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Measuring power consumption of spiky load
Hi all,
This would probably fit better in another NG, but I know quite a few people on here who will be able to provide some good ideas, so here goes. I have an experiment where a voltage of ~250 VDC is applied across a load, resulting in a current consumption of around 2A. The experiment runs for around 5 minutes. The nature of the load is such that the current consumption is very spiky - it may average to around 2A, but you get very short, sharp spikes, probably of 10-15A. I need to be able to measure, with 1% or better accuracy, the total energy dissipated in the load over the duration of the experimental run. I don't need instantaneous V or I values - all I need to know is the total energy consumption over the run. The only sensible way I can think of doing this is to use a data logger, and sample V and I at a high rate thoughout the experimental run, then calculate average power over the run, then multiply by run time. However, this seems like a very round-about way of achieving my goal. Anyone have any thoughts on other ways of doing this? I must stress that it is the electrical energy input to the system that I'm interested in, so measuring temperature rise of the load etc. is out of the question. TIA -- Grunff |
#2
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"Grunff" wrote in message ... Hi all, This would probably fit better in another NG, but I know quite a few people on here who will be able to provide some good ideas, so here goes. I have an experiment where a voltage of ~250 VDC is applied across a load, resulting in a current consumption of around 2A. The experiment runs for around 5 minutes. The nature of the load is such that the current consumption is very spiky - it may average to around 2A, but you get very short, sharp spikes, probably of 10-15A. I need to be able to measure, with 1% or better accuracy, the total energy dissipated in the load over the duration of the experimental run. I don't need instantaneous V or I values - all I need to know is the total energy consumption over the run. The only sensible way I can think of doing this is to use a data logger, and sample V and I at a high rate thoughout the experimental run, then calculate average power over the run, then multiply by run time. However, this seems like a very round-about way of achieving my goal. Anyone have any thoughts on other ways of doing this? I must stress that it is the electrical energy input to the system that I'm interested in, so measuring temperature rise of the load etc. is out of the question. you need a digital data logger connected to a PC. eg Maplin sell multimeters with RS232 output which give a serial data o/p. so if the load has no phase problems you just need to measure the current. I don't have detailed knowledge of the specs. http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?... ID=&doy=20m2 A serial software interface program like ProCom or VisualBasic Studio is also needed to sample the readings in the PC. Or GPS navigation software for NMEA might do the same sampling job at a pinch. |
#3
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John wrote:
you need a digital data logger connected to a PC. eg Maplin sell multimeters with RS232 output which give a serial data o/p. so if the load has no phase problems you just need to measure the current. I don't have detailed knowledge of the specs. If I'm going to go down the data logger route, I will probably go for one of these: http://www.audon.co.uk/labjack.html I used one before in a previous project, and found it to be a very nice piece of kit. But that wasn't my question really - I can see how to get the measurement I want by sampling V and I with a data logger - but I can't help wondering if there isn't a cleverer, simpler way, given that all I want is total energy. Another way of asking the question - I can see how to integrate the data electronically, after collecting a huge number of data points. But I'm wondering if there isn't another way of doing the integration. If that makes sense. -- Grunff |
#4
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"Grunff" wrote in message ... John wrote: you need a digital data logger connected to a PC. eg Maplin sell multimeters with RS232 output which give a serial data o/p. so if the load has no phase problems you just need to measure the current. I don't have detailed knowledge of the specs. If I'm going to go down the data logger route, I will probably go for one of these: http://www.audon.co.uk/labjack.html I used one before in a previous project, and found it to be a very nice piece of kit. But that wasn't my question really - I can see how to get the measurement I want by sampling V and I with a data logger - but I can't help wondering if there isn't a cleverer, simpler way, given that all I want is total energy. Another way of asking the question - I can see how to integrate the data electronically, after collecting a huge number of data points. But I'm wondering if there isn't another way of doing the integration. If that makes sense. Right, ideally you need to multiply I and V and integrate the product. Easy if you had an 1960's analogue computer, but these are all in museums now. The only analogue route I can think of is to use an analogue multiplier (search in Google) to get the product of V and I. Then construct an integrator using an OP amp. http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_pa/...rt8/Page3.html You still need to sample the integrator's output, so the integration may as well be done in the PC rather than in an IC.. |
