Monitoring of an Aluminum Melting Furnace by Means of a 3D Light-Field Camera

authored by: S. Mohammadifard, J. Langner, M. Stonis, H. Semrau, S. O. Sauke, H. Larki Harchegani, B. A. Behrens
Abstract: The melting process in an aluminum melting furnace cannot be monitored by contact sensors, since the furnace is not accessible due to the high temperatures (more than 700 °C). Therefore, monitoring the melting process by means of optical sensors is investigated for the first time in this research project. This article deals with an innovative optical measuring system that is able to monitor the melting bridge despite the red-hot furnace walls. For this purpose, a light-field camera is installed on top an aluminum melting furnace in order to monitor the process and to control a targeted heat input into the melting furnace using a rotatable burner. The light-field camera used can capture a 3D point cloud with only one image. To achieve this, a separate field of lenses is placed between the image sensor and the main lens, projecting a virtual intermediate image onto the actual image sensor for further data processing. In addition, a self-developed image analysis program serves to monitor the height variation of the aluminum block and any melting rest on the melting bridge of the furnace [1]. Thus, the energy efficiency of the aluminum melting process could be increased by 15 % and the melting time reduced by almost 20 minutes by means of online monitoring.
Organisation(s): Institute of Metal Forming and Metal Forming Machines
External Organisation(s): Institut für integrierte Produktion Hannover (IPH)
ZPF GmbH
Type: Conference contribution
Pages: 784-788
No. of pages: 5
Publication date: 02.07.2017
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Business, Management and Accounting (miscellaneous), Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1109/ieem.2017.8289998 (Access: Closed)
: Details in the research portal "Research@Leibniz University"

BibTeX

@inproceedings{91377e41bd03476992ce6f6ca811c3bc,
title = "Monitoring of an Aluminum Melting Furnace by Means of a 3D Light-Field Camera",
abstract = "The melting process in an aluminum melting furnace cannot be monitored by contact sensors, since the furnace is not accessible due to the high temperatures (more than 700 °C). Therefore, monitoring the melting process by means of optical sensors is investigated for the first time in this research project. This article deals with an innovative optical measuring system that is able to monitor the melting bridge despite the red-hot furnace walls. For this purpose, a light-field camera is installed on top an aluminum melting furnace in order to monitor the process and to control a targeted heat input into the melting furnace using a rotatable burner. The light-field camera used can capture a 3D point cloud with only one image. To achieve this, a separate field of lenses is placed between the image sensor and the main lens, projecting a virtual intermediate image onto the actual image sensor for further data processing. In addition, a self-developed image analysis program serves to monitor the height variation of the aluminum block and any melting rest on the melting bridge of the furnace [1]. Thus, the energy efficiency of the aluminum melting process could be increased by 15 % and the melting time reduced by almost 20 minutes by means of online monitoring.",
keywords = "Energy Efficiency, Image Processing, Light-Field Camera, Melting Process, Process Monitoring",
author = "S. Mohammadifard and J. Langner and M. Stonis and H. Semrau and Sauke, {S. O.} and Harchegani, {H. Larki} and Behrens, {B. A.}",
note = "Funding information: Sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy on the basis of a decision of the German Federal Parliament (Project name: Edusal II, sponsor number: 03ET1056 B). The responsibility for the contents of this publication lies with the author.; 2017 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, IEEM 2017 ; Conference date: 10-12-2017 Through 13-12-2017",
year = "2017",
month = jul,
day = "2",
doi = "10.1109/ieem.2017.8289998",
language = "English",
series = "IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management",
publisher = "IEEE Computer Society",
pages = "784--788",
booktitle = "2017 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, IEEM 2017",
address = "United States",
}