giorgiodidon Posted June 2, 2020 Report Share Posted June 2, 2020 hi all, i'm writing to share infos about my homemade arduino gas kiln controller. I have an homemade 350 liters downdraft gas kiln with 2 venturi burners (using lpg), the controller setup is an aurduino, a stepper motor for controlling precision valve a type k temperature sensor a sdcard for datalogging and a diplay for realtime infos. this is a basic setup, i will add oxygen probe for reduction and a wifi module for remote monitoring. the controller works very well at the moment arrived at 1100 celsius degrees with several ramps with a real temperature error of maximum 6 celsius degrees on the ideal ramps temperature. the code now is a quick and dirty version but it works, i can share it if you want. what do you think about. (sorry for my english!) stepper motor actuator gas valve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted June 2, 2020 Report Share Posted June 2, 2020 2 hours ago, giorgiodidon said: hi all, i'm writing to share infos about my homemade arduino gas kiln controller. I have an homemade 350 liters downdraft gas kiln with 2 venturi burners (using lpg), the controller setup is an aurduino, a stepper motor for controlling precision valve a type k temperature sensor a sdcard for datalogging and a diplay for realtime infos. this is a basic setup, i will add oxygen probe for reduction and a wifi module for remote monitoring. the controller works very well at the moment arrived at 1100 celsius degrees with several ramps with a real temperature error of maximum 6 celsius degrees on the ideal ramps temperature. the code now is a quick and dirty version but it works, i can share it if you want. what do you think about. (sorry for my english!) stepper motor actuator gas valve Looks great, but a word of caution as when we contemplated the PLC version we scrapped the automation part for reasons of safety and to ensure it would be a tool that folks would learn how to fire from. So some of the safety issues, gas valves needed to be spring return closed as is customary under automation, kiln pressure needed to be redundant fairly high precision devices (very expensive) since the pressure is very difficult to measure in a harsh environment and also needs regular calibration. Linear damper actuators needed to default mechanically to some reasonable open position And Mechanically stopped at some minimum position ( all with position indicators so we knew with certainty the position) all topped off with real high temperature limits and a redundant gas valve. Oh, did I mention that redundant O2 probes were even contemplated just because a single reading at some point likely will not be reliable. Other than that, it was an interesting project that turned into a learning tool instead just because the risk to human life was too much risk and one button Automatic operation did not end up to be very positive with respect to folks learning how to fire. Hats off to all your effort, I know we spent a bunch of time learning and perfecting to touch screen level advanced graphics, WiFi, intranet, text alarms, etc...... It was fun but in the end I am happy with the monitor and never would contemplate the automatic version for liability reasons. Oh, FWIW they make 0-10 volt valve actuators actually, spring return closed and they are tested and certified for the use, just expensive. Best of luck, nice project! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giorgiodidon Posted June 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2020 thank you for your reply Bill, my little project is just for smoothing ramps instead of going now and then to check temp and rising rateo, and above all is just for fun, i'm an hobbyist, so my presence around the kiln is costant during fire. i saw your youtube video about reduction (thank you is very interesting). but above all i adimred a lot your controller UI and all the work behind it. i'd like to ask you some infos about your system if you share them. what "FWIW " is for )about valve actuator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted June 3, 2020 Report Share Posted June 3, 2020 2 hours ago, giorgiodidon said: thank you for your reply Bill, my little project is just for smoothing ramps instead of going now and then to check temp and rising rateo, and above all is just for fun, i'm an hobbyist, so my presence around the kiln is costant during fire. i saw your youtube video about reduction (thank you is very interesting). but above all i adimred a lot your controller UI and all the work behind it. i'd like to ask you some infos about your system if you share them. what "FWIW " is for )about valve actuator. Sorry, For What It’s Worth (FWIW)...... they make motorized valves and actuators to do the task of your stepper motor,Valve combo. For safety they are spring return ..... etc..... They are just expensive. To answer your question, yes any and all questions are welcome. When we embarked on the task it was a favor for the community. Having done the programming and testing as well as observing we felt it was a super useful tool towards education and exploration so we vowed to simply help studios build their own with the promise that it would be used to further Knowledge in the ceramic arts . So no worries all questions and system info is open to anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giorgiodidon Posted June 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2020 for sure i have tons of question about your project!! as i wrote i used arduino, added some sensors (just tested lambda sensor for analize kiln atmosphere and tank pressure sensor), also code for temperature control works well, but web interface i'm developing is really poor, so i'd like to know your hardware interface (even what kind of sensor) and what kind of code you used. every info about your project is welcome and appreciated. thank you giorgio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted June 4, 2020 Report Share Posted June 4, 2020 6 hours ago, giorgiodidon said: for sure i have tons of question about your project!! as i wrote i used arduino, added some sensors (just tested lambda sensor for analize kiln atmosphere and tank pressure sensor), also code for temperature control works well, but web interface i'm developing is really poor, so i'd like to know your hardware interface (even what kind of sensor) and what kind of code you used. every info about your project is welcome and appreciated. thank you giorgio Pm me with your email and any questions, I’ll put together what I have found. Some practical, some thermodynamic, etc...... programming is simple ladder logic so primitive, but with graphic premade shapes, the result is what you see. A nice clean graphic screen that works remotely exactly as you see there. All touch screen. I’ve seen good arduino web interfaces so you will definitely get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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