Thermal Uniformity Survey (TUS) Solution
October 31, 2014Quick Product Overview:
Custom Thermal Uniformity Survey (TUS) solution uses thermocouple panels (thermocouple jacks and T2550 series) and a hardened laptop running a custom Wonderware interface for generating TUS reports. A special feature is that it is able to “learn” a furnace’s unique survey requirements, including number of thermocouples, thermocouple types, temperature ranges, etc.
Engineering / Design Company:
Neal Systems Inc (NSI), one of the largest US-based Eurotherm distributors and system integrators
Background:
Approximately five years ago, Eurotherm USA generated an “AUTOMATIC TUS REPORT” marketing mailer to all US-based companies that were registered as being NADCAP-certified. A local steel company responded with interest, and NSI was able to sell them a Chessell 6180 with the TUS software.
They quickly realized that the solution wouldn’t work for their operators, as they have over 130 furnaces which vary widely in both Celsius / Fahrenheit as well as number and type of thermocouples. As they were having to do close to 500 reports per year, the concept of having each operator change the degrees type, # of channels, and thermocouple type for each report was going to create a huge potential for errors.
Design Concept:
NSI gathered information on the number of furnaces, the number and type of thermocouples for each furnace, and the report type expected with each furnace. A design concept was created where a Wonderware-based interface would effectively be able to “learn” each furnace such that the operator’s only responsibility would be to tell it the furnace name. Two thermocouple panels were designed (one is pictured left) which would account for every possible combination of thermocouple types that the operator might need for the specific furnace test (occasionally two panels would have to be connected together).
Once the correct furnace was chosen in the Wonderware screen, the system would automatically look to see if the correct number of thermocouples was plugged into the two main thermocouple panels (called “pods” by the customer). Below is pictured an example where the user was viewing “Pod #2”.
Once the survey was completed, the operators would have an opportunity to review the raw data, as seen below:
Assuming the survey was a good one, the operator could then press a button, which would generate a full report that was designed either for compliance to their end customer’s requirements, or for a NADCAP auditor (or both in some cases).
The system has been used now for a few years by the customer in their 130+ plus furnaces, and we have recently designed another iteration for them that includes new report changes that better comply with some of the AMS2750E changes.
Contact Information:
Neal Systems Inc (NSI)
Shane Filer
122 Terry Drive
Newtown, PA 18490 (USA)
215-968-7577