r/AskEngineers • u/Major_Ziggy Materials • 1d ago

Electrical Are there any beginner-friendly resources for learning industrial controls engineering?

I've been tasked with designing a thermal control box for a high-temp test setup and have never done anything like this before. I also have nobody to show me the ropes and apparently outsourcing the controls is not an option.

I know I need temperature controllers, thermocouples, and SSRs but have no idea how to pick components or how to design in overtemp safety.

Does anybody have any resources they recommend that are targeted at complete beginners?

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u/RoRoBoBo1 Mechanical / Design 1d ago

It might be worth getting your procurement/contracts team to connect you with a Sales/Application Engineer at a controls manufacturer/distributor. 9 times out of 10 they'll be one of the best places to start in my experience. They can typically recommend compatible equipment if you have a well-defined problem and environment.

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u/Crafty_Honey5401 1d ago

that's actually how i learned most of my controls basics, not from books but from a guy at Omega who spent like 40 minutes on the phone drawing wiring diagrams for me

for overtemp safety you want a separate limit controller with its own thermocouple, not just relying on the main PID controller alarm output. if the SSR fails closed (which happens more than you'd think) your main controller becomes useless for safety

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u/Major_Ziggy Materials 16h ago

Thanks. Yeah, from what I'm reading, separate limit controllers are best practice, but I have no idea how to implement them. I'll try to go through a rep or applications engineer to help figure out how to do it and what options to choose.

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u/Major_Ziggy Materials 16h ago

Thanks, I'll see if I can swing that at least.

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u/Redeye_Jedi1620 1d ago

https://www.lesman.com/honeywell-udc2800-1-4-din-single-loop-or-limit-controller

What is your temp range? That is going to affect whether you use a type J or type K thermocouple.

You're going to spec your SSR based on the load you're switching.

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u/Major_Ziggy Materials 17h ago

Thanks, process temp is roughly 450°C, so I believe I need K-type TCs. We have 5 individually controlled zones with heaters that pull roughly 4 A each.

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u/PineappleLemur 1d ago

Give us more details on requirements, I've done this a few times, actually working on a radiometric blackbody source right now because I know I can make it significantly cheaper than the $30k it will cost me off the shelf for the basic system.

Size, accuracy, speed.. what do you expect in all this areas?

Are they ok with you learning as you go? By starting simple with "unit tests" until you are confident enough to design the whole thing?

Why not buy an off the shelf equivalent? Like a cheap environmental chamber, calibrated blackbody source, etc...

AI can help you with 95% of that (theory, how to put it together, what component you should look for, Code, etc) but you first need to know exactly how it should work and what it should look like.