Industrial ovens play a significant role in many manufacturing and process industries. Despite the desire to enhance sustainability throughout this sector, research looking to improve the sustainability of industrial ovens is in its infancy. This paper presents seven sustainability indicators to assess potential oven investment; these include system air flow, production efficiency, operating costs, quality, capital investment, toxicity and employment opportunity. The indicators are straightforward, can be scored with readily available data and have been weighted by industrial experts. A hybrid multi-criteria approach using Fuzzy set theory and Monte Carlo simulation has been developed to help evaluate the sustainability of alternative improvement options. The approach is required as previous methodologies only present desirability as a singular figure; and therefore decision makers are not provided with sufficient information on associated risk. The presented approach incorporates uncertainty throughout, and gives option desirability in terms of mean, standard deviation and variance. The risks using this method are better understood and can significantly aid industrial decision makers. The sustainability indicators and hybrid approach have been demonstrated using a case study in the manufacturing industry; to identify the most sustainable way to increase cure conversion within an oven. Amongst the three options: increasing oven size, increasing oven temperature and new product formulation, increasing oven temperature shows the highest desirability, while new product formulation though has a lower desirability has the highest certainty. Furthermore, a cumulative desirability distribution plot gives a basis to select option that is aligned with the business's risk strategy

No abstract

Industrial ovens consume a considerable amount of energy and have a significant impact on product quality; therefore, improving ovens should be an important objective for manufacturers. This paper presents a novel and practical approach to oven improvement that emphasises both energy reduction and enhanced process performance. The three-phased approach incorporates product understanding, process improvement and process parameter optimisation. Cure understanding is developed using Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) and CIE-Lch colour tests, which together highlight the impact of temperature variation on cure conversion and resulting product quality. Process improvement encompasses thermodynamic modelling of the oven air to evaluate the impact of insulation on temperature uniformity and system responsiveness. Finally, process parameters, such as temperature, pressure negativity and air flow, are optimised to reduce energy consumption. The methodology has been effectively demonstrated for a 1 MW festoon oven, resulting in an 87.5 % reduction in cooling time, saving 202 h of annual downtime and a reduction in gas consumption by 20-30 %.

No abstract