IndiTherm

Thermographic measurements

With IndiTherm, betacontrol mess- und regeltechnik GmbH & Co. KG presents a system which is designed for the exact all-over online determination during the film extrusion. The infrared measurement solution enables a continuous monitoring of temperature differences in real-time and is therefore an important analysis tool.
IndiTherm has been  developed for the registration of the precise spatial resolution of temperatures which impact on films right behind the flat sheet die during the production process. Because of the influence of temperature differences on the material properties the new measurement system helps to record 100 % of the fluctuation margin online.
Properties like
•    re-crystallisation
•    classification for wide films
•    flatness mistakes
•    inhomogeneity or
•    hotspots
appear for example due to  overheated thermo tensile studs or too high temperature differences. With IndiTherm they can be identified early. The special highlight of IndiTherm is the precise focusing on the temperature of the material to be controlled:
Conventional infrared cameras can external thermal influences, caused for example by heat reflections from the nozzle or hot runners on the cooling roll and on the material surface, just partly fade out. In contrast IndiTherm manages to capture the temperature of the material precisely and therefore to determine exclusively the temperature values of the film. The measurement results are thus more exact and offer valuable information for the further production process.
Mistakes during the film extrusion as a result of too high temperature differences increase the reject rate as the material is no longer suitable for  processing . Also in the range of extrusion coating the temperature measurement is especially relevant:
The optimum adhesion between two films is only ensured if the temperature on the juncture does not differ more than 2 degree Celsius from the set point. If this is not the case, differences in the adhesion values can occur having an adverse affect on the quality of the material. By  means of IndiTherm the operator of the measurement system is able to localize the temperature differences and to fix the differences.
The solution can, if needed, be extended to IndiCam 100, so that in addition  to the thermographic measurement a 100% 2D grammage measurement is possible as well as the determination of the material thickness. This system has been also developed for production processes with a temperature gradient and allows for  a comprehensive, 100% control of the material surface during a rapid production . With temperature measurements of the infrared cameras and the simultaneous application of radiometric sensors the grammage and the thickness can be identified.  Because all values are processed in real-time, dead times and scraps can be reduced. For the user betacontrol-solutions are - besides financial advantages -  also an improvement of the quality management.