Heat treaters--what are you using for furnace control?

[rothwem]

I'm a metallurgist at a company that makes very large cast parts for high temperature applications. With the exception of some odd brazed applications, the heat treating we do is primarily PWHT. Upper management has decided that our facility needs to obtain the capability to Normalize and Temper, which adds another component of risk to the heat treatment. Since the parts we're heat treating can be upwards of $200,000, we really don't want to scrap anything.

With that said, we're using a really crude furnace controller. Its just a PLC system and a desktop computer (ever heard of thinkanddo? I hadn't before I came to this job). It has terrible PID tuning capabilities and is incredibly buggy. With PWHT, its hard to screw up ramp rates and soaks so badly that we'd scrap it, so we stick with the cheaper system. With the higher temps involved in Normalizing and Tempering, we need something better. Most of my prior experience is in using pusher furnaces, so PID tuning and ramp rates are relatively new to me and we just used cheap omega controllers to maintain the temp.

I'd like to investigate what else is out there for furnace control. I've seen some Honeywell systems, but that's about it. Any thoughts on what I should be looking at? I've done a quick google and have found a few options, I'd just like to be able to see what other people have experience with. Simple is good, auto PID tuning is even better, and we need the ability to control ramp rates in pit and car-bottom furnaces.

 

[dbooker630]

Try Super Systems (

http://www.supersystems.com).

I have had a lot of success with their control products.

 

[EdStainless]

We bought a furnace from Abbott that is driven from a AB PLC running panelview with a custom screen. It is very good. Easy to follow, easy to set up recipes and very reliable. talk to the guys at Abbott about controls.

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P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube

 

[rothwem]

Awesome! Thanks for the recommendations guys.

 

[TVP]

Super Systems is top of the line in terms of the entire package, highly recommended. Honeywell is common too. Allen-Bradley makes controllers for just about anything, I'm just not familiar with them for heat treating.