Hi ALL, I need to control the temperature of a furnace. The Thermocouple ouputs are available as RS-485. What Hardware and system configuration should I prefer?

Gurdas Singh · ‎10-18-2001

I need to automate the control of a gas carburising furnace. The available signals are Thermocouple K-Type (4 nos., one each from the three zones and one from the geometrical center of the furnace) and Oxygen Analyser. That makes it a total of 5 signals, all available in RS-485 format, which I need to acquire (10 samples/second) and then initiate a control action as per the rule base. Reliability is a major issue and the system has to work in harsh conditions.
What hardware would suit my purpose? I would prefer NI hardware which can be programmed via VB or VC++. LabVIEW may be considered as the last option.

Apart from using the thermocouple/Oxygen analyser signals for controlling it is also desired to store them on a PC for analyses and visualisation (via graphs etc etc)
My need is URGENT and would appreciate any help. Thanx in advance
Gurdas

MatthewSmith · ‎12-05-2001

Hi Gurdas,

It looks like you need to connect to 5 separate signals via RS-485 in a harsh environment. Is this a correct assessment?

If so, there are several NI serial products that work well in harsh environments. The ENET-485 comes in 2 and 4 port configurations and allows you to communicate with your serial device over Ethernet. For more information about the ENET-485, please see http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/nioc.vp?cid=10631〈=US. Please note that the ENET-485 currently only works with Windows NT.

For a more robust solution, the NI PXI Serial products offer an 8-port PXI board (with isolation if needed). For more information please see http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/nioc.vp?cid=1880〈=US

Additionally, our PCI-485 board comes in 8-port versions a
nd offers isolation for noisy environments (http://sine.ni.com/apps/we/nioc.vp?cid=1846〈=US).

If you'd like to speak to one of our sales representatives or an applications engineer, please call 512-794-0100.

Thanks,

Matthew Smith
Serial Product Manager
National Instruments

Instrument Control (GPIB, Serial, VISA, IVI)

Hi ALL, I need to control the temperature of a furnace. The Thermocouple ouputs are available as RS-485. What Hardware and system configuration should I prefer?

Hi ALL, I need to control the temperature of a furnace. The Thermocouple ouputs are available as RS-485. What Hardware and system configuration should I prefer?

Re: Hi ALL, I need to control the temperature of a furnace. The Thermocouple ouputs are available as RS-485. What Hardware and system configuration should I prefer?