By Roberto Rinaldi
ITC Italy

Thermography's use for building applications is incredibly large because it is a non-invasive test and fast to perform. Before starting to explain one of my personal experiences, I would like to illustrate a few of the applications where infrared thermography is useful. Click any of the images for a high resolution view.

                      Heat loss                            Disbonding tiles              Locating hidden structures
 

                                           Air leakage                   Subsurface roof moisture
 

                    Peeling plaster                      Moisture in wall             Historical building restoration

                                                            from small cracks

There are many other possible uses of this technology for buildings. Sometimes they are just limited to the time needed to find the right moment to perform the inspection, for instance, by waiting for solar radiation to create the thermal contrast needed, or arranging the heating by using a big hot air gun or a set of lamps.

The problem I was looking for was a rather large leak from the main discharge pipe of my flat (apartment) that caused the wall in the basement to be completely soaked. The affected area was rather large; therefore it was very difficult to understand where the pipe was located inside the wall. To create the necessary thermal contrast, I used hot water from the plumbing.

 
Thermal and visual evidence of the leak

I decided to check the pipe position from the external side of the building so I could locate the region to start breaking the wall. Here is the result:

 
The pipe is located with IR thermography

I was able to locate the pipe position by measuring the distance from the side of the window. Unfortunately the pipe was buried where an internal wall existed.

If I exposed the pipe from the outside, I needed to open a main wall and remove part of the external pavement; from the inside I needed to remove part of an internal wall and part of a main wall.

So thinking a bit, I decided to use an old inspection gate to work under the floor without having to remove it or break into an internal wall. It was really hard, but the result was excellent!

Crack found at elbow

Thanks to the IR camera, I was able to save time, money and, most importantly, avoid the huge amount of exploratory "digging and destroying" otherwise necessary to locate the pipe by conventional means.

When: October 4-8, 2004

Where:  Las Vegas, NV

If there’s one educational, training, and for-credit infrared thermography meeting you should attend this year, it’s InfraMation. Here’s why:

InfraMation has grown into a “must-attend” educational event for professional thermographers. In 2003 InfraMation broke all attendance records and was the largest educational conference for thermographers ever held! This year, it will be better and more value-packed than ever.

Presentations from a distinguished international group of expert thermographers will describe a variety of field studies, techniques, valuable tips, and best thermography practices. Nowhere else will you find such rich instructional content that you can use on the job, and nowhere else will you get a better value for your training dollar! Plus you receive ITC educational recertification credits just for attending.

In addition to the presentations, you can attend an expanded group of special “IR clinics” on electrical applications, mechanical applications, building science, R&D, Life science, and more. There’s also a refresher clinic as well as instruction on the industry’s leading software, ThermaCAM^® Reporter™.  Our trade show runs concurrently with the formal proceedings all week, giving you the opportunity to see and learn about the very latest advances in infrared cameras and accessories.

We know that training and conference budgets are limited, so we’re delighted to announce that we’ve negotiated a fantastic Early Bird Special that gives you 4 FREE NIGHTS at the beautiful Orleans Hotel, the conference headquarters! Plus you get one free clinic, a guest or spouse pass, all conference meals, and more!  

Many of last year’s InfraMation delegates said the FREE Hotel Rooms really helped them get approval to attend. While we’re happy to make this offer, we have a limited supply of rooms to give away. Once they’re gone, they’re gone!

Details at:  www.inframation.org

• Civil War battery receives grant
  Cincinnati Enquirer, OH - 8 hours ago
  ... This summer, a thermal imaging company from Lexington will pinpoint the battery's borders and show where it was covered by dirt. ...

• Hi-tech check for lines
  Shepparton News, Australia - Apr 18, 2004
  Contractors conducting thermal imaging inspections of highvoltage powerlines will become a common sight for some people this month. ...

• FLIR Systems Reaches Production Milestone; Sweden Facility ...
  Business Wire (press release) - Apr 16, 2004
  ... allow FLIR to promote infrared camera technology to an ... of the number of thermography cameras that ... manufacture and marketing of thermal imaging and stabilized ...

