With the continuous development of science and technology and economic and social progress, the metal smelting industry has rapidly developed. In the production of aluminum metal smelting, the chemical reaction of flammable and explosive raw materials, the aging of the devices, or the explosion and leakage caused by improper operation are the reasons for the frequent safety accidents in the smelting workshop.
Limitations of Traditional Monitoring for Metal Smelting
Traditional monitoring methods in the metal smelting industry primarily rely on manual inspection tours, sensory observation, manual reading of basic instruments, and judgment based on experience, supplemented by simple audio-visual alarms. The main disadvantages of these methods are their inability to achieve real-time, continuous, and comprehensive monitoring. Results are heavily influenced by subjective factors, and there is a high safety risk for inspection personnel operating in high-temperature, hazardous environments.
Furthermore, data collected through traditional methods is discrete and difficult to analyze effectively; responses are often reactive, occurring only after anomalies become significant. This makes it challenging to detect potential problems early or implement predictive maintenance, thereby increasing the risk of accidents, equipment damage, and operational inefficiency.
Advantages of Thermal Cameras for Metal Smelting Monitoring
Given the numerous limitations and high risks associated with traditional monitoring methods, the metal smelting industry urgently needs advanced technologies that offer safer, more efficient, and real-time, non-contact monitoring. In this context, thermal imaging technology, a non-contact method capable of visualizing the surface temperature distribution of objects, provides a powerful new tool for addressing these challenges and demonstrates unique advantages in enhancing workshop safety monitoring.
The detailed advantages are as follows:
- Non-contact, all-weather, and real-time monitoring does not affect the normal operation of the device.
- The software automatically generates temperature change curve records, captures images of the on-site situation, and reads on-site temperature data in real time.
- The highest temperature point, the highest temperature, and the average temperature of a measured area are displayed, without the need to measure the temperature.
- The device supports high-temperature point alarms. You can set multi-level alarm thresholds. If the temperature reaches a threshold, the alarm signals will be provided.
Applications of Thermal Cameras in Aluminum Metal Smelting
Three main workshops for aluminum metal smelting: electrolysis workshop, anode workshop, and power workshop.
1. Electrolysis Workshop
As the tank furnace in the electrolysis workshop is susceptible to leakage during production, real-time temperature monitoring is required for the bottom of the lower furnace layer and the edges of the upper furnace layer so that managers can predict potential accidents and take measures accordingly.
2. Anode Workshop
The detection targets in the anode workshop are the molten iron refinery furnaces, in which the real-time chamber temperature should be monitored. The normal operating temperature of a refinery furnace chamber is around 60°C. Excessively high temperatures can lead to leakage by damaging the chamber. Since the chambers contained molten iron, leakage was highly dangerous and would cause extremely severe losses. The thermal camera of the AT series and the explosion-proof shell are used for all-weather and all-round temperature monitoring of the refinery furnace in the anode workshop, enabling users to control the real-time status of its inner chamber.
3. Power Workshop
The power workshop is the source of power for companies’ production workshops. The stability of the power workshop is of significance. The external and internal incoming lines of the power workshop often abnormally emit heat. Not addressing this problem on time can lead to outages, bringing huge losses to the company. Hence, the online infrared monitoring system is deployed for all-weather, all-around, and real-time monitoring of devices in the power workshop, ensuring the company’s production stability.
Thermal Imaging Solution with Raythink System Software
It is recommended to use it with Raythink’s professional industrial temperature measurement and monitoring software:
- Support the connection of multiple devices to the software platform by networking so that these devices can be displayed on the platform.
- Support the video preview of up to 64 real-time images.
- Support palette selection and configuration of measurement tools, which can be flexibly and easily applied to provide a simple way for temperature data collection at the back end.
- Automatic generation of temperature data curves and temperature reports for effective monitoring of device temperature changes
- Abnormal temperature alarms support multi-level alarm configuration
How to Take an Infrared Thermal Image of Premium Quality?
Please refer to the following suggestions for using a thermal camera to take an infrared thermal image of premium quality:
- Select thermal cameras with high thermal sensitivity for scenarios with a small regional temperature difference.
- Select products or levels of proper measurement ranges for different scenes and temperatures
- Use automatic measurement first, and then enable the temperature width stretch function.
- Manually set the temperature width to the minimum and include the previously measured temperature range to enrich the image details.
