Valve with inlet thermostat to regulate flow
Simscape / Fluids / Gas / Valves & Orifices / Flow Control Valves
The Temperature Control Valve (G) block models an orifice with a thermostat as a flow control mechanism. The thermostat contains a temperature sensor and a black-box opening mechanism—one whose geometry and mechanics matter less than its effects. The sensor is at the inlet and it responds with a slight delay, captured by a first-order time lag, to variations in temperature.
When the sensor reads a temperature in excess of a preset activation value, the opening mechanism is actuated. The valve begins to open or close, depending on the chosen operation mode—the first case corresponding to a normally closed valve and the second to a normally open valve. The change in opening area continues up to the limit of the valve's temperature range, beyond which point the opening area is a constant. Within the temperature range, the opening area is a linear function of temperature.
The flow can be laminar or turbulent, and it can reach (up to) sonic speeds. This happens at the vena contracta, a point just past the throat of the valve where the flow is both its narrowest and fastest. The flow then chokes and its velocity saturates, with a drop in downstream pressure no longer sufficing to increase its velocity. Choking occurs when the back-pressure ratio hits a critical value characteristic of the valve. Supersonic flow is not captured by the block.
The temperature reading at the inlet serves as the control signal for the valve.
The greater its rise over the activation temperature, the more the opening area
diverges from its normal state—maximally closed in the default Valve
operation setting of Opens above activation
temperature
, fully open in the alternative setting.
The difference between the sensor temperature reading and the activation temperature is referred to here as the temperature overshoot. For use in the block calculations, this variable is normalized against the temperature regulation range of the valve (that over which the opening area is variable). Its value is computed in this (normalized) form using the expression:
where T is temperature. The overhead
^
symbol denotes its normalized value while the subscripts
S
and A
indicate the inlet sensor reading
and the activation value (a constant obtained from the block parameter of the same
name). The difference ΔT is the temperature regulation of the
valve (it too obtained from a block parameter of the same name).
To emulate a real temperature sensor, which can register a shift in temperature only gradually, the block adds a first-order time lag to the temperature reading, TS. The lag gives the sensor a transient response to variations in temperature. This response is captured in the expression:
where τ is the time required for the
sensor to register a step change in temperature. Its value is obtained from the
Sensor time constant block parameter. The smaller it
is, the faster the sensor responds. The subscript In
denotes
the actual inlet temperature at the current time step of the simulation.
The normalized temperature overshoot spans three pressure regions. Below the
activation temperature, its value is a constant zero. Above the maximum
temperature—the sum of the activation temperature and the temperature regulation
range—it is 1
. In between, it varies, as a linear function of
the temperature sensor reading,
TS.
The transitions between the regions are sharp and their slopes discontinuous. These pose a challenge to variable-step solvers (the sort commonly used with Simscape models). To precisely capture discontinuities, referred to in some contexts as zero crossing events, the solver must reduce its time step, pausing briefly at the time of the crossing in order to recompute its Jacobian matrix (a representation of the dependencies between the state variables of the model and their time derivatives).
This solver strategy is efficient and robust when discontinuities are present. It makes the solver less prone to convergence errors—but it can considerably extend the time needed to finish the simulation run, perhaps excessively so for practical use in real-time simulation. An alternative approach, used here, is to remove the discontinuities altogether.
Normalized temperature overshoot with sharp transitions
To remove the slope discontinuities, the block smoothes them over a small portion of the opening curve. The smoothing, which adds a slight distortion at each transition, ensures that the valve eases into its limiting positions rather than snap (abruptly) into them. The smoothing is optional: you can disable it by setting its time scale to zero. The shape and scale of the smoothing, when applied, derives in part from the cubic polynomials:
and
where
and
In the equations:
ƛL is the smoothing expression for the transition from the maximally closed position.
ƛR is the smoothing expression for the transition from the fully open position.
Δp* is the (unitless) characteristic width of the temperature smoothing region:
where
f* is a smoothing
factor valued between 0
and 1
and obtained from the block parameter of the same name.
When the smoothing factor is 0
, the normalized
temperature overshoot stays in its original form—no smoothing
applied—and its transitions remain abrupt. When it is
1
, the smoothing spans the whole of the
temperature regulation range (with the normalized temperature
overshoot taking the shape of an
S-curve).
At intermediate values, the smoothing is limited to a fraction of
that range. A value of 0.5
, for example, will
smooth the transitions over a quarter of the temperature regulation
range on each side (for a total smooth region of half the regulation
range).
The smoothing adds two new regions to the normalized temperature overshoot—one for the smooth transition on the left, another for that on the right, giving a total of five regions. These are expressed in the piecewise function:
where the asterisk denotes a smoothed variable (the normalized temperature overshoot). The figure shows the effect of smoothing on the sharpness of the transitions.
As the opening area varies during simulation, so does the mass flow rate through the valve. The relationship between the two variables, however, is indirect. The mass flow rate is defined in terms of the valve's sonic conductance and it is this quantity that the opening area truly determines.
Sonic conductance, if you are unfamiliar with it, describes the ease with which a gas will flow when it is choked—when its velocity is at its theoretical maximum (the local speed of sound). Its measurement and calculation are covered in detail in the ISO 6358 standard (on which this block is based).
Only one value is commonly reported in valve data sheets: one taken at steady
state in the fully open position. This is the same specified in the block dialog box
(when the Valve parameterization setting is Sonic
conductance
). For values across the opening range of the valve,
this maximum is scaled by the (normalized) valve opening area:
where C is sonic conductance and the subscript
Max
denotes the specified (manufacturer's) value. The sonic
conductance varies linearly between CMax
in the fully open position and in the maximally closed position—a value close to zero and due
only to internal leakage between the ports.
