 (0)803 640 0068
: [email protected]
quired by the passive and component of the control unit.
This sensing and comparators stage help to compare two
voltages at its input and produce on output, which is a
difference of the two input voltage. The next stage is
switching stage where the switching actions in performed
on the relay by opening and closing contact. Temperature
control as far as this design is concerned, depends on the
actions of the transducers mentioned. Those transducers
are, for example, the thermistor which is the back bone
of this design as compared with other designs which were
done by Aliyu and Idris
[1]
. However, temperature control
could either be on open loop control system or close loop
control system, which can be called the on-off control sys-
tem
[2]
.
The sensitivity of the thermistor and its reliability in
an incubation system
[3]
, it compelled the choice and also
behaves as a close-loop control system, by either oning
the circuit or ofng the circuit depending on the tempera-
ture set (voltage equivalent) on the operational amplier.
In this design where a certain temperature is to be main-
tained and controlled, therefore, it does have a specic or
reference temperature, as said earlier, which depends on
the temperature set (voltage equivalent)
[4]
.
The Fig. 1 shows a simplied block diagram of a tem-
perature controlled system. The essential of any control
system is that the output is dependent on the control op-
eration, i.e. the system is an error actuated control sys-
International Journal of Applied Electronics in Physics & Robotics
Controller Process
Measurement
Input Output
Error detector
Fig. 1. Close-loop temperature control system
tem. In a close-loop controlled system, the output fed
back and compared with the design input, and necessary
correction action is taken
[4]
. Thermistor (temperature
sensor) is a temperature-sensitive resistor; it is a special
thermal resistor with a negative temperature coefcient
of resistance
[5]
. There are various types of temperature
sensing devices like bimetallic strip, but the one in this
project is thermistor with a negative temperature coef-
cient of resistance because it has so many advantages
over other types of temperatures sensors such as
1. Extremely high temperature sensitively,
2. Accuracy.
The circuit diagram of an egg incubator with automatic
temperature control system is shown in Fig. 2. The power
supply which is protected by the protective device (fuse)
which fed from 240 V AC supply and step down to 24 V by
the transformer. The secondary side (output) of the trans-
former is center tapped with output voltage of 24 V. Thus,
24 V is then rectied by using a bridge rectier which
consists of integrated four diodes, normally connected in
bridge rectier. Hence, the smoothing capacitor C
1
and
C
2
in the circuit are used to ller the AC ripples ow
into the circuit, so that almost perfect direct current (DC)
is obtained at the output. The supply is of three rails
power supply, that is producing 12 V and 0 V (ground)
which are ideal for effective operation of OP-Amp used
as a comparator in the circuit. Furthermore, Limiting
resistors R
1
and R
2
are connected in Series to the LED
and Zener diode. LED as a transducer coverts voltage
to light shows the power-supply unit is properly rectied
while zener diode (Z
1
) is used in the circuit to stabilize,
regulate and provide constant biasing voltage of 12 V to
forward bias the transistor (Q
1
). Since the transistor (Q
1
)
is permanently ON, which make the transistor (Q
2
) to be
at saturated position and zero voltage at the base of Q
2
,
this results that transistor Q
2
not conducting, which, con-
sequently, make the voltage at collector of Q
2
to be almost
6 V (that is voltage formation produced by a potential di-
