Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2008: Power for Land, Sea and Air

GT2008
June 9-13, 2008, Berlin, Germany

GT2008-50042

FROM RESEARCH TO DIDACTICS: THE COURSE OF DYNAMICS AND CONTROL OF

FLUID MACHINES FOR AUTOMATION ENGINEERING STUDENTS

M. Venturini, M. Morini
Engineering Department in Ferrara (ENDIF) University of Ferrara
Via Saragat, 1 44100 Ferrara, Italy

ABSTRACT
The paper deals with the course Dynamics and Control of
Fluid Machines, which has been held at the Faculty of
Engineering of the University of Ferrara (Italy) since the
academic year 2002/2003 for the Second-Level Degree Course
in Computer Sciences and Automation Engineering.
The aim of the course is the study of fluid machines, by
combining base knowledge with physical-mathematical
analysis of the unsteady behavior and of off-design operating
conditions. The first characteristic aspect of the course is the
study of the dynamic behavior of fluid machines. The second
relevant aspect is the analysis of system control.
In this paper, course characteristics are presented and
discussed. In particular, as a part of the final examination,
students are asked to develop an individual project, whose
results are also reported in this paper. The project consists of
the simulation of the dynamic behavior of an industrial system
for compressed air production by means of a multistage
centrifugal compressor. Students are required to properly
design the controller and to discuss the adopted control logic.
Student feedback is evaluated by means of a survey
conducted to evaluate the quality of the didactic activity. The
analysis of student feedback reveals that student evaluation
towards the course proves higher than the average evaluation
for the didactic activity held at the University of Ferrara, at the
Faculty of Engineering or within the same Degree Course.
NOMENCLATURE
A
amplitude
cp
specific heat at constant pressure
DCFM Dynamics and Control of Fluid Machines
e
error
f
frequency
k
valve coefficient

Kp
i
ITV
m
m*

PID proportional gain

PID input
inlet throttle valve
mass flow rate
pref
m R T
corrected mass flow rate
=
p
Rref Tref

p
Pth
Q
R
t,
T
Td
Ti
u
V

total pressure
thermal power
quantity
gas constant
time
total temperature
PID derivative time
PID integral time
PID output
volume
pressure ratio

ratio of specific heats

Subscripts
amb
ambient
bo
blow off
c
cooler
ci
compressor inlet
co
compressor outlet
min
minimum
p
plenum
ref
reference
u
user
up
pulsating user
ur
random user
us
stationary user
ITV
inlet throttle valve

Copyright 2008 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 02/01/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

INTRODUCTION
The need for turbomachinery simulation tools to carry out
performance and diagnostic analyses is well-established. In
addition to the analysis in steady-state conditions, the analysis
of machine dynamic behavior for same purposes is widespread
as well, as outlined through some sample applications reported
below.
For instance, the deregulation of the electricity market in
many countries has forced competing generators to be fast in
offering their electricity output to retailers in order to satisfy
peak load requests. Consequently, plant start-up behavior
simulation becomes of primary importance in order to evaluate
machine response.
Another key field of application for the analysis of
turbomachine unsteady-state is that of micro gas turbines and
small-size internal combustion engines. In fact, since these
machines are used for distributed power generation, they may
experience load variations due to user request.
The analysis of turbomachine unsteady-state may also help
in evaluating machine behavior under critical operating
conditions, as for instance approaching surge or onset of surge.
The analysis of energy system dynamic response is also
useful for power plant design, for energy system diagnostics
during operation, for plant control system design and for
personnel training through what-if procedures.
For these reasons, the knowledge of machine unsteady
behavior, together with the ability of implementing dynamic
simulation programs, is very important for the education of
engineering students in the field of energy conversion systems
and of turbomachinery. Moreover, there is often the need for a
customer-tuned control system.
However, the skills dealing with system dynamics and
control are not always provided in traditional engineering
courses. In fact, though a great deal of research is aimed at
developing dynamic simulation codes capable of reproducing
transient system response, the number of papers dealing with
the education of engineering students in this field is very low.
In the paper, starting from the didactic experience and from
the research activity of the authors in the field of machine
dynamic modeling [1-5], the characteristics of the course of
Dynamics and Control of Fluid Machines (DCFM) are
presented and discussed. The course, held at the Faculty of
Engineering of the University of Ferrara (Italy) since the
academic year 2002/2003, covers fluid machines by combining
base knowledge with physical-mathematical analysis of the
unsteady behavior and of off-design operating conditions.
Furthermore, the paper also reports the main results of the
projects held by the best students. The project, which
constitutes the necessary qualification for the admittance to the
final examination, consists of the simulation of the dynamic
behavior of an industrial system for compressed air production
by means of a multistage centrifugal compressor. Moreover, the
controller and the control logic have to be properly designed, in
order to meet system control specifications.
Student feedback is evaluated by means of questions
addressed to students before the end of the course. All
questions and answers are reported on the website of the
University of Ferrara [6], in order to establish the quality of the
didactic activity. These same data are used in the paper to
highlight student satisfaction towards the course of Dynamics
and Control of Fluid Machines.