#5
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On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 17:18:09 -0000, "John"
wrote: Right, ideally you need to multiply I and V and integrate the product. Easy if you had an 1960's analogue computer, but these are all in museums now. There are still plenty in the Burr-Brown or Analogue Devices catalogues. This is a common enough task and an analogue multiplier is still an appropriate solution to it. Given how cheap accurate and stable op-amps have been for years, it's not that hard to build your own anyway. |
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Andy Dingley wrote:
There are still plenty in the Burr-Brown or Analogue Devices catalogues. This is a common enough task and an analogue multiplier is still an appropriate solution to it. Given how cheap accurate and stable op-amps have been for years, it's not that hard to build your own anyway. But (and please correct me if I'm wrong) I still need to sample the output of the multiplier at a reasonably high rate, then integrate the data over the time of the run, right? So all the multiplier means is that instead of logging V and I, we log the power? That means I still have to get a reasonably fast data logger. If I'm going to do that anyway, then I'd be inclined to skip the multiplier, grab the raw numbers, and do the calculation afterwards - or have I missed something? -- Grunff |
#7
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Grunff wrote:
If I'm going to go down the data logger route, I will probably go for one of these: http://www.audon.co.uk/labjack.html I used one before in a previous project, and found it to be a very nice piece of kit. But that wasn't my question really - I can see how to get the measurement I want by sampling V and I with a data logger - but I can't help wondering if there isn't a cleverer, simpler way, given that all I want is total energy. Another way of asking the question - I can see how to integrate the data electronically, after collecting a huge number of data points. But I'm wondering if there isn't another way of doing the integration. If that makes sense. -- Grunff there is, use an opamp integrator. No sampling, along with the errors that introduces. NT |
#9
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Grunff wrote:
Now that does seem like a good idea - I could integrate both V and I using opamps, then multiply to get total power - any problem with that thinking? In general yes there is because the product of the means is not the same as the mean of the product. You need Int[v*i]dt and _not_ Int[v]dt * Int[i]dt. However in your case v is constant (IIRC) so they are the same, more or less - depending on how good your stabilised supply is and whether voltage drop in the wiring is an issue. Drift is always a potential problem with analogue integrators though; I'd go with your original data logging idea (provided you can sample fast enough) and then number crunch in the digital domain. -- Andy |
#11
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mark wrote:
wrote: Grunff wrote: I'm wondering if there isn't another way of doing the integration. If that makes sense. there is, use an opamp integrator. No sampling, along with the errors that introduces. haha, yes, nice one. You think that an analog integrator isn't going to have errors? Especially accumulated over minutes? every method on the planet has errors. Try not to be dumb. We just need to get in below 1%. Digital sampling is going to be especially problematic with a spikey load, as the digital sampling has to be so fast it maps the spikes out accurately, ie a great number of samples per spike so the spike's shape is followed faithfully throughout. This is necessary to come in at below 1%. It is difficult to achieve this unless you know the highest possible frequency component of said spikes. In practice, if you dont, you have a mathematical problem to pick the sampling frequency needed to keep total error budget below 1%. We know the spikes occur at upto 10kHz, but that is the repetition rate, not the highest spike frequency component, which inevitably will be orders of magnitude higher. Analogue integration has issues like every method, but its relatively easy, simple, and low cost, and coming in at 1% is practical. The data logger is the best idea, just record the I&V waveforms over the period under question then do everything else numerically. There might be a bit more to it. BTW v and i need to be multiplied before the power product is integrated. Since you need 1% accuracy you will need to measure v, you wont do it just measuring and integrating i. I always tell people not to ask electronics qusetions in uk.d-i-y, we have a remarkable amount of expertise on diy, building etc, but this can lull some into imagining this is a group with expertise on tronics. While we do have some, most do not, and the truth does not fall out clearly like it does with other topics. Only if you know the answers will you recognise in most cases. sci.electronics.design is the place to go for this stuff. NT |
#12
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Grunff wrote:
