Her
er et lite utklipp fra forprosjekt oppgaven jeg leverte fredag 13.12.2002 
Three
technical problems are considered in the project:
The
first project is related to a cement silo, which sometimes gets blocked.
To detect this blockage James Hardie (J.H.) wants to install load cells on
the blow pot, which is located underneath the silo. This job will consist
of examining the possibilities for the installation, calculating the
weight to be measured, finding the parts needed and getting a quote on
them, budget the job, and if budget is approved, draw mechanical and
electrical installation, reprogram PLC, supervise the installation and
commission the new system.
The
second project is on a centralizing unit of a fully automated pipe lathe.
This lathe could run continually without operator interaction if the
centralizing unit would work
properly. Currently the operator has to check that the pipes lie in the
centre of the lathe before the lathe can start. To solve this problem J.H.
wants to control and fix the position of one hydraulic cylinder and use
the other cylinder to push the pipe against the fixed position of the
first (blocking) cylinder. This requires changing the hydraulic valves on
the existing unit and installation of two sensors to fix the position of
the blocking cylinder. The reason for two sensors is to slow down the
speed of the cylinder at the first sensor before it comes to a stop at the
second sensor.
The
third project investigates the possibility to install motors on a
mechanical adjustment device, which the operator currently needs to
re-adjust during changeovers between different pipe types/models. The
issues involved consist of checking speeds and accuracy of already
available motors, finding corresponding control equipment, reprogram the
PLC unit and simulate the operation. If successful, the control computer
has to be reprogrammed, and the operation simulated Finally, if the budget
for the installation is approved, J.H. wants to install the motors and
commission the new system.
James
Hardie is a large company that was started by James Hardie in
Melbourne 1888. James Hardie 36 years from Scotland started the company
buying and selling consumable items for the tanners and curriers trades.
In 1903 he started looking at fibro cement but it was not before 1917
fibro cement sheets came off the production line at Camellia, near
Parramatta. By this time it was his partner Andrew Reid who was running
the company. In the 1920’s and 1930’s most of Hardies products got
more visible with new factories set up in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and
Auckland and new products were developed such as corrugated roofing, pipes
and decorative board. In 1926, the business was divided in two, with one
company to manage the Fibrolite (which was what they called the fibro
cement) side of the business, and one to continue trading in the wide
range of agency lines that had been built up. In 1978 J.H. took over the
paper and publishing conglomerate Reed International Australian assets.
This was the biggest takeover in Australian business history at the time.
Most of the Reed business was in paper and related fields, which the
Hardie people new well and within the next decade were to become a major
core business in J.H. Group. In the mid-1980s James Hardie Industries
Limited began to expand opportunities in North America, and began to
export fibre cement building materials from Australia and New Zealand.
They also achieved to eliminate asbestos from all its products; by
replacing it with cellulose fibre where that was possible and finding
substitute products where it was not. After the Reed acquisition in 1978
the Group had developed and rationalised its many component businesses
into three areas: Building Products, Paper Merchanting and Converting, and
Technology and Services it had plants, distribution centres and offices in
every Australian state, New Zealand, South East Asia, the United States,
Europe and the Middle East. Its assets were distributed 66 % in Australia,
19.8% in United Stats, 10.5% in New Zealand, and 3.7% elsewhere.
Today,
James Hardie is purely a fibre-cement business. It operates in markets
around the world, with manufacturing operations in the United States,
Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Chile. The businesses employ
more then 2,500 people who generate revenue exceeding $1.5 billion a year.
At
the James Hardie FRC plant, the production consists of making fibre-cement
pipes with dimensions ranging from 130mm to 870mm in diameter and with
various lengths of up to 4000mm. The pipes are also being machined to
attain a nice smooth surface, which is a popular products used as columns
to support balconies on houses and so forth, and these pipes are able to
be fitted with different styles of ornaments and extensions also made at
the FRC plant.
The
project “Modifying
Manufacturing Processes for the Production of
Fibre-Reinforced Cement Pipes” involves many areas of engineering skills and can best be described as a
mechatronic-based thesis, in which mechanical, electrical and programming
skills are brought together. The project also involves management,
planning, and budgeting were budget approvals are required before each
project can be implemented.
Mechanical
Engineering.
The
mechanical tasks that are involved in these projects are: weight
calculation of a cement silo blow pot, drawing/drafting of the new
platform for the blow pot, hydraulic upgrading/change of the pipe lathe's
centralizing unit and it’s mechanical tasks that are involved in this
operation and mechanical implementation of the motors on the pipe lathe.
Electrical
Engineering.
The
electrical tasks that are involved in these projects are: electrical
suitability of the load cells and summing box versus the PLC, drafting the
wiring, sensor installation and suitability to the operation tasks, the
possibilities the motors have for functionality to do the complicated
tasks they are intended to execute.
Programming.
The
PLC programming will involve adding a 4-20mA input signal and addressing
that signal to the right output, and adding hydraulic valve control to the
PLC program on the pipe lathe. This lathe will also require some changes
in the computer software, which is used in changeovers and adjustments
between products. If time permits reprogramming will become a project task.
Project
Management.
The
load cell and centralizing unit projects involves, project planning,
budgeting of labour and parts needed, labour supervision, production stop,
timelines, risk analysis, cost and benefit analysis.
The
job at J.H. also involves integration into the engineering department and
to learn existing procedures, technical guidelines and company policies.
This involves working in a project team and requires good communication
skills, which is essential in solving
