A low cost SCADA system for kilns and furnaces

For many years system control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems have been available for process plant, but these systems have tended to be too expensive for use on small and medium sized industrial furnaces such as those employed in the pottery, ceramics and heat treatment industries. The authors describes a kiln and furnace control and monitoring system that is low cost, modular and can be installed in stages determined by budget constraints or process requirements. The system includes a supervisory desktop computer with specifically developed SCADA software