Identification of Aluminothermic Reaction and Molten Aluminum Level through Vision System.

During the secondary production of aluminum, upon melting the scrap in a furnace, there is the possibility of developing an aluminothermic reaction, which produces oxides in the molten metal bath. Aluminum oxides must be identified and removed from the bath, as they modify the chemical composition and reduce the purity of the product. Furthermore, accurate measurement of molten aluminum level in a casting furnace is crucial to obtain an optimal liquid metal flow rate which influences the final product quality and process efficiency. This paper proposes methods for the identification of aluminothermic reactions and molten aluminum levels in aluminum furnaces. An RGB Camera was used to acquire video from the furnace interior, and computer vision algorithms were developed to identify the aluminothermic reaction and melt level. The algorithms were developed to process the image frames of video acquired from the furnace. Results showed that the proposed system allowed the online identification of the aluminothermic reaction and the molten aluminum level present inside the furnace at a computation time of 0.7 s and 0.4 s per frame, respectively. The advantages and limitations of the different algorithms are presented and discussed.

Effects of the whole-body vibration direction on the cognitive response of standing subjects.

This study aims to investigate the effect of whole-body vibration along different axes on the response time (RT) of standing subjects during a customised psychomotor vigilance task (PVT). Twenty-five subjects were exposed to harmonic vibration with amplitude of 0.7 m/s2 RMS and frequencies between 1.5 Hz and 12.5 Hz. ANOVA was used to assess if the difference of RT with and without vibration had a statistical relevance. Results showed that the RT was statistically affected by the vibration only at frequencies below 2 Hz. The vibration at higher frequencies had a minor effect on the RT. The RTs during the vibration exposure was, on average, 15% higher than the RT post exposure. Practitioner summary: This study investigates the effects of whole-body vibration (WBV) along different axes on the response time (RT). We measured the RTs to a psychomotor vigilance task of 25 standing subject exposed to WBV. The cognitive response was statistically affected by the WBV and, on average RT have increased of 15%.