Equipment Insights: Getting the Full Picture
Combining technologies such as thermal and acoustic imaging with test equipment and inspection software can provide the greatest insights into equipment condition across your manufacturing facility.
Manufacturers who want to compete on a global scale face a never-ending quest to operate safely and efficiently with as few interruptions as possible. Achieving this goal means running multiple shifts a day, 365-days a year, without unplanned breakdowns.
Predictive maintenance programs are crucial to this goal but they put a significant responsibility on maintenance teams—so giving these teams the right tools and training goes a long way towards ensuring success.
"Hidden" doesn't always mean invisible—sometimes it just means "behind an obstacle": in this case, a closed electrical cabinet door. Tools such as infrared (IR) windows, which have a special lens IR can pass through, allow maintenance teams to inspect live electrical equipment safely.
Seeing the problem helps you solve the problem
Many of the worst problems for assets within a manufacturing facility remain hidden until it’s too late. Sometimes the only sign of a problem is a motor that is running hotter than its neighbors or vibrating excessively.
Technologies such as thermal and acoustic imaging cameras allow users to "see" wires that are overheating and components that are about to fail, so maintenance teams can address the problem immediately. This kind of imaging ensures your maintenance teams can proactively identify problems quickly, with the goal of increasing site safety and reducing unplanned downtime.
Thermal condition monitoring is a strategic necessity
The impact of failing equipment—most critically, a factory's electrical system—can lead to endangered workers, millions of dollars in equipment replacement costs, and lost revenue from plant shut-downs. The risk is so great that the US National Electrical Code has incorporated proactive inspections, making it mandatory to inspect all electrical systems at least annually under the NFPA 70B code component. Thermal cameras are recommended as the safest and most effective tool for conducting these inspections.
Systems tend to become hot as they fail, so the traditional solution to finding signs of failure is a spot temperature reading taken with an infrared thermometer or through installed measurement devices such as thermocouples or fixed mounted measurement sensors. While these measure temperature reliably, they only provide a tiny portion of the whole picture. Unless the point of measurement happens to coincide with a hot spot, you may miss critical problems that lead to downtime, production delays, and lost revenue.
Thermal imaging cameras—whether handheld or mounted throughout the factory floor—are invaluable for inspecting and monitoring high voltage equipment, motors, pumps, and more. As FLIR Director of Business Development for Condition Monitoring, Rob Milner, explains, "Thermography sees the relative temperature differences between electrical components that form because of loose or dirty connections, crimped conductors, power imbalances, inductive heating and more."
Another advantage: many thermal cameras offer a wide field of view that encompasses a large area or several components at once, so you can quickly scan an entire low voltage cabinet or set of conveyor roller motors while looking for signs of heat.
What's more—thermal cameras provide crucial historical data. You're not just seeing a moment in time: by analyzing data from regular inspections using tools such as FLIR Ignite Pro, you can start to see temperature trends in critical equipment.
Some thermal analysis software, such as FLIR Thermal Studio Pro, interact with the camera itself to provide guided inspection routes and on-camera reference images—meaning any technician can follow an efficient survey path and record consistent, repeatable images of each asset.
Thermal cameras are also essential for detecting insulation voids, air leaks in environmental systems, and even water leaks hidden behind factory walls. While these assets aren't directly involved in manufacturing, they can still cause production delays if problems go unnoticed.
As for fixed cameras for continuous monitoring, the most recent models incorporate on-the-edge analytics and wireless capability, making them easy to integrate with existing monitoring systems. Many communicate through common modern industrial protocols such as REST and MQTT, making capturing data from multiple sensor modalities into a single asset health dashboard easy.
So, what should you look for in a thermal camera? Specifications such as resolution are important, but so, too, are imaging features, software offerings, service, warranties, and support. FLIR offers a handbook on important criteria to consider when purchasing a thermal camera. Click below to download.
