Marine Thermal Inspections

An important advantage of thermography is its non-contact, non-invasive function that allows equipment or processes to be monitored or inspected without being stopped. Moreover, inspection is fast and the instantaneous image allows potential areas of concern to be identified immediately unlike other condition monitoring and NDT techniques.

Applications

  • Propulsion Machinery Surveys
  • Electrical Equipment Surveys
  • Hot Surface Surveys   
  • Selected Machinery Surveys
  • General Electromechanical Maintenance


Use For
Switchgear…Overheating motor contactor..

  • Inspect a switchboard with the naked eye and everything may look normal, look at it with the thermal camera and you will see a different picture.
  • Easily identify overloaded circuits, loose connections, un-balanced phases…etc.
  • Overheating of electrical components is not only dangerous, but significantly reduces the useful life leading to premature failure.


Hot Surfaces…Damaged exhaust lagging

  • Oil leakage hitting hot spots on engines is the major cause of engine-room fires onboard ship. According to casualty statistics more than 60% of all engine room fires have been initiated by a hot spot. Most lubrication, hydraulic and fuel oils have an autoignition point above 250o C. If a liquid hits a surface hotter than its autoignition temperature the liquid may ignite spontaneously. Any such hot spot is an immediate hazard in case of oil leakage.


Machinery…Suspect motor DE bearing...Overheating motor bearings

  • Thermographic imaging of running machinery can play an important part in condition monitoring and assessment. Mis-aligned shafts, dry bearings, loose couplings...etc all exert adverse loads in the machinery in question, which in turn generates localised heat - which can be detected and quantified.


Propulsion…

  • For record keeping. Routinely scan all propulsion machinery i.e. M/E crankcase, Xhead bearings, scavenge spaces, thrust bearing, tail shaft bearing and stern seal. This gives a reference point when carrying out the intermediate checks (usually with a non contact infrared thermometer).


Faulty electrical components

  • Many industrial fires are caused by faulty electrical components, which result in costly down time and expensive recovery in terms of lost production and replacement of equipment. By detecting heat build-ups or hot spots, thermography provides early detection of potential electrical fires and allows planned monitoring of electrical systems and the scheduling of preventative maintenance actions before serious damage occurs.


Exposed generator exhaust uptake

  • Overloaded motor contactor



Marine Patrol

  • Thermal imagers are ideal in marine applications, as the open expanse of water and limited amount of heat sources makes thermal imaging easy and effective. A thermal imager can help marine officers covertly monitor an area for illegal activity, such as drug smuggling, or piracy. This can also be helpful in identifying and tracking “drops” when the smuggled goods are left floating in the water for later pick-up. The heat sources of boats, personal water craft and even swimmers will be in stark contrast to the background temperatures of the water and shoreline; this makes locating, monitoring and tracking them relatively easy. A thermal imager can also help officers locate boaters and swimmers in distress, even in moderate fog.