Publications Details

Process Monitoring of Polyurethane Foam Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

Alberti, J.C.; Ward, K.J.; Blair, D.S.

Polyurethane foams are dispensed into firesets to protect their electrical integrity under extreme environmental conditions. Although the production process has generally high precision, reliability problems have been identified. Preliminary results from a research program involving the use of rapid infrared sensors combined with multivariate analysis to monitor the blend of raw materials in near real time are presented. Two distinct regions of the infrared spectrum are considered. The mid infrared region is shown to make sufficiently precise concentration predictions while the near infrared region will require more experimentation. Both infrared regions will be considered for pilot and/or plant scale studies in order to completely specify the infrared sensor. The concentration predictions from the infrared sensor will be used in a closed loop control system in order to improve the reliability of the process.