Building Controls IV

Energy University Course Transcript

Slide 1
Welcome to Building Controls Part IV: Two Position and Floating Responses. This is fourth course in the building
controls series. If you have not already done so, please participate in Building Controls one, two and three prior to
taking this course.

Slide 2
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Click the Notes tab to read a transcript of the narration.

Slide 3
At the completion of this course, you will be able to:
 Describe the ―two–position‖ control response
 Explain how floating control methods are addressed, and you will be able to
 Employ an interactive example which simulates a changing variable air volume box

Slide 4
This class is one of a sequence that will provide you with an overview of basic control technology used in buildings,
so that you will understand how it can contribute to energy efficiency. The purpose of this course is to address the
two-position and floating responses.

Slide 5
A two-position control response is the simplest kind of response that can be made from a controller. When a certain
condition is met, the controller enables a digital output to be turned ―on‖. When a second certain condition is met, the
controller disables that digital output, or turns it ―off.‖ Let’s look again at the graph we looked at when discussing
terminology and apply a cooling application to it.

Slide 6

The thermostat in most residences, or homes, is a type of two-position control. When you move a slider or push a
button to change the desired temperature, you are changing the set-point.

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Let’s say we put that set-point at 23oC or 73.4oF. The thermostat would then have a certain range it operates in. A
common range might be plus or minus one degree. The way two-position control would work is if the temperature
gets above 24oC or 75.2oF, the cooling system would be enabled. It would be turned on.

If the temperature drops below 22oC / 71.6oF, the cooling system would turn off.

Slide 7
The system is designed to operate within a two-degree Celsius differential. In Fahrenheit, that would be a 3.6 degree
differential.

Of course, the temperature sensor only being in one spot for your entire house is not always the best application.
Also, you will notice that there is no adjustment in how quickly or how cold the air is being delivered. It is simply being
delivered, or not, with an allowable differential. For a single-zone system that is fairly stable, this is an acceptable
solution. Other systems give more flexibility and precision, for a higher price of course.

Now let’s move on and talk about floating responses.

Slide 8
Floating control needs to be addressed in two ways.

First, we need to understand how floating control is sent from the controller. Secondly, we also need to understand
why this type of control would be used. Let’s begin with a discussion of the ―how‖.

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Slide 9
Floating control with tri-state actuators require two digital outputs from the controller. As you will recall, we learned
previously, that digital means either on or off, 1 or 0, yes, or no…nothing in between. Floating control from a
controller will run to two points on a tri-state actuator.

Slide 10
Technically, there are three wires running from the controller to the tri-state actuator. There is one wire from the
controller enabling an actuator to turn clock-wise, and another wire enabling the actuator to turn counter-clockwise,
and there is a third wire that is called the common. Remember, for electricity to travel, you have to have a closed
loop.

Clock wise

Counter Clockwise

Slide 11
So for counter-clockwise direction, the signal travels through this first wire and then through the common to complete
our loop.

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For clockwise direction, the signals travel through the second wire, and then again through that same common to
close the loop.

The third possible state for the tri-state controller is stationary.

This takes place when there is no signal through either wire.

Slide 12
For example, an actuator turning clockwise may open a damper allowing more air to pass through, and an actuator
turning back counter-clockwise would begin closing off how much air was allowed through.

Slide 13
Now, let's explore why this floating control method is used. Some applications happen so quickly, that when you
make an adjustment—such as speeding up a fan to increase the air pressure inside a duct—that change is felt
everywhere in the duct in 1-2 seconds. Because of this, a sample measurement can be taken every 4-5 seconds.

©2011 Schneider Electric. All rights reserved. All trademarks provided are the property of their respective owners.
Slide 14
If our setpoint was set at one specific point, every 4-5 seconds the actuator would move to try to get to that one
specific setpoint, and you would overuse your actuator never allowing it to rest.

For that reason, in floating control, we have what is called a neutral zone where nothing happens. You might also
hear this called the deadband.

Slide 15
This chart illustrates the deadband concept. The x-axis shows the input to the control loop, in other words the
controlling variable, which in this example, is a pressure measurement.

