Elctrical Oven remote control with PC

[lukin1977]

We have 4 electrical oven in our plant
Each oven has it´s own temperature controler. We want to control and monitor the 4 ovens using one remote PC (20 meters from the ovens)

This are some of the functions that we need to do with the PC

manual individual start/stop of each oven
actual temperature display
set point modification
scheduled start
indication of finished process

Can anyone tell me what type of hardware and sofware is required for this project?

Thanks

 

[IRstuff]

manual individual start/stop of each oven
>> requires some sort of switch or interface to the switch on the oven

actual temperature display
>> requires a sensor; is there one existing?

set point modification
>> how is it done now?

scheduled start
>> only relevant to the PC

indication of finished process
>> How is that done now?

Without some more information about the ovens themselves and how the processes are controlled and monitored, it's hard to say. At the minimum, if these ovens are "dumb", you'll need to do significant modifications to the oven controls and displays by adding switches and sensors. If these are "smart" ovens, then you may only need to connect to their command/status interfaces.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[lukin1977]

IRstuff

The ovens are very simple
Heating source: Wire resistances
Control mecanism: Load Contactor. The contactor feeds the resistances and is open or closed by a temperature controler. The temperature input to the controler is done with a J type termocuple

2 of the ovens have a fans for air recirculation. The fans are switch On and Off manually at the beginnig and at the end of the process

I think the oven are "dumb"

 

[IRstuff]

Well, that makes things more difficult. I would suggest that you start looking at someone like Siemens controls:

http://www.automation.siemens.com/mcms/automation/en/industrial-controls/Pages/default.aspx

and then figure out what budget you really have to do what you think you want to do. You can probably beat Siemens' price, but it would take someone much more knowledgeable to put a system together.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[itsmoked]

Go to the Omega Engineering website.

They have scads of controls and systems to do exactly that. Peruse around there.

You will need a new temp controller for each oven that has communication ability. There will be many possibilities. Pick one that allows you to daisy chain them all to a PC.

The software will then present you with a screen that allows you to set any setting on each of the controllers. It usually allows you to set alarms and ramp and soak stuff too.

Most allow you to log the temperatures. This lets you compare what happens in the oven to your product's quality. This can be very helpful when you find your product suddenly has some sort of baking related issue.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[danw2]

If you've got someone around who understands the lingo for setting up temp controls, go for the catalog/web purchase.

If all that control terminology is Greek to all the people in your plant, then consider finding a local distributor who carries temp controls and software and who does 'integration'. Hire them to do the installation and start-up to get the software talknig to the controllers.

The telephone tech support for the component stuff generally assumes you're fluent in the terms the trade works in.