Apparatus and process for predicting metal heat treatment system failures
AssigneeAFC-Holcroft, L.L.C.
InventorWilliam Disler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatuses and processes for evaluating degradation and potential failure of components in an industrial heat treatment system include means and steps for establishing process settings for a baseline process cycle, collecting sensor data for at least one non-process control performance parameter during the baseline process cycle to establish a set of benchmark performance data, performing a calibration process cycle using the established process settings and collecting sensor data for the at least one non-process control performance parameter to establish a set of calibration performance data, and comparing the calibration performance data to the benchmark performance data.
Claims17
An industrial metal heat treatment system, comprising:
- a furnace casing defining a furnace chamber;
- a heating element within the furnace chamber for heating the furnace chamber to a heat treatment temperature;
- an endothermic gas inlet to the furnace chamber;
- a quench chamber including a vestibule adjacent the heating chamber, and a quench bath positioning below the vestibule;
- an inner door movable between a closed position for isolating the furnace chamber from the quench chamber, and an open position to allow transfer of a process load from the furnace chamber to the quench chamber;
- a load transfer device for moving the process load from the furnace chamber to the vestibule;
- at least one quench bath agitator;
- and
- at least one sensor for collecting non-process control data characteristic of an operational status of a component of the system to establish benchmark performance data during a baseline process cycle.
An industrial metal heat treatment system, comprising:
- a furnace casing defining a furnace chamber;
- a heating element for heating the furnace chamber to a heat treatment temperature;
- a load transfer device for moving a process load through the furnace chamber or out of the furnace chamber;
- and
- at least one sensor for collecting non-process control data characteristic of an operational status of a component of the system to establish benchmark performance data during a baseline process cycle;
- and
- wherein the heating element is an indirect radiant tube burner, and the at least one sensor is a device or method for quantifying the amount of fuel delivered to the indirect radiant tube burner.
A process for evaluating degradation and potential failure of components of an industrial heat treatment system, comprising:
- establishing process settings for a baseline process cycle;
- collecting sensor data for at least one non-process control performance parameter during the baseline process cycle to establish a set of benchmark performance data;
- performing a calibration process cycle using the established process settings and collecting sensor data for the at least one non-process control performance parameter to establish a set of calibration performance data;
- and
- comparing the calibration performance data to the benchmark performance data to evaluate performance degradation of system components.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.