Talk about being a newbie crawling up the learning curve. The Company handed me a Flir P65 two weeks ago and said I need you to be able to use this thing effectively in two days.

My question is I have a leaking tank. The tank is made of 1/2" carbon steel. There is about a 1 " layer on the outside of that of calcium type insulation. Then an layer of concrete on the outside of that about a foot thick. There is a leak in the tank. The leaking liquid is about 200 degrees F. My supervisors want to know where to start breaking out concrete. They guessed that the heat signature of the flow should have given them an idea of where to start. However, when I shot the tank the wall looked to be about the same temperature all the way around. The tank is about 30 ft x 15 ft x 20 ft high. Would the concrete heat up that evenly or should I consider the whole calcium layer my have filled up?

Aub

You should be able to do this fairly well.

Is the tank indoor or outdoor? What were the weather conditions, ambient temperature enviroment etc.?

Although your employer is asking a lot from you. It is very unreasonable to expect you to be proficient in two days without any training, when a Level 1 training course takes five days. They have supplied you with top quality equipment and in order for them to get a proper return on their investment they need to invest on some formal training for you.

http://www.infraredtraining.com/

Aubrey,
I'm skeptical that this is a good application for IR Thermography. I would not be supprised if you get no result or a false positive indication (leak location is incorrect). It would be a shame for a Newbee to not succeed in his first effort on this challenging problem.

What is total leak rate? Have you considered ultrasound method? Ultrasound has been used very successfully for detecting leaks in buried oil tanks.

Walt

The material leaking is green liquor from a recovery boiler. Getting close enough to use a probe is hazardous at best. I did not get any temperature differential anywhere around the tank except from where the liquor was coming out. We don't have ultrasound equipment yet. I am working on that.

I have been able to "catch" a hot gearbox with the camera. Chalk one up for the newb.

Aub

Yeah, they are throwing you a curve ball.

If the tank is outside, do the examination when there are no influences of sun - early morning (pre-dawn) would probably be best, but late at night (several hours after the sun leaves) would also work.

Also, plan on putting the images onto your computer to review. My experience with different model cameras is that I can see things much better on the computer than on the camera. It's the same data, but I have much better control of the image's display on the computer than on the camera. For example, I can display a much tighter temperature scale on the computer. This may not be a factor with your camera; I am not intimately familiar with it.

Try those approaches, if they don't work, there are a couple of other ways to try to enhance what you are seeing.

Good luck,
Jack

I recently imaged an up flow tower in our bleach plant some 150'+ tall. The consultant I did the work for indicated they have found leaks in tile linings with IR. I imaged the tower after sunset so that sunlight did not influence the shell temp. This tower had a carbon shell with a chemical resistant liner. We are trending differential temps looking for a wet spot. Have not seen anything, but the consultant said that is good. We will image it again in 4 months to compare.

Gary B

The tank has "healed" itself for the time being. Thanks for all the ideas.

Aubrey