Precise Thermal Measurement and Control for Temperature-Critical Applications

Thermal management and control largely determine process uniformity, product quality, and throughput in temperature-critical applications. This presentation describes how to achieve the high repeatability, precision, and control non-contact optical pyrometers and SCR power controllers enable, and how to optimize their performance to support greater process insight and control of your manufacturing operation. Temperature-critical industrial manufacturing processes require precision thermal measurement and control to regulate the flow of electricity from the grid to a heater. These electric-heat processes typically rely on the integration and sophistication of optical pyrometers as well as silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs). The overall process uniformity, product quality, and throughput are dependent upon the measurement accuracy, repeatability, and reliability of these two components. Today's non-contact optical pyrometers and SCR power controllers meet the challenges of industrial manufacturing with a variety of advanced features and functions that support accurate measurement and control, regardless of process conditions. It's critical that you understand how these technologies fit into your process. In this presentation, primarily intended for process engineers, Mark Ritzheimer, Thermal Instrumentation Product Manager and Dirk Fuhlbohm, Product Manager, Precision Power Products Group, will review the functions and complexities of the thermal control loop. They'll discuss the design principles and the critical role of both the optical pyrometer and the SCR power controller, and how wavelength selection, as well as energy and emissivity effects, can impact a process. Finally, they will show you how to build thermal profiles, take high-quality measurements, and identify the most important product specification criteria to enable greater process insight and control. Key Take-Aways Understand the primary parts of a typical temperature control loop and the importance of the measurement and control components in thermal processing. Understand, in-depth, how and why pyrometers provide extremely accurate readings that ensure precision temperature regulation. Get direction on which specification features to consider in SCR power controllers, such as power efficiency, accuracy, reliability, I/O compatibility, connectivity, ease of integration, and overall intuitive system use. Learn how to accurately and reliably measure and control temperature in your process.