PHYSICS PROJECT

WATER LEVEL CONTROLLER

Devanshu Kathrecha

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I, Devanshu Kathrecha take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to all the people who gave me exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement throughout the academic year. The blessing, help and guidance given by them time to time shall carry me a long way in the journey of life on which I am about to embark.

Firstly, I would like to thank my Physics Teacher Mrs Vellaiammal, for helping me and guiding me at various stages of the project. I am obliged to the school authorities for providing valuable time and resources for completion of the project. I thank my parents for standing by me and supporting me through my failures and help me regain confidence. Without their sincere efforts, this project would not have been what it has evolved to be. Devanshu Kathrecha

SCHOOL CODE: SUBJECT :

03065 PHYSICS 042

SUBJECT CODE: ROLL NO :

CERTIFICATE
THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE FOLLOWING INVESTIGATORY PROJECT WORK ON THE TOPIC WATER LEVEL CONTROLLER. HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED AND RECORDED BY DEVANSHU KATHRECHA, A BONAFIDE STUDENT STUDYING IN XII SCIENCE OF A.B.P.S. HAVING CBSE ROLL NO. DURING THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2013-2014.

EDUCATOR IN-CHARGE

EXAMINERS SIGNATURE

PRINCIPALS SIGNATURE

SEAL OF DATE: SCHOOL

INDEX
Sr.No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 TITLE ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION MATERIALS REQUIRED PRINCIPLE OF TRANSISTORS CIRCUIT DIAGRAM WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY SIGN

ABSTRACT
Automatic water level controller circuit is a simple engineering project. It can automatically switch ON and OFF the domestic water-pump set depending on the tank water level. We can implement this motor driver circuit at our home using cheap components. The approximated cost of this project is around Rs.400-500. The main advantage of this circuit is that it automatically controls the water pump without any user interaction.

INTRODUCTION
People generally switch on the pump when their taps go dry and switch off the pump when the overhead tank starts overflowing. This results in the unnecessary wastage and sometimes non-availability of water in case of emergency. The circuit that we are using makes this system automatic, i.e. it switches on the pump when the water level in the overhead tank goes low and switches it off as soon as the water level reaches a pre-determined level. Water Level Controller employs a simple mechanism to detect and maintain the water level in as tank or any other container by switching the motor on/off automatically when needed. Hence, this water level controller is one of the cheapest and simplest devices which prevents wastage of water and electricity.

MATERIALS REQUIRED
1) Power Supply(12V) 2) Circuit Board 3) Wires 4) Four CIL 148 Transistors 5) Resistors(2.2 k x 4, 10 k x 1) 6) One Double-Pole-Single-Throw Relay 7) One 1N4148 Diode

PRINCIPLE OF TRANSISTORS
A Transistor is a semiconductor which is a fundamental component in almost all electronic devices. Transistors are often said to be the most significant invention of the 20th Century. Transistors have many uses including switching, voltage/current regulation, and amplification all of which are useful in renewable energy applications.

A transistor controls a large electrical output signal with changes to a small input signal. This is analogous to the small amount of effort required to open a tap (faucet) to release a large flow of water. Since a large amount of current can be controlled by a small amount of current, a transistor acts as an amplifier.

A transistor acts as a switch which can open and close many times per second.

The most common type of transistor is a bipolar junction transistor. This is made up of three layers of a semiconductor material in a sandwich. In one configuration the outer two layers have extra electrons, and the middle layer has electrons missing (holes). In the other configuration the two outer layers have the holes and the middle layer has the extra electrons.

SYMBOL OF NPN & PNP TRANSISTOR

Layers with extra electrons are called N-Type, those with electrons missing called P-Type. Therefore the bipolar junction transistors are more commonly known

as PNP transistors and NPN transistors respectively.

Bipolar junction transistors are typically made of silicon and so they are very cheap to produce and purchase.

How do Transistors Work

A bipolar junction transistor has three terminals - Base, Collector, and Emitter corresponding to the three semiconductor layers of the transistor. The weak input current is applied to the inner (base) layer. When there is a small change in the current or voltage at the inner semiconductor layer (base), a rapid and far larger

change in current takes place throughout the whole transistor.

Pictured above is a schematic diagram of the more common NPN transistor.

Transistor Gain Gain (or Amplification Factor) is the ratio of current between B-E and C-E. Its value is usually around 100. i.e. around 1 mA current between B-E is sufficient for a current of around 100 mA between C-E.

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

The probes can be arranged as shown in the diagram above. Insulated aluminum wires can be used as the probes. The probes can be binded on a plastic rod and should be erected vertically inside the tank. The length of the probes wires and the supporting plastic rod must be chosen according to the depth of the tank. Since DC is used in the level sensing section electrolysis will occur in the probes and so the probes require small maintenances in 6 or 7 month intervals. Water Level Controller employs a simple mechanism to detect and maintain the water level in a tank or any other container by switching the motor on/off automatically when needed.

The level sensing is done by three sensors which are placed at different levels on the tank walls. The three sensors are placed as following: Sensor C - At the bottom of the tank. Sensor B - A little above of sensor-C. Sensor A - At the top of the tank.

WORKING
First of all, consider an empty tank. +Vcc supply is connected to sensor-C. Now, as the tank is empty, sensor-L and sensor-H does not get supply, hence transistors T1 and T2 are off. So, T3 and T4 get baseemitter voltage and get on. Therefore, the relay gets supply and gets on and the motor starts pumping water. Now, as water touches sensor-B, T2 gets baseemitter voltage and turns on. So, T4 gets off, but due to contacts 1-2 of the relay, T4 is bypassed and the relay continues to operate. Now, when the water level touches sensor-A, T1 gets on and T3 gets off. So, the relay drops and motor stops pumping water, without overflowing. Now, as water is used, the water level goes down below sensor-A; T1 gets off and T3 gets on. But, the relay does not operate as T4 is off.

When the water level goes below sensor-B, T2 gets off and T4 gets on, hence the relay operates and water starts pumping once again, till the tank is almost full. The process gets repeated again and again, as long as the components are working properly.

Bibliography

Talkingelectronics.com Wikipedia.com NCERT