Temperature Control in Metals Manufacturing & Fabrication

Metal processing, smelting, and production are highly intensive with regards to material, cost, logistics, as well as the sheer extreme temperatures involved to melt metals before they are shaped into a final product. We understand how to meet the exact specifications that are required to measure temperatures in the production and manufacturing processes of metal. We work with our customers to help them optimise the process to ensure accurate and reliable temperature measurements. In the metal industry, there are many processes that include the measurement and control of temperature. There are higher demands on quality, productivity & energy management which all require the highest quality temperature measurement.

Dpstar offers efficient continually measuring, monitoring, and maintaining optimum process control temperature by developing custom-made thermocouples, thermowells, RTD sensors, and other equipment. Our custom solutions increase the reliability of measurement while decreasing running costs, emissions, and the potential for costly error.

We’ve made temperature sensors for the metal industry for over 30 years and today we are considered the best choice for custom-built temperature sensors in Malaysia. We continue to apply our expertise and invest in the latest technology to provide our customers with the highest quality temperature sensors available.

Determine The Proper Thermocouple For The Application

When selecting the thermocouple, some of the conditions to be considered include:

• Temperature capability of the thermocouple wires.
• Temperature capability of the sheath or protective covering (metal or ceramic).
• The atmosphere in which it will be used (air, reducing, oxidizing, inert).
• The mounting configuration.

High temperature ovens form a separate category, and these furnaces use either gas or electric as their heat source. Single-point or ramp-and-soak controllers with either Type J, K, R, S or B thermocouples are the most common configuration. This market is fragmented with products that represent a significant capital investment. Some may be unique designs intended to meet the special metal-processing requirements. As a general rule, however, a typical system will have a sensor extending into the chamber’s air space, with open coil heaters mounted on insulators in the chamber’s walls.

Measuring the temperature of molten metal is difficult due to the high temperature and severe conditions encountered. For these reasons, Type K and N base metal and Types R, S and B platinum thermocouples are the only choice for contact measurements.

When base-metal thermocouples are used, the wires typically are large diameter 8 or 14 AWG solid wires with ceramic insulators as well as ceramic or metal protection tubes. The large diameter of the Type K or N wires degrade more slowly to allow time for measurements before the high temperature conditions degrade the wires.

Platinum thermocouple wires typically are on the order of 20 to 30 AWG solid. Unlike base-metal Type K and N wires that deteriorate due to oxidation or corrosion, the platinum wires become soft due to long-term annealing. They eventually fail due to grain growth.

Metal Processing Applications

Heat Treating

Heat treating is an industrial thermal metalworking processes used to alter the physical — and, sometimes, chemical — properties of a material. Heat treating requires that the furnace be held at a predetermined temperature for a precise amount of time in order to yield the desired depth of hardening. Such systems usually include a timer that is interlocked with the controller’s alarm to sound when the temperature is reached. Other than this special feature, the furnaces follow conventional designs.

Annealing Welds

Annealing is a metalworking heat treatment that alters the physical — and, occasionally, chemical — properties to increase the material’s ductility and reduce its hardness, making it more workable. It involves heating a material above its recrystallization temperature, maintaining a suitable temperature for an appropriate amount of time, and then cooling. Welded pipe lines that must be annealed to ensure rated strength and flexibility are a good example.

Typical annealing systems include a portable electric heater that is strapped around a weld, a thermocouple that is tack welded to the pipe, a proportional controller and a ramp generator for the setpoint. The temperature must be brought to setpoint and held without interruption; otherwise, the process must be restarted.

Increase Efficiency with Dpstar Group

Our consultants are experts in identifying ways industrial and commercial operations could perform at peak efficiency with temperature measurement and process control. Throughout the various metal industries, we have provided dependable solutions to improve efficiency and lower operational waste. Customers regularly return for assistance with other issues.

We have teams of experienced designers and engineers who are eager to solve new challenges in measurement and control processes. Many industry operations can benefit from our custom solutions and problem-solving abilities.

Contact us with your requirements if you have an existing sensor design or are unsure what you need, we’ll be able to find you get the right sensor for your process.

Dpstar Group
No 35, Jalan OP ½, Pusat Perdagangan One Puchong,
Off Jalan Puchong, 47160 Puchong,
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Email: [email protected]