An innovative control system of a hybrid tankless water heaters using LabVIEW

Abstract

This paper presents an innovative control system of a hybrid tankless water heater that provides a rapid response to deliver hot water within a desired temperature range at lower energy consumption. The proposed tankless water heater provides a hybrid heating process that composes of a gas fired heater as primary heater and an electric heating system as secondary heater. LabVIEW designing software was used in designing the control system. A controller was designed using a PID controller which response with respect to given input parameter such as changes in water flow and the inlet temperature. Through alteration of heat source, this efficiently reduces the power consumption of the tankless water heater during low water demand, and eliminate overshoots. Simulation results demonstrated that the proposed system has performed efficiently in a range of water flow and temperature demand while reducing power consumption for about 30%.