Thermography used to keep stock bulls in form  

By Peter Smorscek, FLIR Systems

Once considered as exotic, infrared thermography is gradually becoming an established and recognized tool in veterinary medicine. Equine (horse) thermography and inspection of zoo animals to detect inflammation or follow up gestation are well-known applications. These animals are indeed valuable assets that are difficult to handle, that need utmost care, and should avoid stress. But infrared thermography can also be used to preserve other valuable animal assets of another kind: livestock breeding. FLIR Systems has sponsored a relevant research project...

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Straight from the World Wide Web, here is what's going on in the world of infrared thermography.

ART

• Pushing boundaries with red hot art
  Xinhua, China - Oct 23, 2008
  Infrared thermography, or thermal imaging, is a type of infrared imaging science. Thermographic cameras detect radiation in the infrared range of the

IR Equipment

• FLIR Systems win awards for two of their thermal imaging cameras
  Process & Control Today, UK - Oct 23, 2008
  ... off the shelf, hand-held infrared camera and the FLIR i5, another world-first that provides pocket-sized thermal imaging at a bargain price

• FLIR releases free thermography guide
  Test & Measurement, Australia - Oct 13, 2008
  FLIR Systems has issued a free outline of infrared thermography designed for both experienced and novice users of the inspection technology.
  
   

sports

• Ice on, face off
  Tulsa World, OK - Oct 23, 2008
  There is an infrared camera in the ceiling that shines down on 40-foot portions of the floor to monitor the temperature. On the surface and sub-surface,

medicine/Life science

• Common seal in sharp decline due to climate change and pollution
  Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - Oct 20, 2008
  Researchers used thermal imaging cameras from a helicopter or planes over the coast during the summer to count the seals. Between 2000 and 2007 the number

• Thermography confirms improvement of wound healing by water ...
  Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (Pressemitteilung), Germany - Oct 22, 2008
  ... by water-filtered infrared-A (wIRA) in patients with chronic venous stasis ulcers of the lower legs including evaluation using infrared thermography.
   

Energy/Building science

• Firm uses infrared technology in home energy audits
  MetroWest Daily News, MA - Oct 27, 2008
  ... because of the equipment he uses - a blower door test for locating air leaks and an infrared camera for detecting missing or defective insulation

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

• Substation Capacitor Banks
  I just wanted to pass on some scans that I took of a 2400kVAR capacitor back at one of our 12.47kV substations. After attending the Electrical Inspection Applications class I found a significant problem. In the class we learned sometimes it not what is hot but what is not. During the scan I found that the three phase capacitor bank only had one phase energized. The pictures indicate that the B phase capacitors are energized while the A and C phases were not. After checking the line fuses we found that the A and C phase fuses were blown but had not dropped. During my investigation I went to several of our other substations and found that all energized capacitors show radiant heat hense the moral of the story. If you see a bank of capacitors and one of them is not showing heat then it has failed or has a blown fuse.

• Unknown pattern in ceiling - water leak?
  I came across this warm pattern in a ceiling below a bathroom. The radiators have been running and there's flaking paint in the region, indicating a water leak. But the pattern is quite different from most water leaks I've seen. The edges are very well defined. I was unable to measure the actual moisture levels at the time but may return for a follow-up to see how it looks. Any thoughts?

• Attic vents???
  Can anyone tell me if an attic vent should be completely clear directly in front of it? I found missing insulation in a ceiling, and was told by a contractor that it was to keep the vent from being clogged. Is there a code or normal practice for this type installation? See photos for reference. Sorry I cannot post the visual, it is too large of a file. Here is the IR. The entire insulation bay in front of the vent was clear of insulation for at least 3'.

• Report size too large.
  Anyone have suggestions on how to reduce the report size in terms of computer space; i.e. Megabytes. I am using Windows XP Home Ed. with the Thermacam Prof. Ed. 8.2, and anytime I go over 25 pictures(of IR & visual) or so the report causes the operating system to run extremely slow when saving, making changes, and opening the report.

• Disconnect Box image advice
  Well, i take this image and used Fusion's reporter 8 function to overlap it. This disconects box is for a 150hp air cooled IR compressor, had reported twice in a 2 year time frame. no fails or even malfunction happens until now, what do you do with this kind of situation? how this customers has to be treated? .. any experience to share??
   

• Switchgear thermal imaging
  How often should switchgears be shot. Is once a year in the summer enough?

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 

Here is this month's brainteaser. Readers who email us a correct explanation are entered into a drawing to win a prize. 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 challenge 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

Last month's brainteaser was taken during a Generator Re-wind of a GE 411MW D8 machine at Craig station (Tri-State G&T). The device on the end is the GE bake machine which is blowing hot air into the exciter end of the generator. The generator is sealed with a duct insulation board and we cut it in the shape of a pumpkin due to being Halloween.

None of the 42 guesses were technically correct but 5 readers guessed pumpkin, and that' good enough for us! Congratulations to our winner TJ Alexander and to our thermogram contributor, Gary Crisp. They win the revered ITC low e coffee mug.

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