Optimised manufacturing through unique innovations in Quantitative Thermal Imaging

The applicant's vision is that this fellowship will allow him to build a team of industrially aware academic researchers in infrared (IR) optoelectronics, providing leading research in manufacturing imaging, thermometry and related automation. This will be within a thriving and stimulating multidisciplinary environment, where researchers and industrialists from electronic engineering, signal processing, image processing, molecular materials and engineering research can come together to collaboratively bridge the 'innovation gap' and solve problems that are vitally important to manufacturing. As competition increases with developing nations, manufacturers in the west must increase efficiency, quality and reduce energy costs. 'Smart' instruments that can visually sense their environments, make decisions and communicate over wide areas will be required. The fellowship will allow the applicant to develop the resources, contacts, technology and skills required to meet these requirements. Non-contact IR temperature measurement is an indispensable tool for manufacturing. It can improve product quality, reduce energy consumption, automate processes and make high temperature manufacturing safer. In spite of the great utility of the technique, there are significant barriers to achieving its huge potential. The dominant problem is that thermometers are calibrated using ideal IR radiators, known as blackbody reference furnaces (emissivity>0.995). All real 'bodies' in manufacturing are non-ideal radiators, such as billets of aluminium; where not only are measurement errors of up to 200 Celsius common but it is currently impossible to accurately assess the measurement uncertainty. A two-fold research strategy is proposed. Firstly, the material science of emissivity must be studied on a fundamental level; where emissivity changes during a manufacturing process, algorithms must be developed to account for this change, for all materials that are important to industrial processes, such as titanium, steel, zinc and many more. Secondly, innovations in instrument components must be achieved. Detector inventions have been key to 'step changes' in how IR thermometer technology can be applied; with around one new useful detector to appear commercially every ten years. These slow to market inventions have successively brought practicality, faster measurement speed and sub zero Centigrade measurement. The unique aspect to this proposal the applicant's link with the world leaders in detector research, who's innovations can be brought within IR instruments, moving IR measurement forward as soon as new detector materials are proven, rather than waiting for commercial suppliers to market new technologies. This will open up a vast array of pioneering manufacturing research in automation, image processing and optoelectronics.

The applicant's instruments for quantitative thermal imaging and overcoming the effects of emissivity can have a transformative impact upon UK manufacturing and the wider users of temperature measurement.

Advanced Manufacturing is underpinned by innovation and process improvement. The metals used in Advanced Manufacturing are usually low emissivity and novel alloys that present a particularly difficult challenge to infrared (IR) temperature measurement. This fellowship aims to meet those challenges. AEROSPACE companies, such as our partner Mettis Aerospace, will benefit by an improved understanding, visualisation and control of a major process variable that is temperature. New methods of manufacturing and automation will be enabled, such as replacing furnace heating with 'greener' induction heating. The AUTOMOTIVE industry relies on manufacture of high quality steels, glass and plastics. These are all areas that rely heavily on IR temperature measurement and the applicant's innovations promise to improve quality and reduce scrap. The STEEL industry itself is heavily reliant upon IR temperature measurement, with established and highly reliable methods adopted at the early 'hot end' stages of manufacture. However, at the latter stages, where strengthening, galvanising and coating take place, the technique is used less due to the increased problems of emissivity; yet this is the stage that most impacts visible quality in the final product. The exception is the blast furnace, which presents significant opportunities for temperature measurement aimed at reducing the huge energy costs involved in melting raw product. GLASS production is a high technology production process, with reliance on instrumentation, automation and numerical simulations in order to maximise throughput and minimise waste. The applicant's instruments can improve temperature uniformity and, therefore, quality, across flat, moulded and container glass alike. There is currently a world-wide quality problem with coated glass designed to reflect infrared radiation and improve a building's heating efficiency. This 'low emissivity' glass cannot be measured accurately by any currently available thermometer and our programme will meet this challenge. The FOOD and DRINK manufacturing sector is an important user of IR thermometry products. Intelligent thermometer instruments promise to impact through a better knowledge of storage history and potential for improved food safety. The PETROCHEMICAL industry is the biggest market for temperature measurement instruments. Chemical reactions take place in multi-story furnaces, at well defined temperatures and reaction tube lifetime is highly dependent upon running temperatures; with huge costs in replacing tubes, especially due to unscheduled failure. Currently, operators rely upon a combination of hand held IR thermometers and, increasingly, measurements are corroborated by the use of an emissivity enhancer, held at the end of a long pole. This is clearly not a satisfactory solution for the 21st century. For example, the probe cannot reach most of the tubes. The cameras produced during the applicant's fellowship will enable accurate non-contact temperature maps of petrochemical furnaces.

Outside the manufacturing arena, HEALTH particularly promises to benefit from improved temperature measurement and imaging, since this promising technology for cancer, vascular disease and diabetes screening is in its infancy and lacks suitable instrumentation. Some medical researchers expect thermal camera screening to be available in every doctor's surgery in the coming years and the applicant's work can impact and accelerate this. The European SPACE Agency regularly has funding calls aimed at remote IR measurement and so they would benefit from the applicant's research.

Temperature measurement pervades so much of human activity that it is impossible to list all potential benefactors; however, these are the initial targets.