DEGREE COURSE IN AUTOMATION ENGINEERING

The Degree in Automation Engineering. The Engineering
Faculty degree program consists of a First-Level Degree which
lasts three years, followed by a two-year Second-Level Degree.
The curriculum in Automation Engineering is available
within the plan of studies both of the First-Level Degree course
in Information Engineering and of the Second-Level Degree
course in Computer Sciences and Automation Engineering. The
curriculum in Automation Engineering aims at linking
automation control to mechanical and power systems and also
offers base knowledge in design of industrial automation
systems, of robotics and of industrial electronics. The Degree
course is organized to instruct professionals with skills on (i)
design, realization and maintenance of control systems for
manufacturing machines and robotics, (ii) design, realization
and maintenance of process control systems, (iii) design and
set-up of home automation systems and (iv) design, testing and
tuning of automotive control systems.
Thus, students of the curriculum in Automation Engineering
are required to achieve skills from two well established and
quite different areas of Engineering, i.e. Information
Technology and Mechanics. This aspect represents an
innovation in the plan of studies of Italian Universities.
Courses in the field of energy conversion systems and of
turbomachinery. The curriculum in Automation Engineering
offers three courses in the field of energy conversion systems
and of turbomachinery. The first one (Modeling and
Simulation of Energy Systems) is held during the third year of
the First-Level Degree course, while two more courses are held
during the Second-Level Degree course (Dynamics and
Control of Fluid Machines during the first year and Fault
Automated Diagnostics during the second year).
All three courses are held under a particular perspective. In
fact, the aim is to provide base knowledge, fundamentals and
basic principles of thermodynamics, energy systems and
turbomachinery. However, differently from what usually made
during Mechanical Engineering courses, the aim is to merge
traditional Mechanical Engineering skills into Information
Technology skills. The first aspect is the study of the dynamic
behavior of energy systems and of fluid machines. The second
relevant aspect is the control of energy systems and of fluid
machines. Moreover, energy system operating state
determination and measurement sensor diagnostics are also
addressed.
To do this, the didactic path in the area of energy
conversion systems and of turbomachinery is developed, as
illustrated below.
The course of Modeling and Simulation of Energy
Systems aims at supplying a methodology to understand the
thermodynamic phenomena occurring in power plants and to
simulate their operation by means of logic blocks. Moreover,
the course supplies basic knowledge about the control logic of
power plants. Some of the topics covered deal with classical
basic knowledge about energy systems (e.g. steam, gas turbine
and combined cycle power plants, cogenerative plants, steam
generators), along with practical lessons in which some of the
control tools for the systems under investigation are
implemented into a software. Moreover, demonstrations of the
capabilities of a commercial tool for the simulation of energy
systems (Thermoflow [7]) are also provided. Practical lessons
are aimed at performing sensitivity analyses on power plants

Copyright 2008 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 02/01/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

and control system main parameters.

The course of Dynamics and Control of Fluid Machines,
which will be described below in detail, aims at the study of
fluid machines. In addition to base knowledge, the course
provides the physical-mathematical background and the
methodologies for the analysis of the unsteady behavior and of
off-design operating conditions for the most common fluid
machines, in order to evaluate the proper control logic.
Machine modeling under unsteady conditions is particularly
addressed, through examples of model implementation.
Finally, the course of Fault Automated Diagnostics
provides methodologies for fault automated diagnostics of
system components (the attention being focused on energy
systems), by using model-based techniques. A part of the
course is addressed to energy system operating state
determination through linear and non-linear models [8].
Moreover, measurement sensor diagnostics, mainly consisting
of sensor fault detection and isolation, is also covered [9].
THE COURSE OF DYNAMICS AND CONTROL OF
FLUID MACHINES
The course. The aim of the course is the study of fluid
machines (pumps, compressors and internal combustion
engines), by combining base knowledge with a physicalmathematical background for the analysis of the unsteady
behavior and of off-design operating conditions. Course content
is detailed in the following:
1. introduction to fluid dynamics and to the fundamentals of
heat exchange;
2. equations of fluid mechanics, speed of sound, flow
phenomena in a diffuser;
3. centrifugal pumps: velocity diagrams, operating point,
performance, cavitation;
4. displacement pumps: operating mode and performance
curves;
5. turbocompressors: velocity diagrams, performance maps,
surge and stall, off-design performance;
6. dynamic simulation of turbomachines: physicalmathematical modeling, general balance equation, continuity
equation, momentum equation, energy conservation equation,
dynamic equation for heat exchange, spool dynamics.
Implementation of a physical-mathematical model for the
simulation of the unsteady behavior of a turbomachine in the
Simulink environment;
7. internal combustion engines: thermodynamic cycles,
performance curves, fuel supply system and combustion,
pollutant emissions;
8. dynamics of internal combustion engines: air dynamics and
spool dynamics, control logic and implementation.
The readings suggested to students for these topics are the
following textbooks [10-17]. Moreover, specific lecture notes
are available for students. In particular, items 1 and 6 of the
course program are widely addressed. In fact, topics of item 1
can be found in different textbooks, though the course deals
with basic knowledge about fluid dynamics and heat exchange
only. So, the lecture notes supplied to students provide a
synthetic and almost exhaustive summary about these topics.
As regards the topics of item 6, due to the specific approach
adopted for the course and derived from [1,3], lecture notes are
actually necessary to support student study.