Acoustic imaging: the latest tool for industrial inspections
Acoustic imaging cameras are powerful and non-invasive tools for monitoring and diagnosing the condition of electrical and mechanical installations and components. These cameras, loaded with sensitive microphones, detect the high-frequency sounds that denote friction or air leaks: for example, the sounds of air escaping a compressed air system or pressurized gas leaking from industrial piping. These sounds are typically above the range of frequencies people can hear. Acoustic cameras overlay a visual representation of sound on the scene so users can precisely pinpoint the source of a leak. Many offer software that can quantify leaks and determine the energy cost savings for fixing them.
While acoustic imagers are frequently employed to find compressed air or vacuum system leaks, they can also detect compressed industrial gas leaks, including carbon dioxide, helium, ammonia, hydrogen, methane, nitrogen, and argon; they have utility in vessel testing, such as shipping and sealed containers, and can be used to find steam leaks in heating and power generation systems.
The FLIR Si-Series of acoustic imaging cameras features 124 microphones that can pick up very quiet noises from a long distance. These cameras use onboard AI to distinguish the other characteristics of the sound pattern created by leaks, partial electrical discharge, or mechanical faults from regular background noise.
Utility beyond finding leaks
Acoustic imaging for mechanical fault detection is an innovative technique that uses sound to detect, pinpoint, and analyze faults in mechanical systems. This approach is particularly valuable for preventive maintenance as it allows for early detection of anomalies before they evolve into serious failures. By targeting the exact location of faults, acoustic imaging reduces the need for extensive manual inspections and disassembly, saving time and labor costs. Additionally, early detection of faults helps prevent catastrophic failures, extending the lifespan of equipment and enhancing overall operational efficiency.
How to Use the Si2 Series Acoustic Imagers for Pressurized Leak and Mechanical Fault Detection
Invest in intelligent Test & Measurement tools
Industrial pumps, fans, gearboxes, and motors often require 24-7 monitoring in addition to routine thermal or acoustic inspections, in order to verify error-free operation. Test and Measurement equipment designed for continuous monitoring, such as vibration sensors, and those designed specifically for inspecting hard-to-reach areas, such as videoscopes, help ensure technicians have the full range of data needed to catch problems before these critical systems fail.
Regular inspections, often scheduled days or months apart, may miss the earliest signs of failure: the scuffing, micro-pitting, and tooth-root breakage that lead to changes in vibration frequency, reduced rotation speed, or even small temperature shifts. Installing a vibration system such as the FLIR SV88-Kit allows technicians to continuously analyze vibrations from rotating equipment. The system can detect the first signs of deterioration, sending an alerting when vibrations or temperatures exceed a defined threshold.
Intelligent vibration sensors are designed to capture data from critical equipment, providing you comprehensive insights that can identify patterns, trends, potential failure modes, and the severity of detected issues.
Finally, there is the challenge of inspecting cramped, awkward, and hidden assets—whether they're placed in high spaces, behind walls, or within a critical piece of equipment. Instead of opening up or disassembling these assets for inspection, a more effective solution is a thermal videoscope. This tool features a thermal camera at the end of a long probe that easily fits inside small areas so inspectors can detect areas of abnormal temperature.
Thermal videoscopes are not just for electrical or mechanical inspections: they can also help facilities managers find the source of air leaks and imbalances in air flow and discover missing insulation, water leaks, and moisture build-up.
Another challenge for manufacturing maintenance technicians is inspecting unsafe or hidden assets. High-voltage electric cabinets can be dangerous to inspect due to the potential for arc flash. Installing an infrared window with a clear polymer transmission area or specialized, IR-transmissive lens will add a protective barrier between the technician and hazardous equipment, so it can be inspected while energized.
"Companies can realize a huge impact on reliability through the effective deployment of tools designed to leverage experienced technicians' scarce time," adds FLIR's Rob Milner. "Using infrared ports and windows enables faster inspection of electrical equipment. This technique can reduce the time needed for this kind of inspection by as much as 87%, which is time back to be used for further cost-lowering activities."
By leveraging thermal, acoustic, and test meter technology, along with intelligent analysis software, manufacturing facilities can significantly enhance their predictive maintenance programs.
These tools provide a comprehensive solution for detecting and diagnosing faults in electrical and mechanical systems, empowering maintenance teams to take proactive measures and keep their facilities running smoothly.
