The diploma thesis presents a project of producing, modifying and upgrading of the tube washer. Company Optacore d.o.o. develops innovative processes and equipment for the production of optical fiber from preform, based on the method of modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD - Modified Chemical Vapour Deposition). For the needs of the project we reworked and upgraded partially operational tube washer for what we did not exactly know how it works as there was no documentation awailable.
It is an independent subsystem of CVD-08 system for preform production. With this device we clean the quartz tubes of unwanted impurities before the use in the preform production process or etch the preforms after production. It is designed to shorten the time of regular cleaning processes of quartz tube and reduces maintenance costs and MCVD process time.
In the first step, it was necessary to get familiar with the functionality of the device, because it was in poor condition and partially functional. Replacement of defective components followed and redesign of the entire electrical system. A new electrical cabinet was made with new connections and IO communication modules Beckoff installed.
In the last step of refurbishment the final test of the operation took place prior to shipment. All components of the tube washer and safety functions were tested for proper operation. Communication between WinMCVD and IO Beckhoff modules was established via EtherCAT (Eng. Ethernet for Control Automation Tehnology) protocol Afterwards we could start the initial recipe for the washing process quartz tube.
The aim of the project and hence of the thesis was to run the device, modify and upgrade to the system controller Beckoff with WinMCVD program and connect it with the MCVD system. The thesis describes the process of manufacturing, modifying and upgrade of the tube washer machine, as well as testing of device operation.
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