Classroom lessons. There are usually 15-20 students on the

course each academic year. Thus, lessons can be interactive.
The teaching style is traditional, i.e. the material is
presented through a sequential approach. The possibility of
organizing the material in an inductive manner (i.e. the material
is presented through case studies), as done by Boettner et al.
[18] for similar topics, may be evaluated for the future.
Practical applications. Many numerical examples are
provided during the course. In particular, a relevant amount of
time spent on numerical applications is dedicated to the
development of the individual project. Four classroom teaching
hours are spent for illustrating the problems related to the
implementation of mathematical models. Then, additional four
hours are spent in the Information Engineering laboratory to
proceed with the implementation of the project. This takes into
account that students have already practiced using the Matlab
during the First-Level Degree course.
In the past years, a practical lesson was also conducted in
the Mechanical Laboratory of the Engineering Department. The
aim was to offer students the opportunity to take some
measurements on an axial centrifugal compressor [1,19] to
derive its performance maps. This activity was repeated for two
years, but it has been interrupted due to a lack of time within
the course program. However, it is a key task of the course to
re-establish this experimental activity, since it represents a
fundamental instructive opportunity for engineering students.
Course characteristics. The main feature of the course is
that system dynamic modeling (items 6 and 8 of the course
program) starts from a general statement of the problem, as
shown in [1,3]. Some applications to real-world problem
modeling through this approach are provided during classroom
lessons. Instead, a sample application is assigned to students
through a homework project.
The course also covers compressor unstable behavior, as
reported in item 5 of the course program. A synthetic
description of the phenomena associated with unstable behavior
and of their main features is outlined in [20]. A particular
off-design operating condition, i.e. surge occurrence, is also
analyzed, discussed and modeled through the Greitzer model
developed in 1976 [21]. This model should allow students the
comprehension of basic phenomena experienced under unstable
operation.
Another distinctive feature of the course is that students are
asked to develop a model for dynamic simulation, as an integral
part of the examination. The system assigned is usually
composed of machines, ducts, valves and volumes. This
activity should help students grasp the essential concepts of
dynamic modeling and to test them on real-case problems.
Modeling real-world problems is one of the main tasks of
engineering students. In fact, experimental data are usually
expensive and sometimes difficult to obtain. Otherwise, the
availability of a model allows a high amount of data to be
obtained, even in the presence of system faults, to perform
diagnostic analyses. A similar didactic approach for topics in
the same field is reported and discussed in [22,23], though in
both cases the topic of the projects is more traditional. In fact,
the models to be developed by the students in [22,23] do not
consider system unsteady conditions, but only focus on
component matching for a gas turbine under stationary
operation [22] or on evaluating system stationary off-design
behavior and performance [23].

Copyright 2008 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 02/01/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

The mathematical model to be developed through the

project should be built through the laws of conservation (mass,
momentum and energy), and by using the performance maps of
the considered machine. Moreover, the model should be simple
and modular. Simplicity (i.e. making consistent assumptions
to consider predominant effects only) should allow an easy and
physical-based interpretation of the results. Modularity should
instead allow the analysis of different system configurations
and the inclusion/exclusion of different physical phenomena
(e.g. presence or absence of heat exchange).
Students are then asked to carry out a sensitivity analysis to
evaluate the influence of the physical parameters on model
response. Moreover, a proper controller and control logic
should be designed, in order to meet system specifications.
As explained below, the text of the project is not completely
determined. In fact, as in real-world problems, all necessary
data are not always available. In addition to this, also the
analyses to be performed are not specified in detail. This should
encourage students to assume reasonable input data and to
conduct proper sensitivity analyses.
Final examination. Course final examination is oral and
questions addressed to students cover all course topics.
Moreover, a preliminary evaluation of the individual project is
also performed, as a qualification for admittance to the
examination.
The project is different for each academic year, but all
students of the same class are assigned the same problem. The
project must be completed before the examination takes place,
so that both the text of the project (problem statement,
assumptions, analyses carried out, results, discussion on results)
and the model developed (model lay-out, implementation,
solver, etc.) can be evaluated by the instructors. Questions
which may arise from the project are addressed to students
during the examination, in order to verify the actual degree of
comprehension of the problem. For completing the project,
students can benefit some assistance from the instructors.
THE INDIVIDUAL PROJECT: SIMULATION OF A
COMPRESSED AIR SYSTEM
Aim of the project. The project consists of modeling a
simple, fictitious real-world problem and, above all, discussing
assumptions and results. Therefore, the realization of the
project involves different skills:
- modeling: students have to choose the appropriate
assumptions, simplifications and descriptive equations;
- programming: students have to identify model lay-out, to
choose the proper solver, etc.;
- interpretation of the results: students should comment the
results from a physical point of view, according to the
assumptions made.
The project. As an example of the typology of projects
assigned to students, the project for the academic year
2006/2007 is considered in this paper. The project deals with
the dynamic modeling of an industrial system for compressed
air production. These systems are among the most common
industrial end users. Industrial compressed air systems are
usually composed of compressors, coolers, dryers, volumes,
distribution grids and users (manufacturing processes or power
equipments, e.g. conveyers, grinders, jack hammers, drills,
aerators and paint sprayers).

