Optimising product quality

To optimise the quality of its extruded aluminium profile products Hydro Extrusions Hungary identified the need for an infrared pyrometer that would enable fast profile tracking and highly-accurate temperature measurement results. It wanted a solution was compact in size, insensitive to outside light conditions and easy to set up.

 

To find the best solution the company carried out rigorous tests on three infrared pyrometers.  László Domokos, process reliability team leader at Hydro Extrusions Hungary, takes up the story: “We decided to seek a new infrared solution as we needed to more accurately profile temperature measurement of our products after the quench zone. Tests with the SPOT AL EQS pyrometer from AMETEK Land revealed that it offered accurate alignment on profiles every time, giving us greater reliability. With the addition of a SPOT Actuator, this pyrometer was able to help us ensure that our customers receive the highest quality aluminium products.”

 

AMETEK Land’s SPOT AL EQS pyrometer is particularly suited to the application as it can operate in temperatures ranging from 200 to 700°C, while offering quick and accurate temperature measurements. The pyrometer was installed on two presses at the profile exit and quench and Hydro Extrusion Hungary integrated the data into its existing data collection system, to help it enhance process control.

 

Hydro Extrusion Hungary was impressed with the fact that the profile tracking is automatic, as a result of the SPOT Actuator, which means operators do not have to spend time setting up the instruments.  

 

The solution offers Hydro Extrusions Hungary the benefits of data capture, interpretation, management and autonomy. It is possible to log into the pyrometer and SPOT Actuator Webserver for each measurement position and access all the data needed. The pyrometer can automatically scan to identify profile positions after a die change; alert operators to uneven die cavity or quench conditions; provide temperature measurements for perfect press and quench control and make slight positional adjustments to track wandering profiles.

 

The pyrometer provides complex embedded software algorithms for both temperature and emissivity outputs. Coupled with the smart actuator for automatic alignment, the solution can provide accurate temperature measurements for most current extrusion, quench and strip applications. Since implementing SPOT AL EQS, the plant has been able to reduce quality problems in the finished profile. 

The actuator enables extremely accurate alignment as it takes 900 measurement points over 90° and aligns on the optimum measurement position on the profile. This measurement combination can be very useful at the exit of the quench, as the extrusion may be liable to wander from side to side at this location. Using the pyrometer with the actuator can rapidly and repeatedly locate, target and measure the laterally shifting profile, producing an accurate temperature reading.