However, this seems like a very round-about way of achieving my goal. Anyone have any thoughts on other ways of doing this? I must stress that it is the electrical energy input to the system that I'm interested in, so measuring temperature rise of the load etc. is out of the question. I know you can't measure the temp rise of the load, but is there any reason why you couldn't measure the temp rise of an in series resistor bolted to a known thermal mass? Been a while since I did physics But shouldn't there be a definite relationship between total real power and the temp rise, even for spikey loads? Lee -- Email address is valid, but is unlikely to be read. |
#13
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"Grunff" wrote in message ... Hi all, This would probably fit better in another NG, but I know quite a few people on here who will be able to provide some good ideas, so here goes. I have an experiment where a voltage of ~250 VDC is applied across a load, resulting in a current consumption of around 2A. The experiment runs for around 5 minutes. The nature of the load is such that the current consumption is very spiky - it may average to around 2A, but you get very short, sharp spikes, probably of 10-15A. I need to be able to measure, with 1% or better accuracy, the total energy dissipated in the load over the duration of the experimental run. I don't need instantaneous V or I values - all I need to know is the total energy consumption over the run. The only sensible way I can think of doing this is to use a data logger, and sample V and I at a high rate thoughout the experimental run, then calculate average power over the run, then multiply by run time. However, this seems like a very round-about way of achieving my goal. Anyone have any thoughts on other ways of doing this? I must stress that it is the electrical energy input to the system that I'm interested in, so measuring temperature rise of the load etc. is out of the question. TIA -- Grunff Use some voltage to frequency converter chips and count the clicks? |
#14
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"Grunff" wrote in message ... Hi all, This would probably fit better in another NG, but I know quite a few people on here who will be able to provide some good ideas, so here goes. I have an experiment where a voltage of ~250 VDC is applied across a load, resulting in a current consumption of around 2A. The experiment runs for around 5 minutes. The nature of the load is such that the current consumption is very spiky - it may average to around 2A, but you get very short, sharp spikes, probably of 10-15A. I need to be able to measure, with 1% or better accuracy, the total energy dissipated in the load over the duration of the experimental run. I don't need instantaneous V or I values - all I need to know is the total energy consumption over the run. The only sensible way I can think of doing this is to use a data logger, and sample V and I at a high rate thoughout the experimental run, then calculate average power over the run, then multiply by run time. However, this seems like a very round-about way of achieving my goal. Anyone have any thoughts on other ways of doing this? I must stress that it is the electrical energy input to the system that I'm interested in, so measuring temperature rise of the load etc. is out of the question. TIA -- Grunff I may remember incorrectly, but old rms power meters used to work on the temperature rise reated by the power passing through, didn't they? The time constant of such a meter may be long enough to integrate the spikes out. However, the output will be analogue which isn't convenient for data analysis if the rmspower varies significantly on a timescale longer than the thermal time constant of the meter. You could run theoutput to a pen plotter ( if available ) and integrate visually the area nder the curve. All very laborious of course. Perhaps apparatus that is essentially a calorimeter would work ( i.e. pick off some of the load power with a series resistor which sits inside a calorimeter: wait five minutes and measure the temperature rise ). Andy. |
#15
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andrewpreece wrote:
Perhaps apparatus that is essentially a calorimeter would work ( i.e. pick off some of the load power with a series resistor which sits inside a calorimeter: wait five minutes and measure the temperature rise ). I think this is very cunning (also suggested by Lee) - it may well be the way to do it. The only thing that concerns me is what kind of big power resistor to use and guarantee that it will remain sufficiently ohmic. -- Grunff |
#16
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"Grunff" wrote in message ... andrewpreece wrote: Perhaps apparatus that is essentially a calorimeter would work ( i.e. pick off some of the load power with a series resistor which sits inside a calorimeter: wait five minutes and measure the temperature rise ). I think this is very cunning (also suggested by Lee) - it may well be the way to do it. The only thing that concerns me is what kind of big power resistor to use and guarantee that it will remain sufficiently ohmic. -- Grunff A 25W wirewound would be good to better than 1% probably - the blocky gold finish type with solder terminals, RWR### I think they might be called. I have no idea of what type of power you are trying to measure. Anyway, you need only sample a fraction of it, then multiply up the result to get the power consumed by the load. Might be better to do it over a longer period than 5 minutes though so temperatures in a calorimeter have a chance to equalise. The Fluke 87 idea sounds like a lot less hassle, is that the one that measures 'true rms'? I'd check that it has a sampling time fast enough to record your glitches though. Andy. |