vider formed by supply voltage and voltage at collector
Q
2
). Limiting resistor R
3
formed the divider point and
voltage at this point refers to reference voltage (-) at com-
parator. Henceforth, voltage at pin 3 of the comparator
is to be compared with reference voltage at pin 2 of Op-
LED
Z
1
Q
1
Q
2
Q
3
THM
C
R
relay
Z
Op-Amp
T
x
Bridge Rectifier Fuse
AC
Input
V
cc
3
2
3
4
6
Switch
V
t
Fig. 2. Circuit diagram of an egg incubator with automatic tem-
perature control system
Amp. The compared voltage at pin 3 is determined by
the potential divider formed by the thermistor (THM) and
variable resistor (VR) in the circuit. Also Non-reference
voltage (+) will be determined by the amount of charging
and discharging levels of capacitor C
3
at a period of time.
According to the above explanation, non-reference volt-
age at pin 3 of Op-Amp will now produce voltage vari-
ance depending on changes in the thermistor resistance
which is subjected to change by the applied heat in the
chamber. The difference of the compared voltage () pro-
duced an output voltage that formed square wave when
tested thought oscilloscope in a digital form represents
0 or 1. It is this output that will determine the opera-
tion of the next stage. The last action is performed by
triggering the circuit either ON or OFF by PNP transis-
tor (Q
3
) and consequently, energizes or de-energizes the
relay that operates the bulb (Heater) inside the chamber.
This is a simple way that the circuit works to attain the
desired temperature in the chamber as it was presented
by French
[3]
.
2 Methodology
The ow chart of step by step design methodology is
shown in Fig. 3. The methodology involved is the realiza-
tion of the following stages; such as circuit design which
consists of power-supply and rectication stage, stabiliz-
ing and amplifying stage, sensing and comparison stage,
switching and heating stage.
Power-Supply
Stabilizing
Amplifying
Sensing
Comparison
Switching
Heating (Load)
No
Yes
Fig. 3. Flow chart of step by step design methodology
3 Circuit Design Analysis
The analysis of this design is sub-divided into ve ma-
jor stages. These stages work hand-in-hand to produce
desired function. The block diagram simply illustrates
the conjunctional operation of the design. Thus, the main
ve stages are
1. Power-supply stage,
2. Stabilizing and amplifying stage,
3. Sensing and comparating stage,
4. Switching and,
5. Heating stage.
3.1 Design Specications
The design was based on the following technical speci-
cations. The input DC voltage is 12 V; the heat energy
is 191 J; AC output is 220 V; the output power is 120 W;
the frequency is 50 Hz; and the efciency is 80%.
doi:10.7575/aiac.ijaepr.v.2n.1p.8 9
IJAEPR 2(1):812, 2014
3.2 Power Supply Stage
The power-supply unit is made up of a transformer
with full wave bride rectier and efcient ltering device
for smoothening the ripples. The rectication is the rst
part to be considered by simple conversion of AC to DC,
while ltering part allow the pure signal to ow for the
optimum operation of an Op-Amp in the circuit. The gen-
erated DC voltage from 220 V AC supply that step down
to 24 V with 500 mA current rating before ow to the
rectication part
[6]
.
3.3 Rectication
The objective of this part is to ensure AC signal is prop-
erly converted to digital, which is the base supply for elec-
tronics devices
[7]
. A full wave bridge rectier used for the
rectication and 14 V DC supply is produced. The follow-
ing parameters illustrate the design analysis of it.
The percentage of voltage regulation (V
Reg
%) can be
calculated via (1).
V
Reg
%=
V
n
V
f
V
f
100 (1)
where, V
n
is the voltage at nominal load and V
f
is the
voltage at full load. Therefore, for a full wave rectier
used in this design, direct current supply (V
dc
) is given
as (2).
V
dc
=
2V
m