Data and objective of the project. Students are asked to

develop a model for the dynamic simulation of the compressed
air system sketched in Fig. 1 and for its controllers. The model
has to be implemented through the Simulink tool. Simulink
is a well-known, flexible and powerful tool [1-4,14], which
allows designers to model a system under unsteady conditions
at a high level and suits specific classes of applications, such as
the rapid prototyping of control systems. Moreover, it allows a
modular discretization of the system by means of its graphical
user interface.
Students are assigned the air compressor, i.e. a multistage
centrifugal compressor, the fictitious performance curves of
which are shown in Fig. 2. The curves refer to the nominal
corrected rotational speed. For the sake of simplicity, this is the
only rotational speed allowed. Thus, students can neglect the
effect of inlet compressor temperature on the corrected
rotational speed. Moreover, students should assume that surge
occurs at m* = 0.6 kg/s and = 15. Thus, a blow-off valve
should be included to protect the compressor against surge
occurrence.
The compressed air system also includes a plenum, which is
the reservoir used to store the compressed air. The task of the
plenum is to act as a dumper for the oscillation of the mass flow
rate. Students are allowed to take into account system dynamics
in the plenum only, while the dynamics of the pipelines of the
Plenum

Cooler
Compressor

Stationary users
Pulsating users
Random users

Figure 1 Lay-out of the compressed air system

16

1.0

12

0.8

0.6

Pressure ratio

0.4

Efficiency
0

0.2
0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.3

m* [kg/s]

Figure 2 Performance curves to be used for

compressor behavior simulation

Copyright 2008 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 02/01/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

distribution grid can be assumed negligible, according to the

hypothesis that all volumes are taken into account through
plenum volume.
It can be assumed that there are three system end-users: a
stationary contribution (which represents a continuum
process/equipment, e.g. a belt conveyer), a pulsating
contribution (e.g. a blow molding cylinder) and a random
contribution (e.g. drills or paint sprayers).
Students are asked to carry out a sensitivity analysis to
evaluate the influence (i) of the physical parameters which
characterize the system under consideration, as, for instance,
plenum volume, and (ii) of the boundary conditions (i.e.
ambient conditions).
Moreover, a proper controller and control logic should be
designed to maintain a plenum pressure value equal to 8 bar. If
user mass flow rate should decrease dramatically, system
control through the blow-off valve should take place, in order
to guarantee a surge margin equal to 20 % on the corrected
mass flow rate. This means that the corrected mass flow rate
mco* should remain higher than 0.72 kg/s. Thus, students should
also discuss the adopted control logic and controller tuning.
Controller parameter values can be also varied to show their
influence on system response.
Project development and implementation. The main
results of the projects held by the best students (model
development, controller set-up, sensitivity analyses) are
reported below to highlight the typology of skills which
students should achieve at the end of the course.
The model is implemented as shown in Fig. 3. In the
following, the different modules constituting the whole system
are illustrated.
Compressor. The estimation of compressor outlet
temperature Tco requires the calculation of the polytropic
efficiency , as shown in Eq. (1), while compressor inlet
pressure pci can be evaluated through the knowledge of
compressor outlet mass flow rate mco, as reported in Eq. (2).

p
Tco = Tamb co
pci

(1)

m
(2)
pci = pamb co
kITV
In particular, compressor mass flow rate is controlled by
means of an inlet throttle valve ITV: by throttling the ITV (i.e.
lower kITV), the compressor inlet pressure pci decreases. Thus,

the actual value of kITV is calculated by the ITV controller. Both

compressor polytropic efficiency and compressor outlet mass
flow rate mco can be derived from compressor performance
curves, which are shown in Fig. 2.
Blow off valve. To protect the compressor against the
occurrence of surge, a blow off valve should be used. The mass
flow through the valve is calculated by means of Eq. (3).

