The invention relates to a method and an apparatus to monitor deviations in a web.
Paper machines which manufacture crêpe paper may unintentionally cause local burns i.e. hotbeds of fire in the dry web. A reason for a burn to occur may be too effective drying and/or a spark from a doctor blade, for example. The hotbeds may at first be small but they may catch flames causing a real fire in the dry end of the paper machine which fortunately can be extinguished by an automatic sprinkler system. Even a much more dangerous situation develops if a smoldering burn remains smoldering causing the burn in the web to enlarge gradually. Because nothing is done to it, the smoldering spot may end up inside the layers of web wound around a reel spool. The reel spool may then be moved to a large store of reel spools. When the hotbed of fire has smoldered long enough inside the layers of tissue paper, it may catch explosive fire and burn the whole store.
Because the dry end is so tightly packed with process parts and other equipment, there is no space to install an additional monitoring system without substantial changes in the machinery. Hence, there is a need for a practical monitoring solution of the web in the dry end of a tissue paper mill.
An object of the invention is to provide an improved solution for detecting temperatures capable of igniting the tissue paper.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system of claim 1.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of claim 24.
The present solution provides advantages. A possibility of fire can be detected without structural complexity, and increase in volume and cost of the monitoring system.
Embodiments of the present invention are described below, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
The following embodiments are exemplary. Although the specification may refer to “an”, “one”, or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations, this does not necessarily mean that each such reference is to the same embodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.
The web 10 is primarily dried in a dry end 20 of the paper machine where heat is introduced to the paper for making the rest of the water to evaporate. The dry end 20 may comprise a drying section 114, cutting, and reeling, for instance. The drying section 114 may also comprise a creping process. In the dry end 20, water content of the paper is lower than 10 per cents because of preliminary drying.
There is usually at least one detecting means 118, by which for instance the image may be captured and temperature of the web 10 and/or its environment may be obtained.
The paper machine may be a tissue paper machine, and it may feed the tissue paper in a reel 138.
In addition, it is obvious that the operation of a paper machine is known per se to a person skilled in the art, wherefore it is not described in more detail in this context.
The controller 126 may be considered as a control arrangement based on automatic data processing of the paper machine, or as a part thereof. The controller 126 may receive digital signals or convert the received analog signals to digital signals. The controller 126 may comprise at least one microprocessor and memory and process the signal according to a suitable computer program. The controller 126 may be based on a PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative), MPC (Model Predictive Control) or GPC (General Predictive Control) control, for example.
The system also comprises two detecting means 208, 210 which are shown in
The processing means 212, which may be included in the controller 206, analyzes the image of the visible light and thermal data from the detecting means 208, 210 for detecting visibly observable deviations in the web 10, and temperature deviations capable of causing the web 10 to catch fire for notifying a user about the temperature deviations. The notifying may be performed by a visible signal and/or by an audio signal. The notifying may be graphical or alphanumeric information on a screen.
The detecting means 208, 210 may additionally monitor at least one section of the paper machine which in this example may be the roll 200. The detecting means 208, 210 may also monitor a bearing of the roll 200 since if the bearings become broken their temperature may rise and/or they may output sparks which both may be ignition sources.
The web of tissue paper may be monitored for deviations and their positions. A deviation may be a defect or a break, for example. A defect may be a hole, impurity, a streak or the like in the web, for example. There are problems related to the visible monitoring system. The cameras using only visible light and particularly flashes of visible light may have difficulties to detect hot particles or spots. In detection, a flash of visible light typically overpowers glow of a spark and the spark may remain undetected. That is why it is useful to detect infrared and/or ultraviolet light alone or in addition to visible light since infrared and/or ultraviolet light may be used to detect areas and particles having high temperatures capable of causing a fire. Because a hot particle radiates infrared and ultraviolet light, its detection is easier without a flash of light. The reflection of a flash lowers contrast between a hot particle and its environment and makes it difficult to distinguish between a particle radiating because of its high temperature and a particle only reflecting the flash.
Like in
The processing means 212 within or outside the controller 206 analyzes the image and thermal data from the detecting means 208 for detecting visibly observable deviations in the web 10, and temperature deviations capable of causing the web 10 to catch fire. The detecting means 208 may additionally monitor at least one section of the paper machine which in this example may be the drier 300 for detecting dangerously high temperatures and for locating them in an image formed with visible light.
