FLIR Systems Ltd

Unlike other oil and gas production companies who subcontract condition monitoring Marathon Oil is committed to undertaking this highly valuable work in house. Reliability Offshore Supervisor Lee McFarlane explains, “We see great value in having our own equipment and in training a dedicated team of technicians. It allows us to collate all the data to get maximum return from our reliability programme.”

In 100 years infrared imaging has evolved from a complex scientific exploration of what lies beyond red light in the electromagnetic spectrum to a pervasive technology with applications including science, industry, security, search & rescue, law enforcement, CSI, military, art conservation, agriculture, forestry and medicine. It even has an artistic side that almost anyone with a digital camera can try for themselves.

Infrared inspection is integral to the loss control evaluation service that Chubb Insurance provides its commercial customers. The company employs in the region of seventy certified thermographers worldwide who it assigns to check the health of customers’ electrical and mechanical assets to minimise fire risk and costly downtime and ensure personnel safety.

FLIR, the world largest supplier of infrared cameras, has introduced two new mid-range products to bring the choice of models in this range to no less than ten. Dedicated to applications in the building sector, these new additions are primarily designed to help reduce energy consumption in line with the EU’s new energy declaration legislation.

FLIR’s stand at Maintec 2010 will remind the visitor of the company’s considerable and continuous investment in infrared camera research and development. FLIR will be showing more infrared cameras than ever at the event, each with added value features to provide easy access to new applications. This applies to cameras in the low cost compact range right up to the flagship professional units, a product programme that covers 40 different infrared camera models.

A complete product range offering the user a wide choice of models has been FLIR’s strategy for many years. Indeed, today the company offers more than forty different infrared camera models for diverse applications.

Calling anyone who is keen to adopt infrared or upgrade an existing camera but has to work within a constrained budget. FLIR is selling off its ex-demonstration models with savings from 15% off list price.

With the launch of the FLIR T335 infrared camera, a broad range of industrial professionals now have a highly affordable and versatile, high-end model at their disposal. It provides advanced functionality for those who do not require the greater sophistication of the FLIR top-of-the-range P-Series cameras.

Once the preserve of a specialist thermographer with a large budget, thermal imaging is now easily affordable and widely used across industry. It is a fast, effective and safe way of establishing if a component, system, process or structure is not performing as it should and as a result the take-up of the technology is now at an all time high.

With the introduction of the new FLIR i7, the price threshold has been lowered for an infrared camera that meets the higher requirements of building and more demanding predictive maintenance applications.

Small features can make a big difference to the functionality of a thermal imaging camera and the new contrast optimiser on the FLIR top-of-the-range B-Series model, the B600, is no exception. This camera and its counterpart in the FLIR P-Series plant maintenance range are the first commercial models to have this feature. It is a special algorithm that allows details in contrast-rich infrared images to be seen with greater distinction.

FLIR’s latest generation B-Series infrared cameras come with a range of new features providing easy access to new applications. And these hardware developments are complemented by the brand new Reporter Building software that allows energy savings to be quantified in a professional report. Reporter Building is a plug-in module for the industry leading Reporter software. It enables the user to add a wide variety of information such as energy costs, temperature and humidity data from third party equipment and process this to quantify energy loss per square metre. The module comes with a host of pre-configured templates for the production of standard air tightness test, energy declaration analysis and energy loss reports.

Although FLIR’s ability to inspect furnaces using infrared dates back to 1979, its new FLIR GF309 is the first portable infrared camera dedicated for the purpose. However, just because it has been equipped with a special mid-wave flame filter that is specifically engineered for high temperature inspection, the application scope of this camera is much greater. As well as being able to see through flames it can also be used for high accuracy electrical and mechanical inspection too, considerably enhancing its value.

Three years ago FLIR revolutionised gas and VOC leak detection by applying infrared technology to the application. It has since developed a series of dedicated cameras that allow the user to inspect large areas of plant in real time and pinpoint the source of the leak; models can detect a range of hazardous and greenhouse gases including SF6. As a result these cameras are now used extensively in the petrochemical, chemical and power generation sectors to protect personnel, reduce waste, contain costs and ensure environmental compliance.

Recently appointed to represent FLIR in the west of the UK is Ian Davis. He replaces Alan Grant who left the company after 25 years service.

For those investing in infrared for R&D applications, industry leader FLIR has produced an information-packed resource guide.

Solution selling has always attracted Paul Wilson and was one of the main reasons behind his decision to join FLIR as its new Area Sales Manager for the South. “I really enjoy being able to get to grips with the needs of an application and supplying a product that can really make a difference,” he said. “FLIR thermography fits that profile perfectly.”

The latest models of the FLIR mid-range T-Series infrared cameras contain no less that five new areas of function development. This faithfully follows the company’s policy to continually develop its products to add value by providing easy access to new applications.

By constantly adding value to its P-Series thermal imaging cameras, FLIR Systems has introduced the huge benefits of infrared to more and more industry sectors. Recently it was the first to introduce GPS as part of the feature set, greatly extending the application scope of maintenance professionals whose work takes them to multiple sites. And now with the latest upgrades FLIR Systems is again making it even easier for more applications to be addressed by a P600 Series camera, achieving greater operator efficiency and quicker return on investment.