mbo = kbo pco pamb

(3)

Cooler. The cooler is assumed to be perfectly controlled and

is simulated as if a fixed quantity of thermal power Pth were
exchanged. So, the temperature after the cooler is calculated as

P
Tc = max Tmin , Tco th
(4)

mc cp

where Tmin is the minimum cooler outlet temperature allowed

by thermal exchange. So, this value depends on cooling fluid
inlet temperature and on cooler efficiency.
Under the assumption of stationary conditions (mco derives
from compressor stationary performance curves, while mbo is
obtained through Eq. (3)), the mass flow rate mc through the
cooler results equal to
mc = mco mbo
(5)
Plenum. Plenum pressure can be calculated by integrating
the following equation:
dpp
dt

kRTc
(mc mu )
Vp

(6)

According to the project assigned to students, this is the

only effect which simulates dynamic conditions.
Users. The end-users are simulated as a sum of three mass
flow rate terms as in Eq. (7): a stationary term mus, a pulsating
term mup and a random term mur.

mu = mus + mup + mur

(7)

Controllers. Two different PID controllers are implemented

in the model for ITV and blow off valve operation, respectively.
The PID input e(t) represents the difference between the
actual value and a reference value. The output u(t) is used to
identify ITV or blow off valve position: if u(t) is positive, both
the ITV and the blow off valve open; otherwise, they close.
The general equation of PID controllers is [24]
t

de(t )
1
u (t ) = K p e(t ) +
e( )d + Td

Ti
dt
0

(8)

e(t) = i(t) Qref

(9)

where

Figure 3 Model lay-out of the compressed air system

The values of PID controller parameters are summarized in

Tab. 1. Controller proper tuning represents one of the student
achievements obtainable through the project. In the case of the
ITV controller, the input i(t) is plenum pressure, while in the
case of the blow off valve controller the input is the corrected
mass flow rate mco*. In the former case, the reference value is
the pressure requested by the users (Qref = 8 bar); in the latter
case, the reference value is the minimum corrected mass flow
rate in order to guarantee a surge margin equal to 20 % on the
corrected mass flow rate (Qref = 0.72 kg/s).

Copyright 2008 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 02/01/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

Table 1 Parameters for controller set-up

Inlet throttle valve controller
Proportional gain
Integral time
Derivative time

Kp
Ti
Td

Blow off valve controller

Proportional gain
Integral time
Derivative time

Kp
Ti
Td

Value

Unit

-0.1
100
0

bar-1
s
s

Value

Unit

-0.1
1105
0.1

(kg/s)-1
s
s

implemented as a variable-step solver. Therefore, students have

to choose the correct sampling frequency, i.e. at least 10 kHz,
in order to avoid both the aliasing and hiding of the
phenomenon.

Project results and discussion. The dynamic response of

the system in terms of mass flow rates is represented in Fig. 4.
The user mass flow rate mu is the forcing variable and is
composed of three contributions, as reported in Eq. (7). During
the time interval [0;30] s, the system can reach the stationary
condition, since users are disabled. Then, two operating
conditions are analyzed for two different values of mu for the
so-called stationary users: 0.80 kg/s for the time interval
[30;245] s and 0.35 kg/s for the time interval [255;500] s. So,
the stationary term decreases from 0.80 kg/s to the new value of
0.35 kg/s in 10 s. The pulsating term of the user mass flow rates
is characterized by a frequency of 1 Hz and an amplitude of
0.05 kg/s. The random contribution was imposed to vary
between zero and 0.02 kg/s.
It can be noticed that, when mu is approximately equal to
0.80 kg/s, the compressor outlet mass flow rate oscillates (as
can be also observed in the ITV trend in Fig. 6) in order to keep
the plenum pressure constant (controlled case in Fig. 5) at the
reference value of 8 bar. For this condition, the blow-off valve
is completely closed (see Fig. 6) and therefore the mass flow
rate through the blow-off valve is null.
Otherwise, when mus decreases to approximately 0.35 kg/s,
ITV opening reaches its minimum value (see Fig. 6) and so
plenum pressure begins to increase (refer to the controlled
case in Fig. 5). When the compressor outlet mass flow rate mco
reaches the value correspondent to the surge avoidance limit,
the blow off valve slightly opens (see Fig. 6) and this allows a
mass flow rate through the blow off valve (as shown in Fig. 4).
Figure 5 also shows that the plenum pressure trend in the
uncontrolled case is ever increasing. This should lead
students to interpret from a physical point of view the results
obtained through a numerical model. In fact, compressor
operation with a pressure ratio higher than 15 would not be
physically possible, due to surge occurrence, according to the
hypotheses made on compressor performance curves reported
in Fig. 2.
Different sensitivity analyses on system parameters
(ambient conditions, plenum volume, PID parameters,
exchanged thermal power) are carried out by the students
during the project. For the sake of brevity, only the analysis
regarding the effect of plenum volume Vp on compressor outlet
mass flow rate mco is presented in this paper. Moreover, only
the first 245 s of the previously presented simulation are
analyzed by means of a Fast-Fourier Transform to determine
the amplitude and the frequency of compressor outlet mass
flow rate oscillation. To solve the system of integro-differential
equations, a Runge-Kutta method was adopted by most of the
students. This method is supplied with Matlab and is

