EMC 322 Automatic Control

Assignment 1
School of Mechanical Engineering
Semester II 2015/2016
Group M24

Ting Kin Choon

120423

Wan Dun Ye

120426

Tiew Yin Cheng

120422

Lecturer: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zahurin Samad

Submission Date: 25/2/2016

Block Diagram (Closed Loop Control System for Float Regulator Mechanism)

Difference between actual

and initial settings of the
lever position
Initial setting of
the float and
lever

Lever

Pivoted lever and

ball shut-off valve

Ball shut-off valve

opening or closing
the water supply
Filling of the
tank

Water level in
the tank

Actual lever of
float and lever
Float ball and lever

Working principle of float regulator mechanism.

When a toilet's handle is pulled, a discharge mechanism is activated by a chain mechanism.
This will lift up the flapper valve which is connected to the trip lever by the chain. Therefore,
water is discharged from the tank until the tank become empty. As the tank water level drops,
the float ball is returned to lowest position. This cause the ball shut-off valve to open and water
is allowed to fill the tank to replenish its supply. As the water filling up the tank, the float ball
will float above the water due to the buoyancy force. Meanwhile, the float arm that that link
with the float ball will also rise together and close the ball shut-off valve in order to stop the
water flow into the tank when the water level reached certain height. Thus, the float regulator
mechanism is a closed loop control system that both float ball and lever are integrated as a
measuring device that measure the actual water level in the tank and send a feedback signal to
be compared with the initial setting of the float and lever. Hence, the pivoted lever and the ball
shut-off valve act as a controller that cut off the water supply to the tank automatically once
the water level in the tank reached the initial required level. The process is then repeated for
each time after flushing the toilet bowl.

Experiment
Procedure:
1. Every 10 mm of the tank is marked vertically from the bottom to the top for
measuring the water level.
2. The reading of the water level and the time are taken using stopwatch when the water
level is rising right after flushing the toilet.
3. A graph of water level against time is plotted.
4. The setting screw is turned for 3 turns clockwise direction.
5. Steps 2 and 3 are repeated.
6. The response of the system is discussed based on the two graphs plotted.

Result and tabulation of data

Water level in
tank, (mm)
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
160

Time taken for the water to filled

up the tank, (s)
0
2
7
14
22
29
36
44
54
63
73
84
97

Time taken for the water to filled up the tank

after turns 3 cycle on the setting screw, (s)
0
2
12
21
30
38
46
61
84
126

Water Level Against Times Taken To Filled Up the of Float

Regulator
180

Water level in tank (mm)

160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Time taken to fill up the float regulator, (s)

Time taken for the water to filled up the tank(s)

Time taken for the water to filled up the tank after turns 3 cycle on the setting screw, (s)

140

Discussion
The water flow rate into the tank decrease with the height of the float, therefore the time
interval for the water level to increase 10 mm is show the trend of increasing eg. At the lowest
water level its only took 2 seconds for the water level to increase by 10mm but at the instant of
end (highest) water levels it took 13 seconds for the water level to increase of 10mm. Both
before and after turning on the screw on the fulcrum of float valve give the result of experiment
which shown the same trend in increasing time order continuously with the height of water
level.
When the fulcrum of the float valve is turning of 3 cycle, the maximum height of the
float becomes lower, its only can reached 130mm, which is much lower compared to the initial
position, which is 160mm measured from the bottom of the water tank of float regulator.
When the fulcrum of the float valve is turning 3 cycle clockwise, the water flow rate into
the water tank decreases, this is shown on the graph, after turning 3 cycle on the screw the
longer time for the water tank that taken to filled up the water, the height of the water level can
be filled up also becomes lower. Moreover, the water flow rate decreases significantly after
turning the screw especially at the end stage of filling of filling(when the water level reaches
above 110mm), it took 42 seconds for the water to increases 10mm before it stopped the flow.