Uuniohjaus

Uuniohjaus is Finnish term for furnace control, the automation of heat generation and combustion in industrial furnaces and ovens. It covers design, installation and operation of systems that maintain set temperatures, heat input and emissions within targets, with aims of energy efficiency, process safety and product quality. It is used in cement kilns, metal reheating furnaces, glass furnaces, biomass and waste-fired boilers, and food-processing ovens.

System architecture typically includes sensors (thermocouples, RTDs, gas analyzers), actuators (burners, dampers, fans, fuel valves), controllers (PLC or DCS with PID or model-based loops), and interfaces (HMIs/SCADA) connected to data historians and networks.

Control strategies range from simple on-off regulation to PID feedback, cascade control for multi-zone heating, feedforward compensation, and model-based approaches such as MPC for complex furnaces. Integration with energy management and emissions control is common, including burner sequencing, excess-air control and flame monitoring.

Safety and reliability are central, with interlocks, flame detection, gas monitoring and emergency shutdown capabilities. Functional safety standards and compliance requirements guide the design and operation of uuniohjaus systems.

History and trends: automation of burner control began with manual operation and progressed to PLC- and DCS-based systems in the late 20th century, with growing use of advanced analytics, digital twins and remote monitoring to improve efficiency and reduce emissions.