(2)
where, V
m
is the peak of input AC voltage.
Another part in the power-supply stage is ltering,
which is achieved by using electrolytic capacitors of
2200 f and 25 V. This capacitor is purposely meant of
lter the ripples ow into the circuit. For full wave rec-
tication acquired above, and the analysis of it is as fol-
lows.
Filtering capacity (V
r, rms
) can be calculated by us-
ing (3).
V
r, rms
=
X
c
V
rms
R
(3)
or
V
r, rms
=
V
rms
2 f CR
(4)
where is a constant value of 3.142, f is the fre-
quency (50 Hz), CR is time constant for changing (),
V
rms
is the rms voltage of the input AC supply.
3.4 Stabilizing Stage
The supply voltage (V
dc
) passes through ltering ca-
pacitor, but as far as this part is concerned, the capacitors
act as an open-circuit in the part. Therefore, the voltage
across zener diode (V
z
) is as (5).
V
z
=V
L
=
R
L
R
+

V
I
R
L
(5)
where
R
L
=
R
1
V
z
I
(6)
where
I
L
=
V
z
R
L
(7)
and
I
R
=
V
R
R
(8)
where
V
R
=V
i
V
z
(9)
Therefore,
I
R
=
V
R
R
1
(10)
Hence, the maximum load resistance that will allow
zener diode to put ON is (11).
R
1, max
=
V
z
R
V
R
(11)
The resistance R
1
is known by the design parameters
as (12).
R
1
=
V
R
I
R
(12)
3.5 Amplifying Stage
The amplifying unit of the design consists of limiting
resistors, and NPN transistors work in conjunction to
produce a xed voltage as reference voltage to the input
of comparator. By using KVL expression for collector cur-
rent,
V
cc
I
C
R
C
V
CE
I
E
R
E
=0 (13)
where I
E
R
E
is 0 and assume that I
C
is approximately
equal to I
E
. Therefore
V
cc
I
C
R
C
V
CE
=0 (14)
where
I
C
=
V
cc
V
CE
R
C
(15)
or
I
C
=I
B
(16)
hence
I
B
=
I
C

(17)
For the base current equation,
V
bb
I
B
R
B
V
BE
I
E
R
E
=0 (18)
where I
E
R
E
is 0, therefore,
V
bb
I
B
R
B
V
BE
=0 (19)
Therefore, I
B
of the amplifying unit is
I
B
=
V
BB
V
BE
R
B
(20)
where, V
BE
is biasing voltage and it is 0.8 V, is the
gain (hfe) and
V
B
=
I
B
R
B
(21)
10 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijaepr.v.2n.1p.8
International Journal of Applied Electronics in Physics & Robotics
3.6 Sensing and Comparator Stage
The thermistor and variable resistor form the potential
diode to give a compared voltage (reference voltage) into
the comparator.
V
t
=
THM
THM+V
R
(22)
and
V(y) =V
t
(23)
where THM is the Thermistor, V
R
is the variable resistor,
V(y) is the comparable voltage and V
t
is the reference
voltage. The maximum non-reference is 8.4 V and the
voltage to be compared is also 8.4 V. This stipulated volt-
age is subject to changes, depending on the variable state
of thermistor with the variable resistor. Therefore, the
output of comparator gives
V
O
= k

V
+
V

(24)
or
V
O
=

1+
R
1
R
2

V
z
(25)
3.7 Switching Stage
The triggering operation of this design is done by tran-
sistor automatically (PNP type). The operations solely
depend on the voltage fed into the base of the transistor
from the output of comparator
[8]
.
From KVL method,
R
B
=
V
O
+V
BE
I
B
(26)
By replacing (17) with I
B
in (26),
R
B
=
(V
O
+V
BE
)
I
C
(27)
Furthermore, the relay operational system which fed
from the based voltage through the PNP transistor (Q
3
)
notes by
I
C
sat
=I
B
sat
(28)
Therefore, relay resistance is
R
relay
=
V
cc
I
C
sat
(29)
3.8 Heating Stage (Load)
The last unit in this design is the heater (Load). A
120 W tungsten lamp is used as the heat source to
the chamber which determines the required temperature
into the chamber.
The heat contents in the chamber could be determined
by applying rst law of thermodynamics as (30).
Q = MC (30)
where Q is quantity of heat, M is mass of air in the cham-
ber, C is specic heat capacity of air and is temperature
changes.
To determine the mass of air in the incubator, density
of air in the incubator (31) should be applied
[9]
.
=
m

