Embedded control systems for Microturbines

MRL Industries in Sonora, California, manufactures special furnaces for conditioning silicon wafers for the semi-conductor industry.

MRL is using a MicroController XC02 unit which is a somewhat modified XC01 unit with a new CPU and some added functions. The requirements on control accuracy is very high. Therefore it was decided to also develop a new thermocoupler unit SA1 supplying temperature measurement with high resolution. At this date there are about 120 furnaces delivered with MicroController XC02.

Please contact MRL Industries for more information about light industrial furnaces controlled by MicroController XC02.

Advanced control technique

It is essential that the temperature in the furnace is accurately controlled to achieve good quality of the production. MRL is using the powerful control library within the MicroController XC02 unit. In order to improve the control accuracy further, the unit also contains First Control’s awarded adaptive regulators as an optional possibility. The programming of the XC02 unit has been done by MRL’s own control engineers.

Accurate temperature sensors

No control can do better than the limit set by the sensors and actuators. Therefore, First Control developed a special Thermocoupler module SA1, capable to measure furnace temperature with very high resolution placed close to the measurement point. The measurement data is then transferred with a digital link to the XC02 unit to avoid the influence from external disturbances from the furnace.