How Temperature control Systems Work
Easily Integrate a Temperature Control Unit Into Your Current System
Saint Clair Systems’ temperature and viscosity control units integrate seamlessly with your existing process. Most of our customers are looking for a solution to make their existing process predictable and repeatable.
If you work with paint, sealer or adhesive, you may have a “temperature control system,” but all too often, that just means keeping the drums in a controlled environment, possibly not even monitoring at the line.
How Our Solution Works
Let’s look at how our solution differs. As you know, it all begins in the drum or tank, where your paint, sealer or adhesive is stored, waiting to be pumped or dispensed. This is where most folks attempt to control their temperature. But as the material travels to the point-of-dispense, it is often exposed to widely varying temperatures. These can be as extreme as routing over an oven, or past an open door in the winter, or as minor as the heat generated by the equipment in the process itself.
Either way, this means your material will not be at the temperature (and therefore the viscosity) you need when it arrives to be dispensed. So where does our solution fit into your process? Our solutions utilize a temperature control unit in conjunction with various types of rigid and flexible heat exchangers to control temperature at the point-of-dispense. Here’s how it works.
Our temperature control unit (TCU) includes both heating and cooling capability. The water from the TCU is sent out to the heat exchanger and returns to the TCU in a constantly recirculating loop.
We install a sensor to measure the temperature and/or viscosity of the material as close to the point of dispense as possible (prior to the spray gun). The TCU takes a reading from the sensor, and either heats or cools the circulating water to match the recommended setpoint. As the water from the TCU runs through the heat exchanger, it either adds heat to, or removes heat from, the material.
Having done its job, the water exits the heat exchanger and circulates back into the TCU. The material exits the heat exchanger and is dispensed at your preset temperature (setpoint) plus or minus one degree.
Synopsis
In short, these components all work in harmony and in real-time. The sensor detects the temperature (viscosity) of the material near the point-of-application and transmits that temperature to the TCU. In response, the TCU heats or cools the circulating water which in turn heats or cools the material in the heat exchanger, bringing it to your required setpoint, ready for dispense.
This easy to install, easy to operate, easy to maintain solution provides a consistent temperature (viscosity), increasing first pass yield, while reducing solvent costs in creating the stable, repeatable process essential for any modern manufacturing operation.
