| White
Papers |
©
EWB Engineering, LLC
NEW!
Improved Safety During Infrared Inspections
of Electrical Equipment
There are 5-10 serious arc flash incidents every
day in North America. These incidents result in approximately
2000 workers being treated in burn centers annually. It is
estimated that arc flash incidents cost organizations hundreds
of millions of dollars. In response to this problem, NFPA (National
Fire Protection Agency) and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health
Administration) have created guidelines for operating around
energized electrical circuits and following proper safety practices.
Updated just this year, NFPA 70E now includes specific references
to thermal imaging and makes a number of important clarifications
on electrical safety.
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NEW!
Secrets to a Successful Thermal Imaging Based
Building Energy Audit
Today, thermal imaging has become an important
inspection tool for identifying heat loss, energy leaks and
underlying factors that are critical to the energy usage in
a commercial building or home.
This white paper reviews fundamentals of an energy
audit, the different types of infrared cameras that can be
used in energy audits, the use of a blower door to improve
infrared inspections, thermal behavior of windows and reporting.
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Testing Building Envelope Systems Using
Infrared Thermal Imaging
The structures we live and work in are susceptible
to quality and performance problems during construction and
maintenance that can impact performance and may, in some cases,
render them dangerous. Regardless of the building type involved,
infrared thermography can provide remarkable, nondestructive
information about construction details and building performance.
This paper discusses the numerous applications
for thermal imaging technology currently being used to inspect
building envelopes. These include validation of structural
details, verification of energy performance (conduction and
air leakage), location of moisture intrusion, and the identification
of structural and system degradation of roofs and facades.
Examples will be given for each application and the basic conditions
required will be discussed.
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Locating Levels in Tanks
and Silos Using Infrared Thermal Imaging
Infrared thermal imaging is a powerful tool for
locating and verifying levels in tanks and silos. Other level
indication instruments are often not sufficiently reliable
in many situations, or positive verification of the instrumentation
readings is required. When properly used, thermal imaging can
reveal not only the liquid/gas interface, but also sludge buildup
and floating materials such as waxes and foams. Similar techniques
can be used to locate levels and bridging problems in silos
containing fluidized solids.
This paper discusses the parameters and limitations
that must be addressed, shows techniques that can be employed,
and illustrates the discussions with numerous thermal images.
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Guidelines for Performing Infrared Inspections
of Motor Control Centers
Whether it's your first infrared inspection or
you're a veteran with hundreds of surveys under your belt,
it is important to realize that in order to successfully identify
and analyze thermal anomalies, it is beneficial to understand
the operation of the equipment under inspection.
Download this white paper to learn about the
recommended guidelines for inspecting the motor control center
(MCC). The paper describes how to identify key components and
potential problem areas and illustrates both common and not-so-common
thermal anomalies.
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Understanding Infrared Camera Thermal Image
Quality
You’ve no doubt purchased a digital camera
sometime over the past few years to replace your old film camera.
Often thermal camera brochures offer list specification that
you, as a user, may never be able to confirm or even understand.
This paper’s objective is to help you simplify your understanding
of how image quality is determined.
Covered are three topics that directly influence
thermal image quality: pixel resolution, thermal sensitivity,
and non-uniformity correction. A number of related topics are
discussed as well.
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Integrating Thermography with
Your CMMS-EAM System
More and more companies are investing in CMMS
systems to organize the complex task of managing capital equipment
and facility infrastructure whether it is process or production
equipment or building systems like HVAC and computers. If maintenance
practices and investments are to really pay off, the integration
of the two tools is necessary.
This paper discusses techniques useful to integrate
CMMS data into portable thermal imaging cameras and to update
machinery health databases with field data. Specific examples
of doing this in practice are provided.
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Advances in Auto Infrared
Report Generation
In-camera field data collection is more productive
than written or voice recorded notes. The advantages of route-based
infrared inspection are described permitting improvements in
predictive maintenance programs. In-camera data logging ensures
that established naming conventions are used and consistently
followed improving the efficacy of training efforts for multiple
operators and overall performance. The impact on staff hours
is discussed as well as program costs and ROI.
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Periodic Route Based Infrared Inspections
Infrared thermographic inspection is an established
PdM inspection modality. Recent advances in infrared camera
platforms have created a new class of infrared imaging instrument
which incorporates pen-based computing and application-specific
software into a powerful thermal inspection data logger with
many traits similar to mature vibration data collection systems.
The potential impact of this integration on productivity,
thermography program ROI, training and integration of thermal
inspection data with CMMS systems is described and presented.
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NFPA 70E, Arc Flash Best Practices
Estimates indicate that 10-15 serious arc-flash
incidents; those that result in burn injuries requiring treatment
in a burn center, occur each day in the U.S., so it is not
surprising that awareness of the hazards associated with arc
flash continues to grow. Concerns about operator safety are
causing inspectors of high voltage switchgear to adopt new
practices and new equipment.
We will examine the impact of new safety practices
and how infrared transparent windows can be used to mitigate
some of the risks of arc flash. In this regard, considerations
are given to safe and efficient thermography practices.
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Update on NFPA-70E and Impact on Thermographers
There continues to be a great deal of activity
surrounding the update to NFPA 70E scheduled to be published
in October 2008. For the proposed 2008 edition of NFPA 70,
National Electrical Code® (NEC®), the Technical Correlating
Committee (TCC) received 3,668 proposals and 3,206 comments
during the revision cycle. For those of us involved in working
with energized electrical circuits the outcome of the new standards
will likely impact how we do our job. The goal is to increase
safety through well thought through practices.
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Sample Multi-page Report with Hotshot HD
and ReportIR
Save time, save money and get more consistent
results with ReportIR. This paper is an actual sample 18-page
report performed using ReportIR software integrated in our
HotShot HD camera.
See many of the included features such as detailed
inspection summaries, incident specific temperature analysis,
and customization to make your own report templates. As a result
you’ll save hours on report writing using ReportIR Multi-page
Report!
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|
Tools |
NEW!
EZTherm 880 Spot Size Ratio Calculator
Our Spot Size Calculator for the EZTherm
881 infrared camera helps determine measurement
spot size for different camera specifications and viewing situations.
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Guide to Analyzing and Selecting
Infrared Cameras
The best way to begin comparing different thermal
imaging products is to design a matrix that captures the essence
of all the important requirements for your application. By
evaluating the relevance of each item in the matrix, you can
develop an easy way to compare different products when many
features have a different impact on your evaluation. Without
prior experience, you may not be aware of certain issues that
may be important for your application (like NFPA 70E arc flash
safety compliance). Consequently, reviewing this matrix as
a guide will facilitate your product evaluation.
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Calculate Your Camera's Measurement Spot
Size.
Our Spot Size Calculator helps determine measurement
spot size for different camera specifications and viewing situations.
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