The monitoring system may include a supporting frame structure 406 extending across the web 10 for supporting the detecting means 208 at a distance from the creped web 10. The supporting structure 406 may also be applied in various embodiments such as in
In an embodiment, the detecting means 208 may comprise at least one thermal detector 408 which may monitor the doctor blade 404 for detecting temperature deviations capable of causing the web 10 to catch fire. Additionally or alternatively, the thermal detector 408 may monitor the Yankee dryer 400 for detecting temperature deviations capable of causing the web 10 to catch fire. Still further, the thermal detector 408 may monitor the web 10 in the environment of the doctor blade 404. As shown in
In an embodiment, at least one of the cameras 410 using visible light may include a thermal detector 408 for monitoring thermal deviations. The one or more cameras 410 using visible light may comprise CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) cameras or CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) cameras. The at least one thermal detector 408 using infrared light may be based on semiconductor technology. The thermal detector 408 may comprise at least one detecting pixel similar to pixels in CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) or CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) matrix. An ultraviolet detector may be a solid state detector having detecting elements made of silicon carbide or the like, for example.
In an embodiment, the detecting means 208 may comprise a camera the pixels of which may detect visible light.
In an embodiment, the detecting means 208 may comprise a camera the pixels of which may detect ultraviolet light.
In an embodiment, the detecting means 208 may comprise a camera the pixels of which may detect infrared light.
In an embodiment, the detecting means 208 may comprise a camera the pixels of which may detect visible light and at least one of the following: infrared light and ultraviolet light.
The detecting means 208 may also comprise or have an operational connection to a flash light source which outputs flashes of light. The flashes of light may be flashes of visible light. The detecting means 208 may capture images of the web 10 on the basis of illumination by flashes of light which reflects from the web 10 such that one or more flashes are used for one image. Instead of visible flashes, ultraviolet light flashes and/or infrared light flashes may be used. Between the flashes of light, the detecting means 208 may capture an image in the direction of the web 10 or otherwise form thermal data. Because no flash is illuminating during such a moment, any spark that may be in view of the detecting means 208, will be distinguished much more easily than during the flash. Additionally, the detecting means 208 may detect the potential spark because the infrared and/or ultraviolet light generated by the burning hot object(s) are/is not overpowered by the flash. That is, the luminous objects such as sparks and smoldering spots may be detected between flashes of light, and non-luminous objects such as the web 10 and its visibly observable deviations may be detected with the flashes of light. Additionally or alternatively, the detecting means 208 may capture corresponding images and/or thermal data of a section of a paper machine. In an embodiment, the images may be captured such i.e. so frequently the images cover the whole surface of the moving web 10.
In an embodiment, beside at least one of the cameras 410 using visible light there may be a thermal detector 408 in the detection means 118 for monitoring thermal deviations.
In an embodiment, the thermal detector 408 may monitor at least one component of the paper machine expected to be a source of ignition capable of causing the tissue paper to catch fire.
In an embodiment, the thermal detector 408 may monitor the tissue paper for detecting burn thereon or sparks before, during or after their landing on the web.
The supporting structure 406 may support at least one camera 410 which captures images of the creped web 10 using visible light. In this example, the camera 410 capturing images in visible light and the thermal detector 408 are directed in different directions and make detection in separate parts of the process. The imaged area is illustrated in
By utilizing an existing user interface of the monitoring system of the paper mill there is no need for a new user interface associated with the fire detection.
In general, the processing means 212 may control process of image capturing and/or image processing if a temperature capable of causing the tissue paper to catch fire is detected. That is, a detection of an object or a spot whose temperature exceeds a predefined limit by the thermal detector 408, acts as a trigger to the operation associated with the image processing in visible light. Then an image may be captured from an area of the web where a temperature exceeding the predefined limit is detected. However, it may also be the other way round. The processing means 212 may control the process of forming thermal data of the area of the sheet where an image with a deviation is detected. Because an image of a deviation cannot alone tell whether the deviation is a hot bed or not. In general, using both the thermal data and the image data ensures that real hot beds may be discovered.
An image or images with the visible light, in turn, enables the personnel to see the section of the web in the image and if necessary also check the real web in the reel 138 before the hot bed causes a real danger. The tissue paper in the reel 138 may be re-reeled to find the smoldering spot, for example.
Since the new monitoring system can detect both structural deviations of the web 10 and thermal deviations of the web 10 the cost of the monitoring system can be kept relatively low which is an advantage over the prior art monitoring systems.
