Temperature Controller SPAC20-ATHC16/32/64

for Extruder Control up to 64 Zones

It is intended for the execution of numerically intensive computation of special process applications, like:

• Temperature Controller for extruder control of up to 64 zones,
• time based or position based parison control,
• hydraulic control,
• general purpose, multivariable continuous (digital) process control.

Dedicated software for the SPAC20 module – ATHC is prepared to run up to 64 dual mode autotuning PID control loops. The connection of the module to the temperature control components (thermocouples, heaters, coolers) is made through the Melsec PLC I/O modules (for example A1S68TD, A1SY80, A1SY81, etc), while the connection to other machine controllers is made via the Melsec PLC bus. The SPAC20 module input-output ports are not used in this special application and may be used for another purpose. These local ports may be accessed through the buffer memory of the SPAC20 module.

The SPAC20-ATHC is able to run up to 64 extruder temperature zones, depending on the type of the module:

• SPAC20-ATHC16 – for up to 16 extruder temperature zones
• SPAC20-ATHC32 – for up to 32 extruder temperature zones
• SPAC20-ATHC64 – for up to 64 extruder temperature zones

The autotuning temperature controller, implemented with SPAC20-ATHC module, is designed for optimal temperature control of extruders. Each zone enables the control of a double control loop – heating and cooling. Heating is usually realized with electric heaters, while cooling can be of different types. User can choose among the following types of cooling: proportional fan cooling, two-point fan cooling (ON/OFF), water and oil cooling systems.
 
The autotuning temperature controller has two function attributes: pre-tune and auto-tune functions of parameters. Both functions are used for the optimization of feedback control parameters without operator’s intervention.