IIT Madras develop disruptive sensor technology to increase efficiency of industrial ovens

The technology has been named the 'Multi-Point Temperature Measurement Sensor' (µTMapS), the high-tech sensor provides automated and intelligent measurements.

A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have developed a potentially disruptive new sensor technology aiming to increase the efficiency of industrial ovens used in the petrochemical, chemical, fertiliser and manufacturing sectors.

The technology has been named the 'Multi-Point Temperature Measurement Sensor' (µTMapS), the high-tech sensor provides automated and intelligent measurements. The team claimed that µTMapS can replace existing heat process control systems that often cause long and expensive forced shutdowns.

The technology can accurately measure between -100 degrees and 1,400 degrees Celsius. It uses ultrasonic waves to gather real-time data from across the furnace, which it can then send to a centralised system through an integrated Internet of Things (IoT) connection where it can be tracked and studied.

"Any industry that uses a lot of heat to process materials such as metals or polymers has to ensure that the entire furnace has a uniform temperature across the board. This is critical to reducing defective products. However, existing technologies for this purpose have a lot of gaps and our Research Team at Centre for Non-destructive Evaluation set out to address these gaps," the report quoted IIT-M Professor Krishnan Balasubramaniam, the head of the Centre, as saying.

Stating that the technology has been licensed to an IIT-M-incubated startup called Xyma Analytics, Balasubramaniam said that field testing of the technology had been in progress for one year across Indian industries to establish its reliability, performance and benefits.

IITM is a public-funded engineering institution based in Chennai. Founded in 1959, IITM was the third establishment under the Institutes of Technology Act (1961) of the Indian Government. The institute has been rated the top engineering institution by the National Institutional Ranking Framework for four consecutive years - 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

IITM has 16 academic departments and numerous research centres that offer postgraduate and undergraduate programmes in distinct disciplines of engineering, technology and pure sciences.

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