Scribd
Upload
57 views2 pages

Infrared Thermography

ir

Uploaded by

shiva1720
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
57 views2 pages

Infrared Thermography

ir

Uploaded by

shiva1720
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Infrared thermography:

part of an effective preventive


maintenance strategy
at Weyerhaeuser

Application Note

If you can use a digital


camera, you can learn to
operate the Fluke Ti30 thermal imager. While the images
from the Ti30 may not make
it into the family photo album,
they could very well save
your business thousands of
dollars when integrated into
your overall preventive maintenance strategy. Just ask
Dave Feniak at the Drayton
Valley, Alberta, location of
Weyerhaeuser Co., one of
the worlds largest integrated
forest products companies.

Preventive maintenance applications for the Fluke Ti30 Thermal Imager are plentiful in an industrial
environment such as this Weyerhaeuser location in Drayton Valley, Alberta.

Feniak, the sawmills electrical


maintenance supervisor purchased the imager and, after
some basic training on its use,
went into the plant and found a
problem. A big problem.
We have been doing IR
(infrared) scans routinely on a
six- to nine-month basis since
1992 or so, and we usually find
very few problems. I was looking
at bearings in the planer mill and
noticed a very hot spot in the far
distance, Feniak recounts.
The Ti30 has a built in laser
pointer, and once Feniak turned
it on he found that heat was
being generated about 150 feet
away from the sawmill trim-saw
motor.

Taking the camera right


over to the motor we saw the
motor windings were at 90 C
(194 F), he says. We did amp
checks and found a severe
imbalance between phases. This
was on a Thursday, so we got
our spare motor out and installed
it the next morning on the
maintenance shift, with no
downtime. If the motor had failed
on shift the cost would have
been approximately $30,000 for
the downtime, plus the repairs
would have been more expensive.
Weyerhaeusers $14,000
investment quickly paid for itself.
And it has certainly helped to
legitimize the concept of preventive maintenance at the sawmill.

Our electrical department is


just starting to build a predictive maintenance program, said
Feniak. The company uses an
outside contractor for infrared
(IR) scans on a routine basis.
Between IR scans Weyerhaeuser
uses a single spot temperature
gun, but diagnosis of problems is
limited, Feniak says.
Using the Ti30 we can
quickly and easily see details of
the problems, said Feniak. Our
sawmill is constantly pushed
to be faster and we target
increased reliability. Using this
tool has already shown us problems in early stages, allowing us
to add oil to a gear reducer or
replace a fan on a motor before
the problem got worse.

From the Fluke Digital Library @ www.fluke.com/library

As Feniaks experience shows,


adding thermography to a preventive maintenance program
can significantly improve both
the reliability and efficiency of
plant systems. Feniak suggests
a good way to investigate the
usefulness of a thermal imager
is to ask a Fluke representative
for a demonstration and spend
twenty minutes with it out in
your facility.
Since 1992 we have had a
reputable contractor scan our site
every nine months, and our faults
continue to decrease each year,
In addition to spotting problems, thermal imagers are useful for validating that
repairs have been effective.
said Feniak. Even so, we found
several interesting warm spots
using the Ti30 that we were able
According to Fluke ElectronThese measures give
to correct before they became a
ics Canada sales representative
Weyerhaeuser the time it needs
problem. The opportunity for us
Ken Reeves, the units software
to plan, schedule and make
is that we can scan every item
helps users take area measurerepairs before equipment fails,
in our plant more frequently,
ments and then print a report
avoiding major breakdowns and
not just the critical points on
with images and annotations to
costly downtime.
our contractors list every nine
use as supporting documentation. months. We can also do in-house
Studies show that a planned
That can be particularly useful in PM (preventive maintenance) on
repair job typically takes
dealing with insurance underonly half as much time as an
more equipment than we curunplanned job. In his book, Plant writers, Reeves adds.
rently do with a contractor.
It helps to have the thermogEngineers Handbook, Keith Mobley links the following benefits to raphy study in your preventive
maintenance report so the insurpreventive maintenance:
Maintenance costsdown by ance underwriter has proof that
a problem was fixed and that the
50 percent
Unexpected failuresreduced plant will stay up and running. If
your report shows you made the
by 55 percent
necessary repairs, the insurance
Repair and overhaul time
company will have no problem
down by 60 percent
Spare parts inventoryreduced covering downtime expenses,
Reeves says.
by 30 percent
Reeves encourages purchasers
30 percent increase in
machinery mean time between to take advantage of the twoday training that comes with the
failures (MTBF)
30 percent increase in uptime unit. Training covers technical
And for the typical manufacturing nuances such as conduction and
thermal dynamics. Designated
plant, a 10 percent reduction in
Fluke. Keeping your world
maintenance costs has the same technicians completing the train
up and running.
ing
can
then
show
others
at
the
bottom line impact as a 40
plant
how
to
become
effective
percent increase in sales.
with the device.
Fluke Corporation
The technology behind the
PO Box 9090, Everett, WA USA 98206
One
mill
employee
took
the
Fluke Ti30 thermal imager is
Fluke Europe B.V.
training
at
Snell
IR,
primarily
infrared thermography, which
PO Box 1186, 5602 BD
to
become
familiar
with
image
detects the infrared electroEindhoven, The Netherlands
analysis, said Feniak. Because
magnetic energy emitted by an
For more information call:
the imager itself is quite simple
In the U.S.A. (800) 443-5853 or
object and converts it into a
to use, we are training ourselves
Fax (425) 446-5116
signal that produces a color
In Europe/M-East/Africa +31 (0) 40 2675 200 or
in-house
on
how
to
operate
the
image on the camera screen for
Fax +31 (0) 40 2675 222
tool
and
capture
images.
In Canada (800)-36-FLUKE or
immediate viewing. The image
also can be stored for further
detailed analysis.

Fax (905) 890-6866


From other countries +1 (425) 446-5500 or
Fax +1 (425) 446-5116
Web access: http://www.fluke.com
2006 Fluke Corporation. All rights reserved.
Printed in U.S.A. 8/2006 2734769 A-EN-N Rev A

 Fluke Corporation Infrared thermography: part of an effective preventive maintenance strategy at Weyerhaeuser

You might also like