Vamara Techware

Condition monitoring identifies problems before failures occur in order to prevent costly production stops. Typical equipment that is monitored includes high- and low-voltage installations, turbines, compressors, and other electrical and mechanical equipment. Sometimes processes need to be monitored because an anomaly can cause dangerous situations. For example, flares that have a flame invisible to the naked eye need to be monitored to see if they are effectively burning gas exhaust.

Flare stacks are used in many industries to burn off unwanted waste gas byproducts, or flammable gases released by pressure relief valves during unplanned over-pressuring of plant equipment. Thermal imaging cameras are ideal monitoring tools because they allow full-time automated remote monitoring in virtually any weather. In addition, thermal imaging cameras avoid many of the technical and cost-related problems associated with other technologies such as ultraviolet (UV) flame detectors, flame ionization spectrometers, thermocouples, and pyrometers.

Electric power utilities today are faced with an aging infrastructure, increasing risk of blackouts and brownouts as well as security threats. Unplanned maintenance can be expensive in the best-case scenarios and catastrophic in the worst. With FLIR thermal imaging cameras and condition monitoring software, impending equipment failures and security breaches can be detected anytime, day or night, from a remote monitoring location.

Steel mill ladles have limited lives. As their refractory linings wear or break due to shock, the outer part of a ladle can be exposed to excessive temperatures. If not caught in time, the result can be ladle disintegration and a molten metal breakout, threatening the lives of workers and destroying equipment. FLIR thermal imaging camera systems monitor ladles in real time and warn of a breakout before it happens.

Some critical electrical and mechanical installations in manufacturing companies and utilities are monitored 24/7 with a thermal imaging camera. Heat buildup indicates poor equipment health and possible impending failure. A fixed-mounted thermal imaging camera gives you the advantage, so you don’t need to rely on periodic inspections. Alarms can be set to go off once a temperature threshold is exceeded.