Because sonic conductance may not be available (or the most convenient choice for your model), the block provides several equivalent parameterizations. Use the Valve parameterization drop-down list to select the best for the data at hand. The parameterizations are:
Restriction area
Sonic conductance
Cv coefficient (USCS)
Kv coefficient (SI)
The parameterizations differ only in the data that they require of you. Their
mass flow rate calculations are still based on sonic conductance. If you select
a parameterization other than Sonic conductance
, then
the block converts the alternate data—the (computed) opening area or a
(specified) flow coefficient—into an equivalent sonic conductance.
The flow coefficients measure what is, at bottom, the same quantity—the flow rate through the valve at some agreed-upon temperature and pressure differential. They differ only in the standard conditions used in their definition and in the physical units used in their expression:
Cv is measured at a
generally accepted temperature of 60 ℉
and
pressure drop of 1 PSI
; it is expressed in
imperial units of US gpm
. This is the flow
coefficient used in the model when the Valve
parameterization block parameter is set to
Cv coefficient (USCS)
.
Kv is measured at a
generally accepted temperature of 15 ℃
and
pressure drop of 1 bar
; it is expressed in metric
units of m3/h
. This is
the flow coefficient used in the model when the Valve
parameterization block parameter is set to
Kv coefficient (SI)
.
If the valve parameterization is set to Cv Coefficient
(USCS)
, the sonic conductance is computed at the maximally
closed and fully open valve positions from the Cv coefficient (SI) at
maximum flow and Cv coefficient (SI) at leakage
flow block parameters:
where Cv is the
flow coefficient value at maximum or leakage flow. The subsonic index,
m, is set to 0.5
and the critical
pressure ratio, bcr, is set to
0.3
. (These are used in the mass flow rate calculations
given in the Momentum Balance section.)
If the Kv coefficient (SI)
parameterization is used
instead, the sonic conductance is computed at the same valve positions
(maximally closed and fully open) from the Kv coefficient (USCS) at
maximum flow and Kv coefficient (USCS) at leakage
flow block parameters:
where Kv is the
flow coefficient value at maximum or leakage flow. The subsonic index,
m, is set to 0.5
and the critical
pressure ratio, bcr, is set to
0.3
.
For the Restriction area
parameterization, the
sonic conductance is computed (at the same valve positions) from the
Maximum opening area, and Leakage
area block parameters:
where S is the opening area at maximum or
leakage flow. The subsonic index, m, is set to
0.5
while the critical pressure ratio,
bcr is computed from the expression:
where S is the valve opening area and the
subscripts U
and L
denote its values at
the upper (U
) and lower (L
) bounds of the
temperature regulation range. These depend on the setting of the Valve
operation parameter (Opens above activation
temperature
or Closes above activation
temperature
).
The causes of those pressure losses incurred in the passages of the valve are ignored in the block. Whatever their natures—sudden area changes, flow passage contortions—only their cumulative effect is considered during simulation. This effect is assumed to reflect entirely in the sonic conductance of the valve (or in the data of the alternate valve parameterizations).
When the flow is choked, the mass flow rate is a function of the sonic conductance of the valve and of the thermodynamic conditions (pressure and temperature) established at the inlet. The function is linear with respect to pressure:
where:
C is the sonic conductance inside the valve. Its value is obtained from the block parameter of the same name or by conversion of other block parameters (the exact source depending on the Valve parameterization setting).
ρ is the gas density, here at standard
conditions (subscript 0
), obtained from the
Reference density block parameter.
p is the absolute gas pressure, here
corresponding to the inlet (in
).
T is the gas temperature at the inlet
(in
) or at standard conditions
(0
), the latter obtained from the
Reference temperature block
parameter.
When the flow is subsonic, and therefore no longer choked, the mass flow rate becomes a nonlinear function of pressure—both that at the inlet as well as the reduced value at the outlet. In the turbulent flow regime (with the outlet pressure contained in the back-pressure ratio of the valve), the mass flow rate expression is:
where:
pr is the back-pressure ratio, or that between the outlet pressure (pout) and the inlet pressure (pin):
bcr is the critical pressure ratio at which the flow becomes choked. Its value is obtained from the block parameter of the same name or by conversion of other block parameters (the exact source depending on the Valve parameterization setting).
m is the subsonic index, an empirical coefficient used to more accurately characterize the behavior of subsonic flows. Its value is obtained from the block parameter of the same name or by conversion of other block parameters (the exact source depending on the Valve parameterization setting).
When the flow is laminar (and still subsonic), the mass flow rate expression changes to:
where blam is the critical pressure ratio at which the flow transitions between laminar and turbulent regimes (obtained from the Laminar flow pressure ratio block parameter). Combining the mass flow rate expressions into a single (piecewise) function, gives:
with the top row corresponding to subsonic and laminar flow, the middle row to subsonic and turbulent flow, and the bottom row to choked (and therefore sonic) flow.
The volume of fluid inside the valve, and therefore the mass of the same, is assumed to be very small and it is, for modeling purposes, ignored. As a result, no amount of gas can accumulate there. By the principle of conservation of mass, the mass flow rate into the valve through one port must therefore equal that out of the valve through the other port:
where is defined as the mass flow rate into the valve through port A or B. Note that in this block the flow can reach but not exceed sonic speeds.
The valve is modeled as an adiabatic component. No heat exchange can occur between the gas and the wall that surrounds it. No work is done on or by the gas as it traverses from inlet to outlet. With these assumptions, energy can flow by advection only, through ports A and B. By the principle of conservation of energy, the sum of the port energy flows must then always equal zero:
where ϕ is defined as the energy flow rate into the valve through one of the ports (A or B).