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| White Papers |
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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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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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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Safer Thermography: Understanding
and Reducing Arc Flash
A PowerPoint presentation that presents
an overview of parts of NFPA 70E with a specific discussion
of arc flash includes the causes and effects, risk hazard
analysis, shock and flash protection boundaries as well
as hazard and risk classifications. In addition, there
is a discussion of the challenges for IR Thermography
including the use of viewing windows for cabinet inspection,
the basic premise of selection guidelines and implementation
ideas.
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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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Tools
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NEW!
EZTherm 880 Spot Size Ratio Calculator
Our Spot Size Calculator for the EZTherm
880 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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