Recoverable Autonomous Sonde for subglacial lakes exploration: heating control system design. Issue 85 (29th September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yu, Haibin; Zhu, Tianxin; Jiang, Xiao; Tang, Yongzhen; Li, Xiaodong; Li, Chong; Huang, Shengmiao; Shi, Jianguang; Sun, Youhong; Talalay, Pavel; Fan, Xiaopeng; Li, Xiao; Li, Yazhou; Peng, Shilin
• Is Part Of: Annals of glaciology. Volume 62:Issue 85/86(2021)
• Page Start: 280
• Page End: 292
• Publication Date: 2021-09-29
• Subjects: Fuzzy PID algorithm -- heating control -- hot melt drilling -- recoverable autonomous sonde (RECAS) -- solid-state power regulator -- subglacial lakes; Glaciology -- Periodicals; 551.3105 qA613
• DOI: 10.1017/aog.2021.5
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0260-3055

Abstract

Abstract: Drilling and sampling are the most direct and effective methods available to study Antarctic subglacial lakes. Based on the Philberth probe, a Recoverable Autonomous Sonde (RECAS) allows for in situ lake water measurement and sampling, through the addition of an upper thermal tip and a cable recoiling mechanism. RECAS-200, a prototype of RECAS, has a drilling depth of 200 m, a surface supply voltage of 800 VAC and a downhole power of ~9.6 kW during drilling. In this study, a heating control system for RECAS-200 was designed. The system avoids the need for high-power step-down converters, by separating heating power from control power, thereby reducing the overall weight of the probe and avoiding the need to increase cable diameter. We also introduce a self-developed, small, solid-state, 800 VAC power regulator and a fuzzy PID temperature control algorithm. Their purpose was to manage the power adjustment of each heating element and to provide closed-loop temperature control of certain heating elements which can easily burn out due to overheating. Test results indicated that the proposed RECAS-200 heating control system met all our design specifications and could be easily assembled into the RECAS-200 probe.