This is measured in centimeters of water column, or inches of water column in the US. We’ll use centimeters in this
example, but the same logic applies whatever the units.

The y-axis of this chart shows the output of the control loop, also called the controlled variable, which is the position
of an actuator, on a scale from 0% to 100%. 0% represents one extreme of the actuator position, such as fully
anti-clockwise and 100% represents the other extreme, such as fully clockwise.

The system is set up with a setpoint of 5 cm of water column.

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Slide 16
The deadband is plus or minus 0.2 cm, from 4.8 to 5.2 cm of water column. In other words, the setpoint is 5 cm and
the deadband is 0.4 cm water column.

If the pressure is measured above 5.2, the controller will respond by instructing the actuator to move. If the pressure
drops below 4.8, the controller will respond by moving the actuator in the opposite direction. However, as long as the
measured pressure is between 4.8 and 5.2, the controller will not change the position of the actuator. Between those
two values, the system is stable. Stability is when the actuator is not moving in response to pressure changes.

Slide 17
The throttling range is the range of inputs that translate into the full range of travel of the actuator.

If the measured pressure is below the bottom of the throttling range, the actuator has already reached 100% and
cannot travel any further. Here the throttling range is from 4.0 to 6.0 cm of water column. The deadband defines the
tolerance to setpoint.

There is an important balance between system stability and the deadband. The deadband needs to be as small as
possible to keep the system close to setpoint, but wide enough to avoid over-reaction or hunting of the system to try
and obtain the desired setpoint.

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Slide 18
A summary definition of neutral zone would be the range over which the output of the controller remains constant as
the input varies. In other words, within the neutral zone the controller output does not change, even if the input
changes. The output changes only in response to an input outside the neutral zone range.

Slide 19
The chief benefit of floating control is greater stability in a system. If the value is in an acceptable range, it shouldn’t
be touched! Stability is needed to avoid constant changing of equipment. At some point, equipment reaches an
―overuse‖ point in which it has to be maintained or replaced. Stability allows for the system to not make adjustments
in an acceptable range. In a fast responding system—meaning 3 to 5 seconds—floating control is a great way to
reach stability.

Slide 20
In this interactive example, you get to simulate a changing Variable Air Volume box to see what effect you make on
the static air pressure. Now, normally a change in the temperature in the conference room would cause the change in
the VAV damper, but in this example, to simplify things we’re allowing you to change the VAV damper directly.
You’ll notice on the right that the control system is checking the static pressure in the duct work every 4 seconds.
This example measures pressure using inches of water, which is a common unit for static air-pressure measurement
in America. In other countries, millimetres of water or even kilopascals are used, but for the purposes of this example
the units are not important. As long as we are between 1.0 and 1.2 inches of water the control system will default to
satisfactory. However, if you close off the VAV too much, you’ll see that you may take the air pressure too high or too
low. The controller would then acknowledge this as unsatisfactory, and decrease the fan speed by stepping down the
Variable Frequency Drive (VFD). Go ahead and interact with the up and down arrows next to the VAV damper to see
more clearly how floating control would work in this scenario.

Slide 21
Let’s summarize some of the information that we have reviewed in this course. A Two-Position control response is
the simplest kind of response that can be made from a controller. This is simple on – off control. When a certain
condition is met, the controller enables a digital output to be turned ―on‖. When a second certain condition is met, the
controller disables that digital output, or turns it off. A differential is the difference between the setting at which the
controller operates at one position, and the setting at which it changes to the other position.

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Floating control is used to create greater stability in a system. If the value is in an acceptable range, it shouldn’t be
touched! Stability is needed to avoid constant changing of equipment. Within the neutral zone, the controller output
does not change, even if the input changes. The output changes only in response to an input outside the neutral
zone range.

In the next section of building controls, we’ll move on to proportional and PID responses.

Slide 22: Thank You!

Thank you for participating in this course.

©2011 Schneider Electric. All rights reserved. All trademarks provided are the property of their respective owners.