Câmara Climática: desenvolvimento de uma câmara automatizada para controle de temperatura e umidade

Abstract

This end of the course paper presents the development of an automated climatic chamber to control the closed loop temperature and humidity of the air, só as to provide support in research related to humidity levels in foresting fuels, at the Forest Fire Lab at Parana Federal University. Its main part consists of a regular domestic refrigerator, from which the original refrigeration system serves as a refrigeration agent, together with another similar system, for compression and dehumidification of the air. Other parts serve as heating agents, such as a fin resistence, as well as for the humidification of the air inside the chamber, resultinf in an inexpensive piece of equipment. Its parts are controled by a microcontroller, sensor equipped, with components for the user interface, such as a numeric keyboard and character pad; and an activating interface system using relays. The principles and characteristics of the components are defined, as well as the techniques employed. After that, the characteristichs of the proposed equipment are presented, with its subsystems working as one. Finally, as a result of the operating tests, the logic implemented by the microcontroller is presented as well as the final layout of the chamber, through charts showing the working curves of the variables of interest.