Smart Thermal Processing
Project Lead: Honeywell
Partners: Virginia Tech, Seco-Warwick
Member % Cost Share: 68.55%
CESMII % Cost Share: 31.45%
Duration: 18 Months
Problem Statement
Thermal processing equipment accounts for 61% of manufacturing onsite energy use annually, yet contain many common features and functions cutting across the spectrum of discrete part processing and continuous industrial operations. These universal practices open significant opportunity to leverage recent advances in Smart Manufacturing (SM) technologies.
Project Goal
This project will develop SM technologies for thermal processes essential to US manufacturing with a primary goal of reducing energy consumption by 20%, improving processing yields by 10%, and reducing gas consumption by 10%.
Technical Approach
This project is structured into 3 primary tasks:
- creating a Smart Thermal Processing implementation strategy
- executing initial SM sensor, monitoring and data analytics development in three thermal processing areas: deposition & coatings, heat treatment and brazing
- manufacturing readiness trials in working manufacturing facilities.
Key Tasks & Milestones
- Strategy Development
- Report to CESMII and the program team describing the planned effort and proposed path for the remaining 15 months at the end of month
- Project Execution
- Report to CESMII with initial results and move forward plan for production trials based on the work provided by the project team
- Production refinement and demonstration
- Report to CESMII with results of production trials and a move forward plan
Potential Impact
The CESMII investment in this project will accelerate the use of SM in thermal processes providing the seed money to kick start development and commercial implementation. The CESMII collaboration will enable cross-process innovations focused on thermal processing functionalities that cut across coatings and heat treatment
Benefits
- Draft Strategy and Roadmap for implementing Smart Thermal Processing into US manufacturing
- Creation of core software profiles/applications to be hosted on the CESMII platform accessible by the thermal processing industry
Project Selection & Announcements
