Plant Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance

doi:10.1117/3.725072.ch7

Book: Practical Applications of Infrared Thermal Sensing and Imaging Equipment, Third Edition

Author(s): Herbert Kaplan

Published: 2007

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.725072.ch7

Author Affiliations +

Abstract

The use of thermal sensing and imaging in plant condition monitoring and predictive maintenance is probably the most widespread of all current applications. From periodic spot checks of bearing temperatures on rotating machinery to fully documented facility-wide programs of predictive maintenance, condition monitoring accounts for the deployment of more thermographic equipment than any other commercial use. The basis for these programs is the fact that erratic or deviant thermal behavior of operating equipment is generally a precursor to costly and inefficient operation and then to failure.