Full Image Process Monitoring

When processes are in constant and uniform motion, an imaging system may not be required to cover the full process image. To monitor and control processes in motion, an IR line scanner can be used, scanning normal to the process flow, to generate a thermal strip map of the product as it passes the measurement site line (see Fig. 2.18). If more than one measurement site line is required, additional line scanners can be deployed. Alternately the line scanner can be set in motion to produce a thermal map of a nonmoving process, as shown in Fig. 10.3. 

In this case, a high-resolution scanner is used to monitor the electrolytic cells in the tankhouse of a zinc refinery, where acres of acid-filled tanks contain pure metal anode starter plates onto which the refined metal is deposited electrolytically from unrefined cathodes in close proximity. When contact short circuits occur between electrode pairs in the tankhouse, metal production between the shorted pairs is halted, excessive current flows, and power is wasted. An IR scanner, mounted in a fiberglass environmental enclosure on the same overhead crane used to deposit and remove electrodes from the acid bath, maps the process and pinpoints the shorts, allowing service personnel to clear them with minimal exposure to toxic acid fumes. The shorts appear as hot spots on the computer-monitored thermal map. 

They disappear after the shorts are cleared, and the process returns to normal. The scanner communicates with the tankhouse host computer via a wireless photonics link, providing statistical trending and a complete thermal history of the process. This data can be used to determine total power consumption and energy efficiency. 

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In parallel with this vision view integration, the opportunities of adding visual warnings in the monitors or adjacent to the ordinary gazing directions will also show the full potential of CMS in comparison with traditional mirror systems. These warnings can also be supported by object detection and more advanced image processing [5]. Also remember what was said in Sect. 6.2.4. 

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