Figure 4 Mass flow rates vs. time

(mu is an input, mco and mbo are outputs)

Figure 5 Plenum pressure vs. time

Figure 6 Valve coefficients vs. time

Copyright 2008 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 02/01/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

Figure 7 Fast Fourier Transform of compressor outlet mass

flow rate mco for different values of plenum volume

Figure 7 shows a spike at the frequency of 1 Hz (the same

as mup). The amplitude of this oscillation varies from 0.023 kg/s
in case of Vp equal to 10 m3 to 0.013 kg/s in case of Vp equal to
30 m3. This amplitude is lower than 0.050 kg/s, i.e. the
amplitude of the forcing variable. This means that the plenum
actually operates as a dumper. Other spikes can be recognized
and depend on ITV controller set-up, i.e. on the values of PID
parameters.
Qualitative evaluation of the project. Most of the students
realize that the development of the project allows a deeper
understanding of system operation and of the controller
working mode, though it usually increases the time required for
preparing course examination. Moreover, the project usually
enhances student understanding of the course material and the
physical interpretation of system response. Finally, it helps to
outline the problems related to the implementation of a
simulation model, though at the same time it clearly
demonstrates the importance of the use of these models in the
solution of real-world engineering problems.

COURSE ASSESSMENT AND STUDENT FEEDBACK

Student feedback is evaluated by means of a survey,
composed of 23 questions addressed to students before the end
of the course. Students can assign a mark to each of the 23
questions (1 means very low/scarce, 10 means very
high/good). All questions are collected and the results are
processed to establish the quality of the didactic activity at the
University of Ferrara. This feedback process has been adopted
by the University of Ferrara for a long time, but since the
academic year 2005/2006, these data are also available on the
website [6]. Data presenting aggregate information about the
University or the Faculty are public, while the answers
referring to any specific course are only available to the
respective teacher.
The analysis of student feedback can be restricted to the 14
questions, which directly deal with the course, as reported
below.
Organization of the didactic activity
1. Student working load.
2. Correspondence between didactic material (books, lecture
notes) and course content.

3. Usefulness of practical lessons (exercises, laboratory).

4. Clear explanation of examination procedure.
The teacher
5. Care of the instructor for lesson timetable.
6. Instructor availability for supplementary explanations about
course topics.
7. Instructor capability in stimulating the interest towards the
course.
8. Instructor clarity during lessons.
9. Instructor exhaustiveness when supplementary explanations
are needed.
Additional information and student satisfaction
10. Adequacy of the knowledge provided before the course in
order to understand course topics.
11. Possibility of combining course attendance and home-study.
12. Novelty of the topics developed during the course with
respect to the content of previous courses.
13. Interest in course topics.
14. Overall course satisfaction.
Detailed survey data are available for two academic years,
i.e. 2005/2006 and 2006/2007. Data can be split for the whole
University of Ferrara (in the order of 40,000 surveys), for each
Faculty (about 5400 surveys for the Faculty of Engineering),
for each Degree Course (about 150 surveys for the SecondLevel Degree Course in Computer Sciences and Automation
Engineering) and for each specific course (for the DCFM
course, 12 surveys for the academic year 2005/2006 and 7 for
the academic year 2006/2007). Due to the limited amount of
surveys gathered for the DCFM course, data referring to the
two classes are brought together to obtain an average evaluation
for the two years. The same operation is repeated for the whole
University, the Faculty and the Degree Course. For each
answer, this average evaluation value can be obtained as a
weighted average for the two academic years with respect to
the actual number of answers obtained for each question. In
fact, students do not always reply to all the questions contained
in the survey.
As the number of surveys can be very different, a direct
comparison is affected by the different significance of data.
However, the comparison can provide a qualitative idea of
course assessment with respect to the context under
consideration (University, Faculty, Degree Course or specific
course).
Analysis of student feedback. The results of student
feedback are reported in detail in Figs. 8a and 8b for questions
1-9 and 10-14, respectively.
From the analysis of individual answers, some positive
comments can be obtained. In particular, the clear explanation
of examination procedure and instructor care for lesson
timetable (questions 4 and 5) are appreciated and, above all,
classroom lessons are interesting (question 7), clear (question
8) and supported with additional explanations by the teacher
(questions 6 and 9). A good evaluation is also obtained when
considering the correspondence between didactic material and
course content (question 2). In fact, as outlined in a previous
section of the paper, specific lecture notes are available for
students on some selected topics. Moreover, since course topics
actually cover different areas in the field of energy systems and
turbomachinery, proper text books references are given to the
students. This clearly helps students both in attending
class-room lessons and in preparing for final examination.

