As a housewife, one day you find: The fresh groceries you put in the fridge yesterday have spoiled because the cooling system failed. Or as a factory owner, your factory is forced to halt production due to machinery overheating, resulting in significant economic losses. What happens?
Of course, these two scenarios don’t often happen. Why? Because your temperature control systems work well.
But do you know: what exactly are the temperature control systems, and why are they so important? Let’s dive in.
1. What is a temperature control system?
A temperature control system is a system, which helps you achieve and maintain your desired temperature.
Generally, a temperature control system consists of 4 main parts: temperature sensor, controller actuator and controlled objects. We will explain these 4 parts one by one.
- The temperature sensor includes thermocouples, RTDs (Resistance Temperature Detectors, which have higher temperature detection accuracy than thermocouples), or infrared sensors etc. Those are used as a sensor to collect the temperature data.
- The controller contains thermostats(mainly used in home temperature control) or advanced PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) controllers(mainly used in industrial control fields).
- If the controller can’t directly drive the controlled objects, the actuator is an intermediate relay, a solid state relay or an AC contactor.
- The controlled object is a heater, a chiller, a fan, or a valve and so on.
2. How does it work?
The temperature control system uses a feedback mechanism to achieve precise temperature control.
The process is as simple as follows: the controller uses a temperature sensor to measure the current temperature, and then compares the measured value with the set value. Once a difference is found, the controller will command the actuator to start or stop heating or cooling.
This mechanism will be repeated to keep the control temperature consistent with the set temperature.
3. Types of the temperature control system
Temperature control systems can be divided into open-loop and closed-loop types according to control methods.
The open-loop temperature control system is without feedback mechanism, which might be out of control, the example is room stove, you can only use your body to feel the temperature, and manually add fuel or reduce fuel.
While the closed-loop temperature control system has feedback, it can control the temperature accurately, such as the air conditioners, fridges and PID temperature controllers etc.
In summary, closed-loop temperature control systems are more popular and more widely used in our daily life or process control.
4. Why do you need the temperature control systems?
There are several reasons for us to use a temperature control system, typically because we want to reach the temperature as we want, saving energy and body comfort.
Imagine this: without the temperature control system, your fridge will be spread of baterias, and your air conditioner will not work properly, you will sweat profusely, and so on.
5. Temp control system applications
We can find that temperature control systems are widely used in the following scenarios:
- Healthcare: Vaccine storage (-70°C freezers for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines) and incubators for neonatal care.
- Food & Beverage: Supermarket freezers, pasteurization tanks, and chocolate tempering machines.
- Manufacturing: Semiconductor fabrication requires ±0.1°C accuracy.
- Agriculture: Climate-controlled greenhouses grow strawberries year-round.
- Residential: Smart HVAC systems adjust to your schedule via apps like Alexa.
6. Temperature control system selection guide
With the above 5 things in mind, it’s time to know how to choose the right temperature control system for your needs now. We’ll provide you with an in-depth guide on how to choose the right system.
- Knowing you will need this temperature control system for heating or cooling. By knowing your requirements, it is good for the next step to arrange materials.
- Gather the required materials: temperature sensors, temperature controllers, solid-state relays with heat sinks or AC contactors, heaters, coolers or compressors, cables, screwdrivers, multi-function meters, switching power supplies(for DC temp control), etc. Lorentzzi®, as a leading industrial product provider, can provide a one-stop service for all these products.
- Control method confirmation: The control method can be simple on/off or PID control. Simple on/off temperature controllers are used in situations where precise temperature control is not required, such as refrigerators, air conditioners or frying equipment. However, for precise temperature control, PID temp controllers are a better choice, such as the control of injection molding temperature of injection molding machines. If the ON/OFF control method is used, the temperature difference will be too large, which will cause the plastic to solidify, resulting in a waste of raw materials and difficulty in cleaning the machine.
- Budget considerations: If you don’t need complex and precise temperature control, a cheap and simple on/off control system will suffice, but if you need precise control of temperature, try a slightly more expensive PID temperature control system.
- Choosing the right brand is crucial as well. A good branded component will offer you a reliable and hassle-free experience, minimizing potential issues and the need for after-sales services. In our latest blog , we’ve compiled a list of the top 19 temperature controller manufacturers in the world. Be sure to check it out!
Conclusion
All in all, temperature control systems are widely used in many occasions, from our daily life to industrial production lines. Understanding what it is, how it works and its application scenarios can help us use it better.
The above is the knowledge that our Lorentzzi® team wants to share with you. If you have other questions or need our technical support, please feel free to send an email to shonxu@lorentzzi.com and we will try our best to help.
