Thermography
What is IR Thermography
IR Thermography is the technique of producing pictures called thermograms, from the invisible thermal radiation that objects emit. This is a non-contact means of identifying electrical and mechanical components that are hotter than they should be, often an indication of impending failure, it also indicates excessive heat loss which is normally a sign of faulty or inadequate insulation.
What can IR Thermography do for me?
IR Thermography is playing an increasingly important role in facility maintenance, Non Destructive Evaluation (NDE) and predictive maintenance programs. Thermography detects hidden problems and allows for corrective action before costly system failures. Using IR Thermography can reduce downtime by avoiding unplanned shutdowns, by assisting in the timing and planning of scheduled maintenance. Thus allowing production time to be increased by maximising equipment availability. Thermographic equipment can also provide valuable data in building maintenance, common applications are:
• Evaluation of roofing systems.
• Detection of damp.
• Heating and cooling system evaluation.
• Heating and cooling loss detection.
• Pressure vessel integrity checks.
Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance programmes are by their nature very difficult to manage.
Today’s high performance thermographic equipment provides an excellent tool for predicting equipment failure, especially as it has been proved that thermal characteristics change gradually prior to failure. Digital Images from a survey contain reference signals that when decoded by our software allows for more detailed thermal analysis and archiving to a standard database. Image subtraction (where one image can be subtracted from a standard or previously saved image of an object) quickly highlights all temperature differences. More in depth measurement techniques such as histograms or temperature gradients are used in applications where trend analysis is required.
Why Should I use IR Thermography?
Today’s Companies are finding that strict regulations regarding quality, safety and manufacturing standards together with a constant battle to maintain productivity levels can become a drain on precious resources. Managers are becoming more aware of technological advances in equipment, whose practical applications can assist them in meeting statutory and production requirements, thus releasing valuable resources to the company. Current methods in use are slower, labour intensive and in most cases will require some interruption to the process being inspected. IR Thermography is a faster and totally non-intrusive means of inspection and as a result is a less expensive option than traditional inspection methods.
IR Thermography Disciplines:
One incident of equipment failure avoided can in many cases easily recover the cost of the survey!!