DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A FUEL LEVEL INDICATOR WITH LOW LEVEL ALARM SYSTEM BY BAGAIY A ZA T AN (2005/22013EE) A Thesis submitted to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Bachelor of Engineering (B. ENG) Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Federal University of Technology, Minna. November, 2010.
DECLARATION I Bagaiya Zatan declare that this work was done by me and has never been presented elsewhere for the award of a degree. I also hereby relinquish the copyright to the Federal University of Technology, Minna. Bagai ya Zatan (Student) ii
CERTIFICATION This is to certify that this project titled "Design and Construction of a Fuel Level Indicator with Low Level Alarm System" was carried out by Bagaiya Zatan with matriculation number 200S/22013EE, and submitted to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Federal University of Technology Minna in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Bachelor degree in Engineering (B.Eng) Engr. Dr. M. N. Nwohu (Project Supervisor) Engr. A. G. Raji (Head of Department) ~~~E~r ~::::::::==:::::~;;;, /0 Signature and Date iii
DEDICATION I dedicate this work first and foremost to the Lord Almighty and to my parents Mr and Mrs Victor Dale Bagaiya, my brother Bodam Bagaiya, my sister Rebecca Bagaiya and my best friend Washima Mede. iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I give thanks to the Lord God Almighty for his steadfast love, grace and encouragement throughout the course of my study. I also thank my supervisor Engr. Dr. M. N. Nwohu for his patience in imparting knowledge, his support and guidance throughout the course of carrying out this project. I would also like to thank my father Mr. and Mrs. Victor Bagaiya for their support, words of wisdom that has been an inspiration to me, for their encouragement and for believing in me. I would like to thank my brother and sister Bodam and Rebecca Bagaiya for the love and kindness they have shown me. I also thank Washima Mede for his love and encouragement. I also thank my colleagues for helping me when I needed it and lastly all the friends I made during the course of my study for their support and kindness. v
ABSTRACT This project discussed the design and construction of a fuel level indicator with low level alarm system that used a 555 timer and a NAND gate to control it and also used conducting wires as its probe. The switching of the system was achieved by using discrete electronic components, hence, transistors were used to switch or control a relay that consequently turned on the low level display (which were both a light emitting diode (LED) and a buzzer) when the fuel level was low but otherwise turned off the LED and buzzer. On the other hand, a NAND gate was used to tum on the display (i.e. an LED) for high fuel level when the fuel was high but otherwise it turned off the LED. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages Title.p&:l ~...... j Declaration................... ii Certification.......iii Dedication................iv Acknowledgement... v Abstract............... vi Table of content... vii List of figures.............. x List of plates....... xi Chapter One: Introduction..............................1 1.1 General introduction...... 1 1.2 Project aim/objective...... 2 1.3 Project motivation... 2 1.4 Scope and limitation...... 2 1.5 Project outline......... 3 Chapter Two: Literature Review.......4 2.1 Historical background........ 4 2.2 Theoretical background... 6 2.2.1 The relay...................... 6 2.2.2 The 555 timer.... 7 2.2.3 The transistor.... 8 vii
2.2.4 The logic gate.................. 9 2.2.5 The diode...................... 10 2.2.6 The capacitor.............. 11 2.2.7 The resistor....,......11 2.2.8 The buzzer.................... 12 2.2.9 The light emitting diode (LED)... 13 Chapter Three: Design and implementation...... 15 3.1 List of components used............. 15 3.2 Principle of operation...... 16 3.3 Modules......... 17 3.3.1 Thepowermodule... 18 3.3.2 The sensory module..................18 3.3.3 The control module...18 3.3.4 The switching module........... 20 3.3.5 The logic module......... 22 3.3.6 The display module............... 22 3.4 Design implementation... 23 Chapter Four: Test result and discussion...... 26 4.1 Test and results... 26 4.1.1 Test and result of control module......26 4. 1.2 Test and result of switching module... 27 4.1.3 Test and result of NAND gate.............. 29 viii
4.1.4 Test and result of display module.......................29 4.2 Discussion of results... 30 4.2.1 Project limitation and suggestion............ 30 4.2.2 Precaution... 31 Chapter Five: Conclusion and Recommendation.....................32 5.1 Conclusion........................... 32 5.2 Recommendation... 32 References ix
LIST OF FIGURES Pages Figure 2.1: The symbol of a relay... 7 Figure 2.2: The schematic diagram of a 555 timer....... 8 Figure 2.3: The symbol of an NPN transistor.... 9 Figure 2.4: The symbol of a diode....... 10 Figure 2.5: The symbol of capacitors... 11 Figure 2.6: The symbol of resistors...12 Figure 2.7: the symbol of a buzzer....13 Figure 2.8: The symbol ofleds... 14 Figure 3.1: Circuit diagram of fuel level indicators with low level alarm system...16 Figure 3.2: Block diagram fuel level indicator with alarm system... 17 Figure 3.3: Circuit diagram of the control module... 19 Figure 3.4: Circuit diagram of the switching module... 21 Figure 3.5: Circuit diagram of the logic module...... 22 Figure 3.6: Circuit diagram of the display module... 22 Figure 4.1: Output waveform of 555 timer at low level... 27 Figure 4.2: Output waveform of 555 timer when fuel tank is not at low level...27 Figure 4.3: Output waveform of transistor when switched from not low to low level... 28 Figure 4.4: Output waveform from the relay at low level..... 28 Figure 4.5: Output waveform of the NAND gate when changed from low to high level.....29 x
LIST OF PLATES Pages Plate I: A relay... 7 Plate II: A transistor......... 9 Plate III: Diodes...... 10 Plate IV: Capacitors...11 Plate V: A resistor... 12 Plate VI: A buzzer.... 13 Plate VII: A red LED... 14 Plate VIII: Circuit during software implementation (simulation using Multisim 10)... 24 Plate IX: The breadboard construction... 24 Plate X: The permanent (veroboard) construction... 25 Plate XI: The cased device... 25 xi