Copyright 2008 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 02/01/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

10.0

8.0

Faculty

Degree Course

DCFM
Weighted Average Evaluation

University

Evaluation

9.0

8.0

7.0

6.0

University

Faculty

Degree Course

DCFM

7.5

7.0

6.5

5.0
1

4
5
Question

9
6.0

Figure 8a Student feedback for questions 1-9

Figure 9 Weighted average evaluation on all questions

10.0
University

Faculty

Degree Course

DCFM

Evaluation

9.0

8.0

7.0

6.0

5.0
10

11

12
Question

13

14

Figure 8b Student feedback for questions 10-14

These positive comments about the course are confirmed by

the overall assessment of the course (questions 13 and 14).
Student evaluation towards the course can be synthetically
highlighted by calculating the average evaluation on all
questions. The results are presented in Fig. 9, where the
average evaluation is calculated once again as an average
value weighted with respect to the actual number of answers
per question.
As can be easily observed, Fig. 9 shows that the evaluation
towards the DCFM course proves higher than the average
evaluation for the didactic activity held at the University of
Ferrara, at the Faculty of Engineering or within the same
Degree Course.
Suggestions from student feedback to improve the
course. The analysis of student feedback also provides some
guidelines to improve the course and to enhance student
satisfaction. The items which should be considered for course
improvement can be summarized as follows:
- question 1 (student working load) and 3 (usefulness of
practical lessons). The evaluation on question 1 suggests that
students feel that course working load is high. At the same
time, as can be seen from the response to question 3, students
feel that the time spent on practical lessons is not enough to
develop their final project, which involves skills deriving from
both course topics and computer science (programming skills).

Therefore, more time will be spent training the students to

develop their individual projects under instructor supervision.
Consequently, the time for theoretical lessons will decrease and
as a result course working load will be reduced;
- question 10: adequacy of the knowledge provided before the
course in order to understand course topics. An appropriate
mathematical background is actually required for the part of the
course which deals with dynamic modeling, since it implies the
use of differential equations written in a vectorial space. At
present, the course of Mathematical Methods for Engineering
is held in parallel with the DCFM course. This aspect has been
discussed with the Chairman of the Degree Course. Thus, since
this problem is also linked to other problems related to Degree
Course organization, the reorganization of the study program of
the Second-Level Degree course will be performed in the near
future;
- question 11: possibility of combining course attendance and
home-study. As also outlined when dealing with the results
from question 1, the working load of all courses held in parallel
with the DCFM course is also considered high. Therefore, it
may be difficult to carry out home-study. In fact, students do
not usually take the examination straight after the course. This
aspect will be also considered during the reorganization of the
study program.
Finally, as revealed from student opinions taken after the
examination, partial tests may also help in passing more easily
the final examination. This is under evaluation for the future,
though, in instructor opinion, partial tests may limit student
comprehensive view of course topics.

CONCLUSIONS
This paper deals with the course of Dynamics and Control
of Fluid Machines, which has been held at the Faculty of
Engineering of the University of Ferrara (Italy) since the
academic year 2002/2003 for the Second-Level Degree Course
in Computer Sciences and Automation Engineering.
The paper presents the specific characteristics of the course
(course aim, type of audience, student expected skills) and the
final project which students have to develop as an integral part
of the examination. The project deals with the dynamic
modeling of an industrial system for compressed air production
and of its control system. In the paper, the main results of the
projects held by the best students of the course are reported.

Copyright 2008 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 02/01/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

