Can Infrared Thermal Imaging Be Used In Demolition?

 - April 25, 2017

A while back, we talked about using infrared thermal imaging technology in roofing and since, many people have contacted me asking  about the use of this great innovative technology in other areas of construction. Guys, just to make one thing clear: this imaging can be used in any situation during which you need information on thermal activity, or something that is behind a wall etc. So the simple/short answer for the deconstruction question, would be: absolutely!

You can pretty much find applications for anything you want in your daily life. So that is not the correct question. The right question you need to ask is: what are some specific applications of it that are going to help versus something else we do in its place?

Well, when it comes to demolition the range of uses can be from identifying places of a building that have increased temperature (that may be due to gas leaks and material disturbance) all the way up to discovering a trapped worker under debris. In the first case, a demolition contractor would have to go in with machinery and remove all those structures in a very surgical way, before he moves on to deconstruction or implosion. In the second case…well that would be a great tragedy, so I won’t talk too much about that.

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In Construction Applications, Demolition Applications, Infrared Thermal Imaging

And…we’re back!

 - April 23, 2017

Yes, sorry for these weeks of being inactive, as we were preparing our thermal imaging company for some new product launches during this spring. As you know, during the more warmer months our products get an increased demand for use. So we needed to take care of that first before we come back to this wonderful community we have created.

Basically today’s article is more of a “let’s catch up” article to get things moving forward again. Have you found articles posted in previous weeks to be helpful? I think the more foundational ones explaining the importance of this technology are good to spark your interest but when you get into the more advanced, then it really becomes interesting.

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In Infrared Thermal Imaging

Infrared Thermal Cameras…Just For Fun!

 - March 1, 2017

When I got my day started today, I was wondering maybe I was being too serious about these cameras and this amazing technology in my latest posts. I said some pretty nasty things about contractors that are not using this technology in their professional lives and then it struck me: I’m doing this blog purely for fun. So why get so serious on things that don’t matter all that much? I mean don’t get me wrong, some of these matter too much! But the whole point of this blog, is to educate you and provide you with the knowledge you need about this fascinating piece of technology.

So today I will talk about some fun daily applications for which you can find use in the thermal cameras and basically have some fun with it. These cameras are great for gifts, so feel free to give these do your friends or even your children. It’s like the night vision masks. You feel kind of thrilled just for wearing them. Only in this case, you aren’t in fear of going blind due to a strong light.

Ever wonder how much milk is left in that milk bottle and you don’t want to shake it around like a crazy person? Just use the camera (which can also be installed on your phone) and look through it. If the milk is refrigerated (and you should if you don’t want it to go bad) then the blue mass of milk you see in the thermal image is your milk. Pretty simple right? Let’s say you want to see if your cat is just sleeping and is not dead. You simply point the camera over the cat, and if you see heat being produced, you know your cat is alive.

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In Infrared Thermal Imaging

Infrared Thermal Imaging In Roofing

 - February 28, 2017

We have said many things about taking advantage of this wonderful piece of technology in our every day lives. If you don’t have an idea of what I’m talking about or you are new, go here. The point is we discussed about people using it in their private professional lives, such as someone who is trying to find the termites behind the wall or perhaps someone looking to place insulation a new home and isn’t sure of the amount to knock out a great part of the outside temperatures. Also it was discussed that the use of infrared thermal imaging could be applied in fire departments, when firefighters would go into flaming buildings.

 

In this article, I want to talk about the use of the infrared thermal imaging technology in roofing and contractors that are responsible for roof installations or roof repairs. I didn’t know anything about this to be honest, however I read a blog the other day from a roofer talking about his new advanced roof detection techniques and methods, and one of those were the use of infrared thermal imaging. Feel free to visit his site: http://www.roofingcolumbia.org

As I’ve said before, these professionals that agree of the necessity of this technology, are probably the best in your market. Because if they care so much about new technology and things that will make them better in their job, you know you have a good roofer that will watch out for any issues on your roof. I know what most of you will wonder how exactly can infrared thermal imaging help a roofer out. If you were paying attention to the blogs you would get into the spirit of this all.

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In Construction Applications, Roofing Applications

Equipping public service departments with thermal cameras.

 - February 27, 2017

So I had a thought today: what if we tried and did some good with the infrared thermal imaging technology available to us, today? What if we tried to benefit and ease the lives of people around us? In the latest article I said that it could be used for contractors or even termite detecting companies. But I am not talking about private companies and private entities. I am referring to the public service that certain professionals offer, every day in their careers.

For instance, think of a firefighter. Many times they need to get into a building, and although they are not stupid to walk into a building (without being prepared) that is on fire, many times they question whether to enter a room that has extreme heat in it. So imagine an apartment building on fire, and firefighters trying to get into a room to save someone or to clear that area: extreme heat can cause great problems to them. So what if we provide them with the thermal imaging equipment to measure what’s actually happening in that room?

