Steel and Manufacturing

Impregnation Machine – Aluminium casting

We were approached by a local panel builder to take over  the control software that their existing contractor had struggled with.  As part of the aluminium casting process, the molten metal is poured through a ceramic filter to catch and retain any impurities. The filter is made by dipping a foam sheet into a clay slurry mixture until the required weight of slurry has been absorbed. The foam sheet is then microwaved to set the slurry before being fired in an oven to burn off the foam, leaving a ceramic filter.

The process of dipping the sheet was done by hand, taking 5 minutes a sheet and weighing up to 12kg when fully dipped. The impregnation machine would replace this manual process.

The impregnation machine had 12 pairs of rolls, the top roll of each set could be adjusted up and down to alter the gap between the rolls. The roll height was adjusted using a motor and VSD combination, with an Encoder for height measurement.

We developed, tested and commissioned the PLC system for this process, providing height accuracy of +/- 0.1mm. The system had a recipe function along with auto adjustment on recipe load. The system reduced the production time from 5 minutes to 30 seconds.

 

Hot Dip Galvanising Burner System

Working with an existing customer, we proposed a PLC solution for their Burner controls for hot dip galvanising systems.

Our client provides galvanising baths for customers all over the world. We developed a prototype system which would allow the selection of between 2 and 8 burners installed from the HMI.

From this we further developed a basic solution tailored to suit each system supplied. This was based on the Siemens S7-1200 PLC with a Siemens HMI. The HMI is configured for remote access and controlled over the customer’s internet system.

We have also incorporated the control of boilers, heat exchangers, dryers and pre-treatment tanks into the system alongside the burners.

We have systems installed in:

  • Ukraine
  • Russia
  • Indonesia
  • Saudi Arabia
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Belgium
  • Germany
  • Mexico
  • Turkey