MIE.02 – Resource and Quality Optimization Using In-Process Spray Sensors

• Mark Capule
• Juan Flores
• Vincent Panateri
• Sahil Sethi
• Jill Vasoya

Spraying systems play a critical role in almost every industrial manufacturing and processing operation, allowing for the precise and efficient application of both liquid and gaseous spray chemistry. Within these systems lie several opportunities for failure including nozzle clogging, nozzle corrosion, pressure malfunctions, and leakages. In preventing these common issues from occurring and causing future process failures, spray monitoring technologies prove equally vital. Within this project the potential for one such invention, Spraying System Co.’s SprayScan ePT, to improve product quality and resource utilization is addressed. A patent search was conducted to highlight the key features of the SprayScan ePT and provide insight into modern in-process spray sensor advancements. These insights served as a foundation for future analyses. The team was tasked with creating a hypothetical spray system scenario and corresponding return-on-investment excel sheet that would take inputs such as spray angle, flow rate capacity, number of nozzles, and nozzle separation distance and provide outputs for potential monetary losses/gains. Using Spraying System Co.’s proprietary virtual overlap analysis (VOA) software in conjunction with experimentally-collected spray pattern data, various set-ups were studied to determine the optimal spray system values. The more favorable set-ups resulted in decreases in spray waste, lower quality product output, and process downtime. The benefits for investing in in-process spray sensors were presented in a final report, allowing Spraying System Co. to advertise the many opportunities for manufacturers to cut costs and improve process flow.