Many research and development and manufacturing processes involve friction, heat tempering or testing materials at high temperatures or involve the use of flammable chemicals, gases and liquids.
Temperature is one of the most common indicators of the structural health of equipment and components and therefore many businesses rely on condition monitoring systems that use temperature sensors and real time thermal imaging as part of their risk management practices.
In order to reduce fire risk, prevent unplanned breakdowns, minimise system downtime and maintain maximum production capacity many companies have installed thermal CCTV systems.
Equipment temperature monitoring can be used for most scenario’s but deliver the best return on investment when used to protect perimeters where fire risk will lead to significant threat to life or financial losses:
The thermal camera’s are programmed to monitor the health status of equipment. This real time data will send alerts if critical conditions are detected. Depending on the environment and other fire protection systems that are installed, this alert can be set to trigger an immediate ‘on-site’ response, such as the activation of a gas or foam suppression, or a response to a control centre who will then determine the follow up action. Thus a thermal monitoring system can be tailored to use the temperature information to activate different responses according to the extent of the temperature raise and the criticality and imminence of the potential danger likely to be caused by the failure.
Very often faulty machinery, corroded electrical connections, and damaged material components will display some level of abnormal temperature distribution prior to complete failure.
The use of infrared thermography condition monitoring systems can help to detect these early signs and reduce the risk of these faults causing a fire. This risk management process is called “condition monitoring’ and helps to ensure people, processes and systems are protected.
Conventional HD CCTV cameras are still an option for 24/7 monitoring of equipment in order to identify problems, however as heat build-up is a typically signal associated with an impending failure and fire risk, the installing thermal CCTV can be hugely beneficial.
Please note Tecserv UK only operate within the United Kingdom – any work outside of this region cannot be considered.