In an embodiment, the processing means 212 may capture an image of a section of the web 10 in response to the detection of a temperature deviation capable of causing the tissue paper to catch fire. The processing means 212 may provide a signal for capturing an image of said section associated with the detection of the too high temperature. If the thermal detector 408 and the camera 410 monitor the same area of the web 10, the thermal detector 408 may trigger the camera 408 to capture an image immediately when a detection of too hot a temperature is detected. If the thermal detector 408 and the camera 410 detect separate areas, the capture of an image by the camera 410 may be synchronized with the movement of the web 10.
In an embodiment, the processing means 212 may identify an image of a section of the web 10 in response to a detection of a temperature deviation capable of causing the tissue paper to catch fire in said section. Each camera 410 may capture images regularly with so high rate that the whole surface of the web 10 will be covered by the images. When the processing means 212 detects too high a temperature in the section of the web, the processing means 212 may identify an image of the section captured by the at least one camera 410. Data associated with the image and its identification may notify the user that the section of the web 10 in the image contains a potential danger for a fire and the user may take necessary measures.
In an embodiment, the identification may be based on timing of the image. The moment of time at which an image is taken and the predetermined movement of the web determine a unique identification for each image with respect to the detection area in the web. Correspondingly, the moment of time at which a thermal data is detected and the predetermined movement of the web determine a unique identification for each detection with respect to the detection area in the web. That is why the image data and the thermal data can be received from the same place of the web. That is also why the both data can be compared to each other and can be combined in the same representation.
In an embodiment, the identification is based on a mark may be visible to a user. The mark may comprise a text “Warning” or the like. Also different colors on an image on the screen may be used to draw attention of the user, for example. Additionally or alternatively, an audio signal may be output to warn the user of a potential danger of fire.
In an embodiment, the processing means 212 may analyze and combine image data and thermal data for forming a common representation of deviations and temperature deviations capable of causing the tissue paper to catch fire for a user of the paper machine. The common representation may be a defect map of the web 10, for example.
The processing means 212 may indicate, in the representation 510, that a certain deviation 502 is caused by a detected high temperature capable of causing the tissue paper to catch fire in the case they have is a common location in the tissue paper. In such an embodiment, each thermal detector 408 may comprise a camera with a matrix of detecting pixels for capturing an image in infrared or in ultraviolet light.
In an embodiment, the processing means 212 may synchronize the detections with respect to the movement of the web 10 on the basis of synchronization marks 512 in the web 10. The synchronization marks 512 may be detectable either by visibly or thermally or both visibly and thermally. The synchronization marks 512 may be detectable in visible light and ultraviolet and/or infrared light. The synchronization on the basis of synchronization marks 512 is possible when the thermal detector 408 comprises a camera capable of capturing images in infrared or ultraviolet light. Synchronization and synchronization marks 512 are known per se. For example, the number of synchronization marks can be counted and when a detection of too high a temperature is made, its relation to a location on the web 10 can be determined on the basis of at least one value of a synchronization mark 512 appearing in its vicinity. The synchronization marks 512 may also be have ordinal numbering for directly revealing a location where a thermal deviation is detected.
In an embodiment shown in
In an embodiment, the at least one thermal detector 408 may be included in at least one break camera configured to detect breaks of the web.
In an embodiment shown in
In an embodiment, the detecting arrangement 208, 210 comprises at least one camera responsive in the visible light from at least one of the following: the tissue paper, at least one section of the paper machine.
In an embodiment, the detecting arrangement 208, 210 comprises at least one thermal detector 408 responsive to temperature deviations capable of causing fire in the tissue paper from at least one of the following: the tissue paper, at least one section of the paper machine. The thermal detector 408 may comprise a camera for capturing images in infrared or ultraviolet light.
The controller 206 and the processing means 212 may be separate parts from the main controller 126 each comprising a state machine such as a computer and a suitable computer program or they may be parts of the main controller 126 which may also be realized as at least one computer with at least one computer program. In an embodiment, the device implementing aspects of the invention may be realized as software, or computer program or programs in a processing system, a server or a set of computers of a web service system connected to the Internet.
The computer programs may be in source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. Such carriers include a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory, and software distribution package, for example. Depending on the processing power needed, the computer program may be executed in a single electronic digital controller or it may be distributed amongst a number of controllers.
It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The invention and its embodiments are not limited to the examples described above but may vary within the scope of the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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20126135 | Oct 2012 | FI | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/FI2013/051018 | 10/28/2013 | WO | 00 |