{"id":20925,"date":"2022-02-15T09:40:16","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T09:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/?p=20925"},"modified":"2022-02-15T09:40:17","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T09:40:17","slug":"smartening-up-temperature-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Smartening up temperature control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Erick Rios looks at how smart power controllers work, how they improve the performance of heating applications and the benefits of integrating them with other automation equipment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A smart power controller does what it says on the tin. It is smart because it has a microprocessor and sophisticated programming. It controls power using sensors that monitor voltage and current, adapting and making decisions as conditions change within the parameters of the application that it\u2019s being used. However, it\u2019s a valuable tool that is often overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many types of power switches that are used in commercial and industrial applications. Mechanical relays and contactors are ideal for applications where they are not switched very often because they are relatively inexpensive and do not produce much heat. But for precise control of electric heating, these switch types are a poor choice because they wear out and fail quickly if switched frequently. In this instance, smart power controllers are a sensible choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improved performance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being able to control the output based on the measurement of the power delivered to the load improves temperature control performance because it compensates for line voltage fluctuations or even partial load failures faster. This means that there is significantly less deviation from the temperature set point than would occur with the same temperature controller paired with a traditional solid-state power switching product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The temperature controller and power controller work together. The temperature controller measures the temperature with a sensor and determines how much of the available power is necessary to achieve set point. The power controller interprets the output from the temperature controller and controls the delivered power accordingly. Finally, the power controller adjusts the power delivered for voltage fluctuations and to the best of its ability when there is a partial failure of the heater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Process and equipment characterisation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smart power controller measures the line voltage and the current through the load. With that information, it calculates the load resistance and how much power is being delivered by the heater. Equipment manufacturers can use this information during commissioning to identify if there is a problem. For example, abnormally high resistance could indicate a poor connection that might eventually cause a premature failure or even a fire if not corrected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, power controllers can help companies monitor the load parameters during equipment installation and compare the profile with previous known good start-ups. By doing this, they can receive warning of issues localised to the heated zone, allowing preventative action to be taken before a failure occurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

End users can similarly monitor these parameters over time and correlate them to good and bad production results.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Integrated communication<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Integrating a smart power controller with other automation equipment allows process variables to be monitored remotely and allows operators and line maintenance personnel to quickly locate problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider this example, from a Watlow customer. A manufacturer of power transmission cables once relied on employees to periodically check the current gauges visually for each zone of extruders that coat the cables. On shifts with lower staffing, the faulty product was often the first indication of a problem. The customer replaced the solid-state power controllers in the extruders with the ASPYRE DT power controllers from Watlow, so they could determine if cable needed to be scrapped or whether production could continue until the scheduled maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Erick Rios, product manager for controls at Watlow<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Watlow\u2019s range of heating equipment, including its ASPYRE controllers, is frequently used by heavy-duty industrial companies in petrochemicals, heat treatment and power generation. The ASPYRE model is available between a range of 35 to 2,100 amps to support a wide variety of applications. For example, a single high amp ASPYRE unit is ideal for applications using multiple small units with low range amps.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the smart features and functionality of smart power controllers enable users to minimise scrap and unscheduled down time \u2014 improving operations and output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erick Rios is product manager for controls at industrial technology company Watlow<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Erick Rios looks at how smart power controllers work, how they improve the performance of heating applications and the benefits of integrating them with other automation equipment A smart power controller does what it says on the tin. It is smart because it has a microprocessor and sophisticated programming. It controls power using sensors that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20926,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9892,9893,3888,9365],"class_list":["post-20925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-process","tag-heating-applications","tag-smart-power-control","tag-temperature-control","tag-watlow"],"yoast_head":"\nSmartening up temperature control - Engineer News Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Erick Rios looks at how smart power controllers work, how they improve the performance of heating applications and the benefits of integrating them with other automation equipment\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smartening up temperature control - Engineer News Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Erick Rios looks at how smart power controllers work, how they improve the performance of heating applications and the benefits of integrating them with other automation equipment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Engineer News Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-15T09:40:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-15T09:40:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/WAT015-ASPYRE-smart-power-controller-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"618\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/smartening-up-temperature-control\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/smartening-up-temperature-control\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4477342aea8e299c6a21761e513ea8e1\"},\"headline\":\"Smartening up temperature control\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-15T09:40:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-15T09:40:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/smartening-up-temperature-control\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":666,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/smartening-up-temperature-control\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/WAT015-ASPYRE-smart-power-controller-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"heating applications\",\"smart power control\",\"temperature control\",\"Watlow\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Process\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/smartening-up-temperature-control\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/smartening-up-temperature-control\\\/\",\"name\":\"Smartening up temperature control - Engineer News Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/smartening-up-temperature-control\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/smartening-up-temperature-control\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/WAT015-ASPYRE-smart-power-controller-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-15T09:40:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-15T09:40:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4477342aea8e299c6a21761e513ea8e1\"},\"description\":\"Erick Rios looks at how smart power controllers work, how they improve the performance of heating applications and the benefits of integrating them with other automation equipment\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/smartening-up-temperature-control\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/smartening-up-temperature-control\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/smartening-up-temperature-control\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/WAT015-ASPYRE-smart-power-controller-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/WAT015-ASPYRE-smart-power-controller-1.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":618,\"caption\":\"Smart power control is vital for heating applications\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/smartening-up-temperature-control\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Smartening up temperature control\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Engineer News Network\",\"description\":\"The ultimate online news and information resource for today's engineer\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4477342aea8e299c6a21761e513ea8e1\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Smartening up temperature control - Engineer News Network","description":"Erick Rios looks at how smart power controllers work, how they improve the performance of heating applications and the benefits of integrating them with other automation equipment","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Smartening up temperature control - Engineer News Network","og_description":"Erick Rios looks at how smart power controllers work, how they improve the performance of heating applications and the benefits of integrating them with other automation equipment","og_url":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/","og_site_name":"Engineer News Network","article_published_time":"2022-02-15T09:40:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-15T09:40:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":618,"url":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/WAT015-ASPYRE-smart-power-controller-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4477342aea8e299c6a21761e513ea8e1"},"headline":"Smartening up temperature control","datePublished":"2022-02-15T09:40:16+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-15T09:40:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/"},"wordCount":666,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/WAT015-ASPYRE-smart-power-controller-1.jpg","keywords":["heating applications","smart power control","temperature control","Watlow"],"articleSection":["Process"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/","url":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/","name":"Smartening up temperature control - Engineer News Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/WAT015-ASPYRE-smart-power-controller-1.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-15T09:40:16+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-15T09:40:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4477342aea8e299c6a21761e513ea8e1"},"description":"Erick Rios looks at how smart power controllers work, how they improve the performance of heating applications and the benefits of integrating them with other automation equipment","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/WAT015-ASPYRE-smart-power-controller-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/WAT015-ASPYRE-smart-power-controller-1.jpg","width":900,"height":618,"caption":"Smart power control is vital for heating applications"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/smartening-up-temperature-control\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Smartening up temperature control"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/","name":"Engineer News Network","description":"The ultimate online news and information resource for today's engineer","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4477342aea8e299c6a21761e513ea8e1","name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20928,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20925\/revisions\/20928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}