Infrared temperature measurement is usually carried out as a part of a predictive maintenance program in a chemical plant. It is done to detect and measure abnormal temperature or hotspot of electromechanical equipment before troubles happen.
The thermal image resulted from infrared measurement represents a thermal property of the equipment. By knowing that condition, preventive maintenance will be more effective, efficient and downtime of the plant can be reduced significantly.
From a safety standpoint, infrared temperature measurement helps to provide important information about problems with electrical components. Electrical component or equipment failure due to overheating for example could cause fire accident that harms employees’ safety.
Infrared heat or temperature measurement will detect hotspots early, and fire hazard potential can be eliminated immediately before it turns into an accident.
Infrared Temperature Measurement
The measurement is done by using an infrared thermal camera like URPRO 2.4″ and performed by maintenance persons or third-party services. It is also known as thermographic inspections or infrared surveys.
Such service is also provided by a plant insurance company and the survey is done at the same time when they do loss control audits at a chemical plant site. The infrared temperature measurement result is called by thermogram.
The information included in the thermogram is the visual appearance of the hotspot and its temperature. The measured temperature is then compared with temperature warning guidelines (control standard). If the measured temperature is higher than the temperature warning guideline, it means that the measured component is in problem. Corrective action required to overcome the problem is divided into three criteria, i.e. low, medium, and urgent. Each criterion depends on temperature rise above the warning guidelines.
