Why is Thermal Imaging Survey Important for Industries?

Quality is the important word these days in many industries. Customers are demanding that manufacturers and suppliers provide top quality results be it for construction projects, electrical and mechanical systems, or even boiler and pressure vessel products.

All the industries that specialize in the aforementioned types of products ensure that all products, projects, and systems undergo thorough inspections. However, visual inspection can be a very time consuming task. Also, there may be defects that cannot be seen by the naked eye. You need an analysis technique that can comprehensively evaluate any kind of product. That technique is thermal imaging survey.

Why Thermal Imaging Survey?

Thermal imaging is a thermographic process that uses sensors and scanners to measure various product aspects such as heat, temperature, thickness, depth, durability, etc. Conducting a thermal imaging survey can provide many benefits to industrial clients.

• Non-invasive: Thermal imaging is designed to be a nondestructive form of testing. It does not interfere with any of the work that is being performed on a particular product or site. For example, if a boiler or a pressure vessel needs to be tested, the engineer performing the thermal imaging survey can conduct his work while the product is being used.
• It Saves Time and Expenditure: As the survey can be conducted during operational hours, the need for a shutdown is completely eliminated, which saves a lot of time. Thermal imaging is known for its precise detection of faults and defects. Early detection can help to solve the problem, which will result in immense savings.
• Versatile: After reading the previous information, many would probably assume that thermal imaging is a technique that has to be conducted separately. However, this is not the case. Thermal imaging surveys are versatile in the sense that they can be easily incorporated into preventive maintenance programs such as the ones for electrical and mechanical systems. They can also be designed to meet a customer’s specific requirements.
• It Maximizes Sales: Infrared imaging is a fast and accurate process. It is very effective for examining a construction project. Any faults and defects can be quickly revealed, allowing the owner the time to fix the faults and stay one step ahead of the mortgage property inspection. Also, thermal imaging provides visual documents that can be shown to prospective buyers. This can easily help to quicken the buying process and maximize sales.

These are but a few benefits that can be availed by choosing thermal imaging surveys. It is clear to see why it is considered an important inspection technique in many industries.

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Advantages of Thermal Imaging for Electrical Testing

The Concept of Infra-red radiation and Thermography

According to physical science, every object emits infra-red radiation, which is invisible to the naked eye. The amount of these infra-red radiations increases with temperature. Thermal imaging or thermal video uses certain techniques to capture the images of these otherwise invisible radiation and at the same time it also indicates the variations in the temperature. The best part is, thermal cameras detect any sort of irregularities or anomalies in a particular environment and make them visible, whether it is day or night. Thermography plays an impressive role in the field of electrical testing as the technique proves to be superior in detecting any sort of irregularities in temperature, poor connections and leakage of energy.

What makes electrical equipment malfunction?

Let us delve a little deeper into how thermal imaging facilitates electrical testing process. Law of thermodynamics says that power is never destroyed and is just transformed from one form of energy to another. Now, when a situation of poor connections and higher resistance takes place in an electrical appliance or plant, the electrical energy takes the shape of thermal energy which increases the temperature. This increase in temperature due to irregularity in flow of energy leads to higher resistance scenario. Eventually, the raise in resistance calls for attention which often goes unnoticed due to lack of detection of the problem. As a result, this trouble is often overlooked and ultimately leads to alarmingly catastrophic failure, in the form of complete shutdown or electrical fire.

How thermal imaging is benefiting electrical testing

Thermal imaging thus saves industries, electrical plants and buildings from facing such expensive and dangerous situations. Infra-red thermography as a non-invasive measurement tool identifies high resistance fields in electrical framework by detecting areas of higher temperature, in an efficient, accurate and secure manner. By diagnosing these unnoticed and threatening electrical anomalies and inconsistencies, thermal imaging prevents electrical damage or severity of conditions. Thermography has also proved to be helpful in detecting irregularity in temperature in electrical motors.

Applications of Thermal Imaging

A balanced temperature ensures longevity and efficient operation of motors, whereas the life of motor is reduced to half when it is allowed to operate above the maximum temperature. The following electrical devices and appliances can be inspected with the help of infra-red mechanical inspection system:

• Motors
• Bearings
• Pumps
• Drives
• Pulleys
• Shafts
• Fans
• Generators
• Conveyor systems
• Gearboxes
• Robotic equipment
• Compressors

To sum up, thermography follows the theory that every seen or unseen object emits infra red rays which are invisible to the naked eye and has its individual temperature. Thermal imaging simply captures the ‘heat picture’ of the object and detects the anomalies by identifying the deviation in the temperature.

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Invest In Infrared Building Envelope Consulting for Long-Term Benefits

The building envelope is regarded as the single most crucial aspect of a building. A defect or damage to any of the elements of a building envelope could irrevocably impact the structural integrity of your building. Infrared building envelope consulting can help you effectively spot and address these problems.

Founded in 1988, Infrared Consulting Services is a leading infrared testing services provider. Our testing services can be seamlessly used at several different stages be it protective testing, on-going maintenance-based testing or problem detection testing.

As opposed to conventional inspection methods, there are several advantages of opting for infrared-based building envelope inspection. Thermal imaging is an essentially non-invasive and non-destructive inspection method. When carrying out this inspection, the everyday activities and operating conditions of your building aren't interrupted or affected.

It makes use of temperature sensing scanners that are able to gather temperature signatures that lie well beyond the range of visible light. The data collated through infrared building envelope consulting can be effectively used for zeroing in on several problems.

These include:

• Air infiltration and exfiltration
• Moisture laden insulation or voids in insulation
• Moisture penetration into the wall assembly
• Heating and cooling problems

We recommend that you carry out infrared building envelope consulting under the following situations:

• Before acquiring real property
• Before making the final payment for a new construction to your building contractor
• As part of your building’s energy conservation plan

As an independent building envelope consultant, you can expect our test results to be highly accurate and reliable. To learn more, please visit www.irtest.com.

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