Thermography - Avoid Unplanned Outages and Shutdowns.
What is Thermography?
Thermal Imaging is the use of an infrared imaging camera to “see” and “measure” thermal energy emitted from an object. Thermal or infrared energy is light that is not visible to the human eye, but is part of the electromagnetic spectrum that we perceive as heat. Every object, even very cold ones, emit infrared energy.
Thermal imaging cameras capture images based on the amount of infrared energy emitted by an object, and as most objects change temperature before they fail, this imaging can be a vital tool for analyzing the condition of objects in many environments. This can cover a great many applications, from electrical system inspections, mechanical equipment inspections and functionality trending, to heat loss, water intrusion and overall building energy efficiency.
Infrared Inspection as Part of Your Predictive Maintenance Program
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.
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In house vs contractor:
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.
Infrared Predictive Maintenance Program
Infrared inspections and follow-up corrections are non-invasive, will save a plant significant down time, cause minimal if any Mfg. disruption, are very cost effective and they make sense. When presented with the benefits of infrared Thermography it is impossible to not see the value proposition.
In-House Versus Contracted IR Services
Several of CTI’s clients have begun in-house infrared programs which are being utilized to various degrees within their facilities. The advantages of hiring an IR contractor to come into your facility are:
- If only a few days to a week of inspection is needed, it is more economical
- Contractors bring experience and equipment
- Costs for contracted services are fixed and can be budgeted
- Very little in-house paperwork and support services are needed to have contractor perform an inspection
- No camera and training cost necessary
- Contracted services are all inclusive; supplying inspection and report
- Contracted services can be used as an auditing tool for in-house program
- Contracted services can be used in a support role to help under-staffed in-house programs
IR & Your PdM Program
How Often Should an Infrared Inspection Be Performed?
The publication NFPA70B (National Fire Protection Agency) recommends that inspections be performed at least annually. The frequency of IR inspections should be advanced for equipment with a failure history and equipment that is critical to operations. The National Fire Protection Agency is well aware of the benefits of infrared surveys in regard to the reduction of accidents, enhanced safety, saved lives, and vast reduction in unplanned down time.
Most of CTI’s Infrared's clients perform annual inspections of electrical systems and more frequent inspections of machinery and mechanical systems critical to operations.
In all cases those who are diligent with follow-up repairs, have seen a steady decline in mechanical problems in their facilities over the years and greatly reduced downtime of equipment.
The Benefits
The recognized benefits of being able to forecast scheduled maintenance and down time is significant, as opposed to unscheduled down time without warning. Infrared Thermography provides that "forecasted warning" so to speak. This is of great benefit in enabling manufactures to meet their clients' demands by reducing interrupted production runs and has greatly assisted in-house maintenance programs in becoming more efficient and there has been an increase in overall plant safety as well..
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
It is common knowledge that the more efficient a company is at producing a product, the higher the profit margins will be. This drive for increased efficiency constantly places greater and greater demand on the reliability factors of utilities and plant equipment. When interruptions occur in one or both of these areas, efficiency is adversely effected and profits are immediately and negatively impacted.
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.
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.
Acceptance Testing
We commonly hear from our clients, "Don't waist your time inspecting that piece of equipment or electrical panel. It's brand new…you won't find any problems". The “Non-Invasive Truth” be told, we find numerous problems in newly installed equipment due to installation oversights, factory connections, and faulty components.
Each time a piece of equipment is repaired or a new component is brought on-line, thermography is the perfect tool to ensure its proper operation and give you the proper documentation to act upon warranty issues. Such a simple inspection policy will reward your company with tremendous gains in quality and reliability and, therefore profits and vastly reduced and or eliminated unscheduled down time.
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.
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.