Improvement of Temperature Control Performance of Thermoelectric Dehumidifier Used Industry 4.0 by the SF-PI Controller

Abstract

This paper proposes the series connected fuzzy-proportional integral (SF-PI) controller, which is composed of the fuzzy control and the PI controller to improve temperature control performance of dehumidifier using a thermoelectric element. The control of conventional PI controller usually uses fixed gain. For that reason, it is limited in achieving satisfactory control performance in both transient-state and steady-state. The fuzzy control within SF-PI controller adjusts the input value of PI controller according to operating condition. The PI controller within the SF-PI controller controls the temperature of the thermoelectric element using that value. The SF-PI controller can achieve more accurate temperature control than a conventional PI controller for that reason. The SF-PI controller has been tested for various indoor environmental conditions such as temperature and relative humidity conditions. The average temperature error of the SF-PI controller between the reference temperature and the thermoelectric element temperature is 22% of traditional PI’s value and consumption power is reduced by about 10%. Therefore, the SF-PI controller proposed in this paper can improved the performance of temperature control of dehumidifier using thermoelectric element. The power consumed by buildings accounts for a significant portion of the total power consumption, of which the air conditioner represents the largest energy consumer. In this paper, it is possible to reduce the energy consumption by improving the performance of the dehumidifier, one of the air conditioners, and it can be applied to various control fields in the future.