THERMOGRAPHIC AUDITS

Infrared thermography has well established its position to identify potential energy savings in all industrial insulation programs.
It can be a valuable tool in helping plant engineers to predict potential equipment and electrical failures, thereby allowing a predetermined shut down of a plant before catastrophic failure occurs.
This potentially saves not only saves money, but also human lives. Infrared thermography is a non-contract measuring technique that provides a fast, reliable and accurate temperature profile of any material surface.

Types of Audits we provide:

1. Personnel Protection Audit:  It is a well known fact that above certain temperatures, even if only for a short period of time, human tissue can be damaged.  Most Industrial Hygienist’s set the standard at 130-140 Degrees F.  It is the responsibility for the employer to provide adequate protection for their workers, either by physical barriers, or by means of thermal insulation to drop the surface temperature.   (OSHA 1910.261 Steam and Hot Water Pipes, 1910.262 Steam Pipes, 1910.147 Control of Hazardous energy)


2. Insulation Audit:  There are 4 hazards that an insulation audit can identify:  Missing insulation: the insulation has been removed or the item has never been insulated.  Under-insulation occurs when the outside of the insulated component is still above the recommended OSHA standards for hot surfaces.  Damaged insulation occurs when there is water / steam infiltration, or the insulation has settled and cannot adequately provide the protection it once did.  There are also cases when the insulation has been crushed through mistreatment, thus limiting its capacity to provide a thermal barrier.  An insulation audit can also help in identifying the potential of pipe corrosion.  Moisture changes the thermal capacitance of the insulation and can be easily seen with an infrared camera by a trained thermographer.  When a pipe is oxidized its integrity is compromised and the process may spill out causing a fire, or burns to an unsuspecting worker.  Once an anomaly is discovered, the maintenance department can take further steps to confirm / repair the system.


3. Refractory Audit:  When the refractory in a boiler breaks down, it can cause significant problems from harming personnel to complete system failure.  An infrared camera can spot these issues from the outside giving the maintenance staff time to plan for an outage on their schedule.  We provide a warning as to what is a urgent, and what can be handled at the typical maintenance cycle.  This allows the end user the ability to plan and allocate resources in advance.

The bottom line with our thermographic audits: They identify potential energy savings opportunities, protect workers, and protect the environment through focusing on the insulation system.  Making our clients safer and more competitive.