IR Electrical System Inspections - "Electric Motors represent over 70% of USA Manufacturing’s electric bill…"
-Fortune Magazine-

• Power generation inspections
• Sub-Station Electrical inspections, switchgear, breakers, transformers, capacitor banks
• Motor Control Centers (MCC’s)
• Electric motors, shafts and bearings
• UPS & battery backup systems
• Distribution panels
• Disconnects

CTI Information Flyer (PDF)

Commercial & Industrial Flyer (PDF)

• Boilers, Motors, shafts, bearings, belts, chain drives, couplings, conveyor systems
• Process equipment
• Insulation integrity
• Hydraulic systems, piping systems, air transport systems
• Air compressors
• HVAC heating and cooling coils, heating equipment
• Leaking valves, and energy delivery systems
• Detect thermal patterns on boiler tubes and measure tube skin temperatures
• Scan for refectory losses and/or damage
• Mechanical bearing inspections
• Gearbox monitoring and analysis
• Tank levels & sludge
• Heat exchangers
• Steam traps
• Valves and vacuum leaks
• Cold Storage cooling losses
• Detect insulation leaks in refrigeration equipment

• Thermal heat loss inspections for buildings, plants, facilities, refineries etc
• Moisture contamination inspections in buildings, plants and facilities
• Locate missing or damaged insulation
• Insulation integrity
• Identify air leakage and energy losses
• Evaluate the thermal performance of retrofits and remodels
• Concrete integrity inspection

• Boiler tubes
• Heat Exchanger quality and efficiency evaluation
• Rotating Equipment
• Gas and Steam Turbines
• Pressure Vessels
• Refinery process line insulation loss or leak detection
• Refinery process evaluation
• Furnace refractory (insulation) inspections
• Furnace internal flame evaluation and tube inspections

• Gas Turbine
• Generators
• Pumps
• Investment Castings
• Automotive
• Airplanes
• More

Economic Benefits

The use of infrared Thermography makes economic sense, regardless of the size and operation of your facility. Conducting IR inspections on a regular basis has consistently shown unprecedented returns on investment. According to The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, for every dollar spent on infrared service there is a $4 return on investment for materials and labor from fixing the problem before it fails. This ratio is closer to $1 to $20 if loss to production occurs, and spoilage, labor, emergency repairs, unnecessary parts and usual other factors are considered.

Reduce Unscheduled Downtime

To the left; is 1,200A breaker and an MDP that was taken out during an Arc Flash, causing significant expense and down time!

More Arc Flash Analysis Information

The repair of damaged or broken equipment is only a small percentage of the real losses due to unplanned down time and those losses can vary from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars per hour, and in some instances even higher.

The predictive capabilities you garner from utilizing infrared inspections in your plant are significant and present a very high value added benefit. Utilizing IR inspections, your company will know when to schedule maintenance, or down time, you will know in advance when equipment is ready to fail and you will be in a pro-active rather than re-active maintenance mode.

CTI uses InspecTrend™ Best Practice Infrared PdM Inspection Software (InspecTrend .pdf) Which is the finest IR reporting software in the industry.

Increase the Effectiveness of Your Maintenance Personnel Efforts

Does your maintenance personnel ever spend time doing work that is oftentimes unnecessary and or costly? For example, during a planned shutdown has your maintenance crew had to place their highly-skilled electricians to open electrical panels and control cabinets and re-torque every wire connection or rebuild every motor contractor; this is a timely and often daunting task. Not to mention the chance that a new problem has be introduced from the tear-down of equipment. By comparison, infrared can locate loose and deteriorated connections in a fraction of the time without tearing down or rebuilding the equipment. With the results of an infrared inspection in hand before a shutdown, manpower and materials can be planned accordingly and problems fixed efficiently and cost effectively.

Is your maintenance department being asked to perform more duties with less manpower? Incorporating an infrared program into the "maintenance loop" will enable your maintenance personnel to work smarter with fewer resources. More companies are realizing this, which is why infrared is growing so rapidly.

Save Energy and Increase Efficiency

Infrared is the only technology that can quickly see where excessive energy is being lost. Of course, overheating connections consume electricity, but usually nowhere near the magnitude of many industrial processes. Companies with boilers, furnaces, kilns and the like will reduce their energy costs by repairing and replacing missing and damaged insulation. Identification and removal of wet insulation in flat roofs will save heating and cooling costs. Losses around doors and windows can also save energy cost and prevent moisture from entering a building. Cryogenic liquids/gas leaks can also be quickly detected using both infrared and ultrasound technologies.

Water Leakage and Roofing Systems.

Though most of these problems remain hidden from normal viewing, Infrared Inspecions can detect and measure the efficiency of a building in a non-invasive way. This allows you to detect potential problems before they can create structural damage, eliminating lost revenue due to inefficient systems.

Most leaks occur where the waterproofing is sealed or where there is a penetration of the roof. Since most types of roof systems absorb some amount of water, it is harder to find the exact spot of water contamination in the underlying insulation because it may not leak into the building until it has absorbed all the water it can hold. Many of the problems that might exist within a roofing system remain hidden from normal viewing.

10 Reasons Why Built Up Roof Systems Leak (PDF)

Reduced Inventory Costs

Infrared predictive maintenance gives you advance warning of a potential problem and failure. In most cases, you have enough lead time to secure the parts necessary to correct the problem. Knowing what parts you need in advance allows you to reduce the number of "spare" parts sitting on shelves and collecting dust. Most maintenance departments would agree that their budgets could be better spent than on unnecessary parts inventory.

In house vs contractor:

Outsourcing infrared inspections is the best solution in many situations.  The reasons to conduct an infrared survey vary from simply meeting insurance requirements to being part of a functional condition monitoring program.  Regardless of the reason, when you need infrared service work, contact Cascade Thermal Imaging, Inc.

Our certified Thermographers bring decades of experience and knowledge in infrared applications and PdM programs from a variety of industries to your facility and all our staff are licensed and experienced electricians so we are very familiar with commercial and industrial electrical systems.  Your needs will determine the frequency of our inspection services.  Cascade Thermal Imaging, Inc is prepared to support routine quarterly, semi-annual and annual inspection programs up to large programs needing regularly scheduled IR inspections and reports produced with InspecTrend® IR reporting software, a best practice Infrared PdM Inspection Software infrastructure. We provide you with your report via CD-ROM immediately upon completion of the IR inspection. No waiting days, weeks or even months to get your report. You have it on CD on the spot.

Infrared inspections from Cascade Thermal Imaging, Inc provide clients with convenience and the quality of an infrared program established utilizing industry best practices.  These services are designed to provide companies with the benefits of the technology without the investment in additional equipment, training and personnel. 
Please contact us for a FREE On Site Proposal.

Preventive maintenance inspections on mechanical equipment are done because excess heat means excess friction and before a mechanical component fails, it heats up.

Thermography is utilized to see the excess heat so that maintenance personnel can act to correct the problems before the component fails and causes damage to the component, safety hazards and/or production down time, saving both time and money.