Thermal imaging for industrial equipment maintenance

Early detection allows for prompt, targeted maintenance, ensuring continuous operation that extends equipment lifespan while providing a safer working environment.

By detecting infrared radiation and converting it into a visible image, thermal imaging cameras facilitate the non-invasive inspection of industrial equipment and machinery. This helps identify temperature anomalies that often indicate underlying issues caused by overheating, poor insulation, friction or electrical faults.

Due to its advanced capabilities, thermal imaging camera technology is rapidly becoming indispensable. Highly versatile and applicable across a wide range of industries, it is particularly useful in predictive maintenance programs, where regular thermal scans are conducted to monitor the condition of critical assets over time.

Primary advantage

One of the primary advantages of thermal imaging is its ability to detect problems before they lead to equipment failure. For instance, overheating in bearings, motors, or electrical circuits and connections can be spotted early, allowing for preventive maintenance rather than costly, unplanned shutdowns. Early detection allows for prompt, targeted maintenance, ensuring continuous operation that extends equipment lifespan while providing a safer working environment.

Companies are under increasing pressure to reduce their carbon footprint, and thermal imaging can help reduce energy consumption. Equipment operating outside its optimal temperature range often consumes more energy, so by pinpointing these inefficiencies, thermal imaging encourages prompt corrective action. Not only does this optimise energy usage, but it also contributes to overall cost savings. At the same time, its non-invasive nature allows for quick inspections without halting operations, thereby saving valuable time.

Put into practice: applications

HIKMICRO’s thermal imaging cameras ensure optimal equipment performance and safety across industrial environments. Let’s look at some specific applications in more detail:

Machinery and motor overheating detection

An overheating motor in machinery can cause unplanned downtime, disrupt production, and damage other connected components. Frequent overheating incidents can also shorten a motor’s lifespan and pose a fire hazard that can endanger worker safety and potentially lead to extensive property damage.

Thermal imaging cameras can detect early signs of overheating by monitoring motors’ thermal patterns. This enables electrical contractors to identify potential issues such as inadequate ventilation, overloading, or failing components such as bearings before they lead to more serious problems.

Steam system efficiency

Pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, textiles, pulp and paper, and oil and petrochemicals are just a few industries that use steam in their manufacturing processes. Specific issues include premature equipment failures, poor steam system efficiency, boiler shutdowns due to low water levels, and damaged steam pipes and valves.

A thermal imaging camera enhances steam system efficiency by identifying leaks, blockages and insulation failures. It detects hotspots and irregular temperature distributions, indicating problems such as water hammer, corrosion and steam trap malfunctions.

Conveyor system monitoring

Conveyor systems transport materials swiftly and efficiently and can be found in most assembly lines. They enhance safety by reducing the need for workers to lift and carry heavy items, thereby minimising the risk of injuries and improving overall productivity and operational efficiency.

A thermal imaging camera can identify issues with conveyor systems by detecting overheating in motor bearings, rollers and drive belts, indicating potential mechanical failures or lubrication problems. They can also identify electrical issues in control panels and circuitry. Additionally, thermal imaging can detect misalignment or friction in conveyor components, which may cause excessive wear and energy loss.

Electrical control panel inspections

An electrical control panel houses the critical electrical components responsible for controlling and monitoring various mechanical processes. These systems require regular maintenance to ensure optimal performance. This not only enhances the reliability and efficiency of control panels but also ensures the safety and longevity of the equipment.

A thermal imaging camera can detect abnormal temperature patterns and identify issues with suitably modified electrical control panels. Hotspots on components such as circuit breakers, fuses, terminals, and connections indicate potential problems such as loose connections, overloading, or faulty components.

Kiln system maintenance

Shuttle, continuous, top hat, up draught, down draught, rotary and fixed hearth furnaces are just some of the kilns used in the ceramic, brick, tile, glass, metal, cement, wood and timber industries. They serve the critical function of heating materials to high temperatures, often for drying, firing or heat treatment.

A thermal imaging camera can detect hotspots on kiln walls, heating elements, and refractory linings. It can also detect blockages in burner assemblies or malfunctioning heating zones, affecting temperature uniformity and product quality.

Electrical installations and equipment connections

Poorly maintained electrical equipment can lead to costly downtime and pose serious safety hazards, especially with larger and more powerful machinery. Workplace safety regulations mandate regular, comprehensive inspections of all circuits and wiring. By doing this, manufacturers comply with safety standards and mitigate risks associated with equipment malfunction or electrical failures.

A thermal imaging camera can detect abnormal temperature patterns and identify issues with electrical installations and equipment connections in manufacturing environments. Hotspots on electrical components such as circuit breakers, switches, terminals, and connections indicate potential problems such as loose connections, overloaded circuits, or faulty components.

Leak detection

Consider an acoustic imaging camera if you need to detect compressed air leaks. Perfect for detailed auditing or “find it and fix it” applications, the AI56 quickly identifies gas leaks as small as .0003cfm. It displays the leak rate, estimated cost, and graphical leak severity even in noisy industrial environments.

Transforming the inspection process

In manufacturing and other process-based environments, minimising downtime is as important as achieving high quality and maximising output. However, equipment failure is the single largest source of lost production time, and in an environment of ever-tighter margins, any downtime can have serious consequences on the bottom line.

Thermal imaging cameras play a vital role in inspection by identifying issues before they become real problems. They pay for themselves very quickly, as they can detect faults which, left undetected, could lead to catastrophic damage and failures. For those tasked with maintaining equipment and their customers, the main advantage is their ability to identify faults that can be proactively fixed, resulting in reduced downtime and increased customer satisfaction.

Users can measure the temperature of any object in a non-contact mode without any health and safety risks. Heat can be a symptom of a problem, such as a loose connection, an overloaded circuit breaker, a corroded connection in a consumer unit, or even a failing transformer. An operator can carry out a walkthrough of a facility and set the camera to issue an alarm if, for example, at any point, it identifies a temperature of over 40°C, prompting further investigation.

With an unrivalled ability to detect a heat signature, an electrical contractor essentially has an extra set of eyes for diagnosing problems that might otherwise not be visible. Ultimately, a thermal imaging camera helps a contractor work safer, faster, smarter, and more profitably while keeping the wheels of industry turning.

Built to last

HIKMICRO’s handheld thermal imaging cameras are intuitive and simple to use, with features such as high-resolution displays that are easily read under any conditions. Facilitating instant familiarity when upgrading is also a major advantage, so HIKMICRO’s devices boast common features, menus, and function locations across their range that make it easy to transition between devices.

Although the internal technology in HIKMICRO’s thermal imaging cameras ensures that results are provided quickly and accurately, productivity is optimised through clearly marked buttons and ergonomic designs. Accidents happen, and instruments do get dropped, hit, and battered, so HIKMICRO’s products are IP67-rated, have heavy-duty moulded cases, and offer drop protection up to 2m.

Authored by:

Ashish P. Dhakan, MD & CEO- Prama Hikvision India