(31)
where is density of air in incubator, m is mass of air in
incubator and is volume of the incubator. Therefore,
m= (32)
The height (h) of the incubator is 0.25 m, the length (l)
is 0.21 m and the breadth (b) is 0.18 m. Therefore, the
volume of the incubator can be calculated via (33).
= hl b (33)
Density of air is 1.2
kg
m
at room temperature of 35

C
and normal atmospheric pressure of 750 mmHg. Spe-
cic heat capacity of air is 0.24
kJ
kg

K
, mass of air in the
incubator is 113.4 kg and difference between tempera-
ture of the incubator and the normal room temperature
is as follows
(39+273)

K (32+273)

K 7

K (34)
where 39

C is the temperature of the incubator, 35

C is
the room temperature and 273 is the absolute zero tem-
perature. Therefore, substitute all the above data in (30),
yields 191 J. Hence, 1 J equivalent to 1
W
s
, then 120 W
bulb will distribute 191 J of heat. Therefore, a bulb of
120 W can raise the temperature in the incubator from
the normal room temperature to 39

C. For the purpose,

120 W bulb was used to discharge 190.5 J of heat content
to the chamber in a second.
To determine the power (W) of the bulb required in the
chamber is known by given project specication, i.e. AC
supply is 240 Vat 50 Hz and the current rating is 500 mA.
Hence, power in watts is the product of given voltage (AC
supply), the given current and power factor via (35).
P =V I cos (35)
where is 0. Hence, cos is one. Therefore, bulb of
120 W is suitable to withstand the design specication
with respect to the desired heat content to the chamber.
4 Results and Discussion
In order to be convinced and also to actualize the tar-
get, testing must be carried out, which will denitely give
correspondent output. The potentiometer value was set,
and corresponding temperatures were recorded as shown
in Table 1.
Table 1, shows that the thermistor resistance is indi-
rectly proportional to the temperature in the incubator
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
0
10
20
30
40
50
Potentiometer value, [k]
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
,

[

C
]

Room Temp.
Fig. 4. Temperature vs potentiometer value
doi:10.7575/aiac.ijaepr.v.2n.1p.8 11
IJAEPR 2(1):812, 2014
Table 1. Thermistor resistance against temperature
Potentiometer value (k) 4.7 5.0 4.0 2.6 1.6 1.0
Thermistor Temp. (

C) RT

30 33 35 40 45
Thermistor voltage (V) 4.7 4.7 3.7 2.6 1.6 1.0

RT is the room ambient temperature.

chamber. Based on data points in Table 1, the behav-
ior of temperature versus potentiometer values is shown
in Fig. 4.
The second test was conducted by testing the tempera-
ture against time as shown in Table 2.
From Table 2, it can deduce that temperature increases
and decreases due to an instantaneous response of the
thermistor with respect to time variant. And this proves
that sensitivity of thermistor as compared to other types
of temperature senses devices. Moreover, Fig. 5 shows
the behavior of both temperature (left axis) and poten-
tiometer values (right axis) as a function of time.
0
10
20
30
40
50
Time, [minutes]
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
,

[

C
]

0 10 20 30 40
0
6
12
18
24
T
h
e
r
m
i
s
t
o
r

V
a
l
u
e
,

[
V
]
Temperature
Thermistor value
Fig. 5. Temperature and potentiometer value vs time
Table 2. Temperature against time
Temperature (

C) 32 38 35 39 36 39 36
Thermistor voltage (V) 13.2 11.7 12.6 11.3 13.1 10.7 13.3
Time (minutes) 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
5 Conclusion
This design has been implemented and found to be
working effectively with limited or zero hindrance, even
in case of power failure, another source of heat has been
a device i.e. through the use of a lantern which feeds
the heat to the chamber through the chimney constructed
to lter the deposited carbon monoxide which harmful to
the respiration of the embryo during development. And
also the implementation can be maintained at a lower
cost and there is going to be a high prot margin when
the design is commercialized.
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