Motivation and Background

The urgent need to reduce CO2 emissions in the face of climate change has brought new focus to the electrification of chemical processes. One significant area of interest is the production of carbon black, a crucial material used in manufacturing car tires, black pigments for plastics, and inks. Traditional production methods of carbon black are not only energy-intensive but also rely on fossil fuels. As a way of electrifying the carbon black process, we use a microwave plasma reactor, where the microwave radiation is ignited and produces a hot, ionized gas (plasma).

Project Goal

The aim of this project is to develop LabVIEW code for safely controlling and operating the microwave plasma reactor. A key component of this system will be FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) programming, which allows for programmable microchip functionality, alongside the compact RIO system. For those interested in enhancing their LabVIEW skills and expanding their knowledge of software-hardware interaction, please feel free to reach out to me.

Tasks

• Create LabVIEW code to ensure safe operation of the microwave plasma reactor.
• Implementation of FPGA programming to enhance the functionality of the programmable microchip within the compact RIO System.
• Create code for an uninterruptible power supply to provide a back up during power outages.
• Design a manual and automatic emergency shut-down mechanism.
• Ensure data storage at all times.