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In Infrared Thermal Imaging

How Do Infrared Thermal Imaging Cameras Work? (part 2)

 - February 27, 2017

In the part 1 article of this topic, we briefly mentioned some mechanical and technical features of the thermal cameras. Basically, what was mentioned was the way these cameras are able to read objects, thermally.

So in this article we will dive a little bit deeper into this and figure out a few more cool things about it. So we are going to focus on the qualities of the camera that are important for quantitative measures.

When we say quantitative measures, up to now we have been looking for things like temperature differentials. If you have a thermal camera, think of a home inspector who may see if there is a problem with the insulation of the house. He scans for gaps of cold air coming through the window, or in the case that the house is not sealed properly. Think of someone like a termite terminator. Someone is coming in your home and they know there are termites, but they need to find the nest. If you have a camera with good sensitivity, you can then scan the walls and look for a heat spot behind the wall which could be the sign of a termite nest. There you are not actually interested in the temperature measurement in terms of quantity but in terms of quality. It’s a qualitative measure which will give you more of a change, that will offer you a sign that you have found what you are looking for. If you are going to be using a camera to inspect a motor and whether it is running warm or hot, there is going to be a certain temperature where the barring is going to start failing. You know what your target is and you want to figure out what the temperature is.

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In Construction Applications, Infrared Thermal Imaging

What is infrared thermal imaging

 - February 27, 2017

Thermographic inspections have been used in over 30 years. In the hands of a trained and experienced operators, it can provide a wealth of information that will increase productivity and safety. There has never been a better time to capitalize on the benefits of an infrared inspection program. 

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In Infrared Thermal Imaging

How do infrared imaging cameras work? (part 1)

 - February 26, 2017

I think this is one of the most common question I will get (and am already getting) in regards to the infrared thermal imaging cameras. People are fascinated by the science behind it and thus want to learn more about the technology.

So for all you curious people out there, this article will be a real treat.

At the heart of most modern day thermal cameras is the microbolometer. What is the microbolometer you will ask me though…

It is an array of individual pixels each of which is able to sense or measure temperature through infrared radiation and then translate that to a thermal image. Of course, there are other types of senses in older thermal cameras (many times using photons.) The use of thermobolometers is really the reason the costs of thermal cameras have dropped so much. How these work is you have a whole array of the pixels. When the electromagnetic waves hit a sensor, then there is a change in resistance. With that, that changes the voltage which is read with a micro processor. So the processor is taking all the pixels to put the signals as a thermal image on a camera.

Microbolometers will sit in front of a special lense which captures the inferred electromagnetic waves coming in. When the radiation hits each of those pixels that changes the voltage and through a process it reaches the video processing. Now the resolution and sensitivity will determine how will the thermal camera perform. Some of the more popular resolutions for camera’s are:

  • 80 X 60 (low resolution)
  • 160 X 120 (low resolution)
  • 320 X 240 (medium resolution)
  • 640 X 480 (high resolution)
  • 1024 X 768 (high resolution)

That higher resolution means that you can often have a crisp picture which means you will be able to see more detail at a distance. So you will often be able to take better temperature readings from something in a distance. Things that impact that, are things like optics of the camera. The lens of the camera will determine it as well. Some cameras have a nice broad view. So when you point it you can have a broader image. On the other hand, there are some cameras with a more narrow picture.

Does that mean that cameras with smaller picture are worse? Ironically it doesn’t mean that at all! It depends on your application. If the target is smaller, then you want to go with the smaller picture while if it’s a larger target, you would go with the more wider cameras (common sense.)

Okay, you got a taste of what’s about to be unfold in front of you in upcoming days. Stay tuned for a lot more fascinating science based articles.

In Uncategorized

Hello all!

 - February 25, 2017

Everyone that is reading this blog post and will keep on reading our posts in the future, I just want to say a gigantic: Thank you!

You don’t know how much this means to me. I have been trying to create a platform that speaks solely about infrared thermal imaging for some time. Unfortunately I was procrastinating all this time but at some point I said: enough is enough. 

So today marks the launch of a new experience and a new journey. Something I will be proud of, for the rest of my life. I am a professional in thermal imaging, however this blog site I am putting together will serve as a source of information and education for all of you: amateurs but also professionals. I know many youngsters out there are wanting to become some day experts in this field, so hopefully this can work as an inspiration for you all!

Not much to say here, as it is the first post. Again I just want to thank you all in advance for visiting my blog and making this dream come a little bit closer to reality. 

From the bottom of my heart I thank you.

Yours truly,

Aaron

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