It results that projects are usually developed with a more

than adequate level of investigation of the problem, though
difficulties sometimes arise from the discussion of the
assumptions made and from the physical interpretation of the
results. However, most of the students realize that project
development allows a deeper understanding of system
operation and of controller working mode, though it usually
increases the time required for preparing the final examination.
Moreover, the project usually enhances student understanding
of course material and the ability of physically interpreting
system response. Finally, it represents an opportunity of
applying a widely used numerical tool to a real-world problem.
Student feedback is evaluated by means of a survey derived
from questions addressed to students before the end of the
course. The analysis of student feedback reveals that student
evaluation towards the course proves higher than the average
evaluation for the didactic activity held at the University of
Ferrara, at the Faculty of Engineering or within the same
Degree Course.
The analysis of student feedback also provides some
guidelines to improve the course and to enhance student
satisfaction. Suggestions recommend (i) an increase in the time
spent on training students to develop the individual project and
(ii) a reorganization of the Degree course in order to (a) provide
adequate knowledge in mathematics before the course and (b)
decrease the working load of the didactic period in which the
course is scheduled. If partial tests were offered, students would
be more likely to pass the final examination, though partial tests
may limit student comprehensive view of course topics.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The work was carried out with the support of the MiUR
(Italian Ministry of University and Research).
The authors gratefully acknowledge Prof. Roberto Bettocchi
and Prof. Pier Ruggero Spina for the suggestions provided
during the work.
REFERENCES
[1] Venturini, M., 2005, Development and Experimental
Validation of a Compressor Dynamic Model, ASME J. of
Turbomachinery, 127(3), pp. 599-608.
[2] Venturini M., 2006, Simulation of Compressor Transient
Behavior Through Recurrent Neural Network Models,
ASME J. of Turbomachinery, 128(3), pp. 444-454.
[3] Morini, M., Pinelli, M., Venturini, M., 2007,
Development of a One-Dimensional Modular Dynamic
Model for the Simulation of Surge in Compression
System, ASME J. of Turbomachinery, 129(3), pp. 437447.
[4] Morini, M., Pinelli M., Venturini M., 2007, Application
of a One-Dimensional Modular Dynamic Model for
Compressor
Surge
Avoidance,
ASME
Paper
GT2007-27041.
[5] Morini, M., Cataldi, G., Pinelli M., Venturini M., 2007, A
Model for the Simulation of Large-Size Single-Shaft Gas
Turbine Start-Up Based on Operating Data Fitting, ASME
Paper GT2007-27373.
[6] Official web site of the Faculty of Engineering of the
University of Ferrara http://www.unife.it/ing.
[7] Thermoflow Inc., 2007, Thermoflow 17, Release 1,
Sudbury, MA, USA.

[8] Bettocchi, R., Spina, P. R., 1999, Diagnosis of Gas

Turbine Operating Conditions by Means of the Inverse
Cycle Calculation, ASME Paper 99-GT-185.
[9] Spina, P.R., 2000, Reliability in the Determination of Gas
Turbine Operating State, Proc. 39th IEEE Conference on
Decision and Control, Paper CDC00-INV5805.
[10] Cohen, H., Roger,s G.F.C., Saravanamuttoo, H.I.H., 1996,
Gas Turbine Theory, Prentice Hall, USA.
[11] Horlock, J.H., 1958, Axial Flow Compressors,
Butterworths, London, UK.
[12] Gravdahl, J.T., Egeland, O., 1999, Compressor Surge and
Rotating Stall. Modeling and control, Springer, UK.
[13] Brown, F. T., 2001, Engineering system dynamics, Marcel
Dekker, Nw York, USA.
[14] Singh K., Agnihotri G., 2001, System Design through
MATLAB, Control Toolbox and Simulink, Springer-Verlag,
London, UK.
[15] Dabney, J. B., Harman, T. L., 2004, Mastering Simulink,
Pearson Prentice Hall, New York, USA.
[16] Heywood, J. B., 1988, Internal combustion engine
fundamentals, McGraw-Hill, New York, USA.
[17] Blair, G. P., 1999, Design and simulation of four-stroke
engines, Society of Automotive Engineers, Warrendale,
PA, USA.
[18] Boettner, D. D., Norberg, S. A., Melnyk, R. V., Highley, J.
L., Rounds, M. J., Arnas, A. O., 2006, Teaching the
Fundamentals of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics
Through an Integrated Systems Approach, Proc. 2006
ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress
and Exposition, November 5 10, Chicago, Illinois, USA IMECE2006-13815.
[19] Morini, M., Pinelli M., Venturini M., 2007, Acoustic and
Vibrational Analyses on a Multi-Stage Compressor for
Unstable Behavior Precursor Identification, ASME Paper
GT2007-27040.
[20] Tavakoli, S., Griffin, I., Fleming, P., 2004, An overview
of compressor instabilities: basic concepts and control,
Proc. 16th IFAC International Symposium on Automatic
Control in Aerospace, St. Petersburg, Russia, June 1418.
[21] Greitzer, E.M., 1976, Surge and Rotating Stall in Axial
Flow Compressor: Part 1, Theoretical Compression System
Model, ASME J. of Eng. for Power, 98, pp. 190-198.
[22] Flack, R., 2002, Component Matching Analysis for a
Power Generation Gas Turbine Classroom Applications,
ASME Paper GT2002-30155.
[23] Sexton, M. R., Sexton, W. R., 2006, Aircraft Engine
Simulation Project for Undergraduate Propulsion Course,
ASME Paper GT2006-90139.
[24] Astrom, K., Hagglund, T., 1995, PID Controllers: Theory,
Design, and Tuning, 2nd Ed., Research Triangle Park, USA.

Copyright 2008 by ASME

Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 02/01/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use