THE ELECTRONIC LOAD CONTROLLER (ELC) MODEL

Implemented by: YONAH Muwonge, DAVID Maganda

Supervised by: Assoc. Prof. Richard Okou, Mr. Maximus Byamukama.
(Makerere University)
Author : YONAH Muwonge

INTRODUCTION METHODOLOGY ACTIVITIES Principle of action Frequency and Voltage variation with ELC connected
55 300

• In all power generating schemes, voltage and frequency Objective Activities

control and regulation systems/means perform a vital 50
280

Freq / Hz

V/V
role. Without control, all the power generated goes to the
 Desk research 260
user load. Uncontrolled flow of power can damage both 45

the load and the generators.  Analysis of an operational installed

240

ELC at Suam MHP scheme (Eastern 40

• This is due to the unpredictable variations in the user Research on:

Uganda) , its several key components 220

 Existing ELC designs

load, which consequently lead to variations in key and how it 35
Frequency
parameters such as the voltage, frequency and rotation  System analysis of MHP power 200

 Review of several programming Voltage

speed of the generator.  Programming microcontrollers 30 180

tutorials and books about the Fig. 1: Analysing the ELC installed at SUAM MHP scheme.

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microcontrollers
• In Pico and Micro hydro power plants, the user load and
the generation unit are connected directly with no  Writing code for the microcontroller
transmission system, therefore, in both systems, the
parameters such as voltage and frequency are directly
reliant on each other.
PCB design of the ELC circuit
 Simulation of the several circuit
• The Electronic Load Controller (ELC) is therefore installed components of the ELC;
to regulate the voltage and frequency of the system. RESULTS
Design and Simulation of the 1. Voltage Sensing circuit
Fig. 2: Design and simulation of electronic circuits.
controller circuit 2. Triac – dump load circuit
Frequency and Voltage variation without ELC
OBJECTIVES of the Project 3. Power circuit for the microcontroller
56.5 295
Using Multism and Proteus software
290
• To carry out background research and system analysis on 56

Freq / Hz

V / V
285
Micro-Hydro power. 55.5
• To carry out research on existing controller designs and 280

their disadvantages.  Building up the electronic load 55 275

• To carry out research on programming microcontrollers.

Frequency
controller circuit based on the design 270
54.5 Voltage
• To develop with a system model and circuit design for an  Setting up the control panel and 265 CONCLUSION
electronic load controller. Building and testing the prototype connecting the loads, dump loads, meters
54
260
• To carry out a simulation of the circuit design. In Pico and Micro hydro-power plants, a simplified
and switches 53.5 255
• Building and testing the prototype for illustrative microprocessor based ELC can be installed to achieve

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purposes.  Testing the circuit with the test bench
to visualise the control mechanism
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Fig. 3: Testing the ELC prototype.
optimal voltage and frequency regulation. The ELC model is
a robust and relatively cheaper to make compared to
already existing designs therefore reducing the cost of
setting up such small power plants.