Playing it cool

Heating things up and then cooling them down; these are two simple processes that sit at the heart of most production plants.

Research company Frost and Sullivan describes temperature as the most monitored parameter in any industry, from basic temperature sensing to controlling critical operations.

“In applications such as refining, metals, plastics, and food and beverages, temperature is most crucial in the manufacturing process,” the researcher says.

But while some temperature control solutions have demonstrated they can substantially improve the efficiency of processes, many of those benefits are not necessarily finding their way into modern plants.

Equipment suppliers say that operators will often stand by their current temperature control systems simply because they are “still working”.

One such area is the sealing technology fundamental to the packaging of many processed goods.

In this application, temperature control must be incredibly accurate, says Minz Smiljanic, a technical support engineer at automation control supplier, Omron.

If it is too cold, the seal can’t be created and goods could fall out of the pack or spoil, he says. Too much heat and the seal may melt and destroy the packaging.

In this setting, temperature plays a vital role in the quality of the end product, and control technology has moved forward in leaps and bounds in recent years, he says.

“Even general purpose controllers are becoming more and more advanced as standard. This allows for a greater degree of control, which in turn allows for greater speed and accuracy to be achieved,” says Smiljanic.

“Process accuracy and speed to a setpoint, or recovery from disturbance, allows users to achieve a high level of finished product output to a consistent quality, with fewer rejects.”

The end result is a greater yield rate that creates a better finished product ratio in the same timeframe, with a consistently high quality.

“This ratio of higher production to lower reject ratio creates cost reduction,” he says.

However, end users can overlook the potential benefits of newer temperature control devices, which boast more sophisticated capabilities.

“In the good old days, you used to buy controllers with a specific input type or output type.

Nowadays they still take standard inputs for temperature, but also have inputs for controlling pressure or speed,” says Smiljanic.

“While a lot of customers are happy to consider new technologies, many others ask: ‘why do I need to change my control system when it already works?”

“As the technology moves forward we’re always having to talk to customers about how it benefits them,” he adds.

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