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Application Notes:
Implementing an Infrared Thermography Maintenance Program |
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Growing a successful infrared program involves planning and action. You have taken the first steps by purchasing a Fluke Ti30 thermal imager and getting some basic training. This document outlines steps that will help you grow your thermography program into a key part of the way your company does business. |
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Creating inspection routesBegin by using existing lists of equipment from a CMMS or other inventory. Eliminate items that are not well suited for infrared measurement and focus on equipment that creates production bottlenecks. If possible, look at history to guide you; where have failures occurred in the past? Use a database or spreadsheet to group the remaining equipment together, either by area or function, into roughly 2-3 hour inspection blocks.
If thermography is new in your plant, the first few inspection cycles may yield a large number of finds. Subsequent inspections should go more smoothly.
Conducting inspectionsWorking from a pre-inspection checklist is a good idea.
Sit down with co-workers from the area where you will be conducting your work. Discuss concerns (for safety, equipment conditions, etc) and note any unusual conditions that might impact your work.
Modifications to improve inspection quality The following suggestions for modifying plant equipment are designed to make your inspections easier, safer, and more effective.
Reporting resultsThe software that comes with the Fluke Ti30 Thermal Imager supports simple but useful comparisons of asset condition over time. An alarm temperature can be loaded onto an image before it is uploaded into the camera. During the current inspection, both that alarm setting and the previous image can be used to determine the extent of any changes that might have occurred.
Key indicators to track your resultsAnalysis of data over the long term is very important, so plan on accumulating it in forms that facilitate this process. The benefit is two-fold. First, you will see trends that may not be obvious in a day-to-day analysis. For instance, you may discover that the motor shop is doing a poor job, or that a certain brand of fused disconnect consistently has problems.
For instance, you may discover that the motor shop is doing a poor job, or that a certain brand of used disconnect consistently has problems.
Other opportunitiesUsing thermography to look at other manufacturing process applications can have great value.
Of course, thermographers looking at processes are not limited to simply measuring temperatures or seeing thermal images. If you take time to correlate them, moisture, thickness, coatings, material type and parts presence will typically all have their own characteristic thermal signature as well. Manufacturing processes are not always simple to look at but doing so can often yield a perspective, Thinking Thermally, that may be the key to finding solutions to costly problems.
Looking aheadBy following these steps, you will develop a successful thermography program that will reduce maintenance costs for your company while improving...
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