#17
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andrewpreece wrote:
A 25W wirewound would be good to better than 1% probably - the blocky gold finish type with solder terminals, RWR### I think they might be called. Yeah, I know the ones - I have a bunch of them somewhere. Anyway, you need only sample a fraction of it, then multiply up the result to get the power consumed by the load. Might be better to do it over a longer period than 5 minutes though so temperatures in a calorimeter have a chance to equalise. I think I can set up a reasonably accurate calorimeter, and a few calibration runs should allow me to compensate for its characteristics quite nicely. The Fluke 87 idea sounds like a lot less hassle, is that the one that measures 'true rms'? I'd check that it has a sampling time fast enough to record your glitches though. I will look into this further, thanks. -- Grunff |
#18
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Grunff wrote:
Hi all, This would probably fit better in another NG, but I know quite a few people on here who will be able to provide some good ideas, so here goes. I have an experiment where a voltage of ~250 VDC is applied across a load, resulting in a current consumption of around 2A. The experiment runs for around 5 minutes. The nature of the load is such that the current consumption is very spiky - it may average to around 2A, but you get very short, sharp spikes, probably of 10-15A. I need to be able to measure, with 1% or better accuracy, the total energy dissipated in the load over the duration of the experimental run. I don't need instantaneous V or I values - all I need to know is the total energy consumption over the run. The only sensible way I can think of doing this is to use a data logger, and sample V and I at a high rate thoughout the experimental run, then calculate average power over the run, then multiply by run time. However, this seems like a very round-about way of achieving my goal. Anyone have any thoughts on other ways of doing this? I must stress that it is the electrical energy input to the system that I'm interested in, so measuring temperature rise of the load etc. is out of the question. TIA If you want super accurate, you'll need to sample the instantaneous voltage and current rapidly and record the results for the length of your experiment. From that you can work out the power consumption by computing the instantaneous power, and then integrating that over the period of the experiment. For less accuracy, you could: 1. Assume a constant mains supply voltage & frequency 2. Using a True RMS meter with peak avg/min/max record facility, measure the current. 3. Compute the avg/min/max power from the meter readings and assumed supply voltage. For example, a Fluke 87 meter would do this quite happily. Cheers, Mark. |
#19
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mark wrote:
1. Assume a constant mains supply voltage & frequency It's a regulated DC power supply. 2. Using a True RMS meter with peak avg/min/max record facility, measure the current. It's DC. 3. Compute the avg/min/max power from the meter readings and assumed supply voltage. But the rest is spot on ;-) -- Grunff |
#20
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Grunff wrote:
mark wrote: 1. Assume a constant mains supply voltage & frequency It's a regulated DC power supply. OK. Depends on how good the regulation is as to whether this assumption holds. Does it sag a bit? 2. Using a True RMS meter with peak avg/min/max record facility, measure the current. It's DC. The current isn't static is it? It's a spikey load. There will still be a min/max/avg figure even for DC. 3. Compute the avg/min/max power from the meter readings and assumed supply voltage. But the rest is spot on ;-) thanks Mark. |
#21
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mark wrote:
OK. Depends on how good the regulation is as to whether this assumption holds. Does it sag a bit? It doesn't under normal load, but I'm sure that under the high peaks it does, yes. The current isn't static is it? It's a spikey load. There will still be a min/max/avg figure even for DC. Right, OK - I thought you'd misread as AC. I see where you're coming from now. -- Grunff |
#22
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In article ,
Grunff wrote: [snip] The nature of the load is such that the current consumption is very spiky - it may average to around 2A, but you get very short, sharp spikes, probably of 10-15A. Do you have an idea of the timing, of the shortest duration of a current spike? I need to be able to measure, with 1% or better accuracy, the total energy dissipated in the load over the duration of the experimental run. [snip] The only sensible way I can think of doing this is to use a data logger, and sample V and I at a high rate thoughout the experimental run, then calculate average power over the run, then multiply by run time. I'm not sure that Average*Time will get the total energy. Don't you have Integrate the instantaneous power over duration of the run time? Take V+I readings at fixed time intervals (significantly shorter than the shortest spike), multiply V*I, and accumulate. The multiply and accumulate could either be done in real time, or the raw V+I data log could be processed off-line, say with something like MathCad. -- Tony Williams. |
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