Abstract
Heat pumps are typically controlled by a programmable logic controller (PLC). However, PLCs are generally expensive and large. This work uses an MCS-51-based controller to control a heat pump, so that the size of the controller of a heat-pump system can be reduced markedly. Moreover, the proposed MCS-51-based controller can detect the status of each heat pump’s sensor automatically, so that a user can know whether a sensor is normal or abnormal, thereby protecting the heat-pump compressor. Knowing the number of a faulty sensor also helps during maintenance. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed MCS-51-based controller can replace a PLC-based controller and control a heat pump successfully, achieving an inexpensive and effective solution for controlling heat pumps.
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