• Infrared Thermography for Remote Condition Monitoring and Control
  Sensors Online - April 2004
  Optical surveillance systems can work the night shift too, with the addition of IR cameras. This Web-enabled system watches for intruders and other anomalies and either notifies the appropriate personnel or decides on its own what action to take...

• MSU-developed infrared camera jewel of SOAR telescope
  Michigan State University (press release), United States - Apr 15, 2004
  EAST LANSING, Mich. – What separates the SOuthern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope from other similar instruments is an infrared camera, developed and ...

• Infrared camera reveals Kitora tomb painting
  Daily Yomiuri, Japan - Apr 14, 2004
  An infrared camera has revealed the front part of a blue dragon painted on the east wall of the stone chamber in the Kitora tomb in Asukamura, Nara Prefecture ...

Here is a selection of recent new threads by IR Community members. Feel free to click the links, see how people have responded, and post your own response if you like.

• High Emissivity Dots
  We are looking for a manufacturer of a high emissivity black dot with an adhesive backing. The dot should have a printable surface which is compatible with something like a Brady Labeler.
  The intent of the dot is to identify inspection locations and route numbering with a dot of a known emissivity.
  The dots will also be used as targets on low emissivity bus work.

• IR imaging of PCAs
  We have recently purchased an IR camera to use for thermal imaging of our products and PCAs during the development cycle in order to understand the hot spots and to aid in making product improvements. I have done some imaging of a couple PCAs during operation, and we have used the results to focus in on what appear to be the hot spots. Since I am new to IR and thermal imaging, I have been doing a lot of research to understand this technology and what I need to consider when taking and analyzing the images. Of course, everything I read states that having correct emissivity values is critical. With the imaging I have done, I have assumed a constant emissivity across the PCA of 0.98, but I do not think that is correct to assume. Most components are colored a flat black, of course, so they will have high emissivity. I did an experiment where I placed a PCA in a temperature chamber, raised the temperature and let the PCA stabilize, then took an image of it. From knowing the temperature, I calculated the emissivity values of several parts; they all are around 0.95. My question is, is anyone else using IR for a similar purpose, and if so, what do you do about emissivity values? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

• Thermal Overload Heater in MCC severity criteria
  I am working in an older hog fuel cogen plant that has what the electrician refers to as 1940's technology in most of the MCC's -- they are using Furnas overload heaters that really do heat up when under significant loading. In many cases I am finding contacts up to 100°F over ambient. With indirect readings close to that on the surface of the covers, I'm concerned that these things are approaching critical. This is their first thermal scan so we don't have a baseline to work with, but they don't seem overly concerned.
  
  I'm not sure how to interpret this. I think I should stick with the NETA severity criteria for conductors themselves, but how do I determine what's really a problem with this kind of componentry? Any discussion at all will be useful and appreciated.

• What is the best emissivity for a cigarette?
  I am a new user. I am using FLIR to investigate the combustion behavior of cigarettes. I will appreciate if anybody giving me any suggestion. What's the emissivity of a cigarette?

And of course if YOU have a question or want to start a discussion on a topic, we would love to hear from you. Just post a new thread on a message board.

Brainteaser of the Month  [top]

Here is this month's brainteaser. First reader to email me with the correct explanation or identification of the object in the thermogram receives a gift from ITC. Please put "Brainteaser" as the subject of the message.

Click here to email your guess

Do you have an interesting image that you think would stump other thermographers? If so please email me your image (preferably in native .img, .jpg, .tif, .tgw, or .tmw format) with an accompanying visible photo and explanation. If your image is used, you receive a gift as well.

Last month's Brainteaser is an exterior low voltage lighting timer, but a lot of you thought it was a washing machine! Pretty high temperatures for a timer.

Our winner is Jeff Arnold of Merloni Electtrodomestici UK Limited.

Jeff receives a special low emissivity traveling coffee mug for his correct guess.

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