Infrared camera spots defects on North Sea oil rigs
15 Jan 2000
Preventative maintenance on BP's oil rigs in the Forties field of the North Sea has been streamlined thanks to a device no bigger than a handheld camcorder.
In fact, the device functions very like a camcorder - except that it works in the infrared region. It is a portable ThermCAM PM200 infrared image analysis camera from Inframetrics Infrared Systems.
Although the rigs have been using thermal imaging for some time, engineers in BP's operations and maintenance division have been taking the highly portable camera and its supporting software and card reader from platform to platform to reveal the full potential of the technique.
Its ability to identify hot spots in bearings and on other equipment such as pumps and motors can help verify instrument readings and data supplied by the equipment's own diagnostics.
The camera has really come into its own in producing thermal surveys of pipework and pressurised vessels, which in an offshore environment are particularly susceptible to the build-up of salt water scale and sand.
Thermal imaging picks up these blockages as cool spots and allows the company to assess levels of build-up non-intrusively and act accordingly before any blockages happen.
According to BP's Denis Catchpole, `the ThermCAM is now an integral part of our maintenance tool kit and we are constantly finding new uses for the equipment.' Weighing just 1.7kg, the camera produces simultaneous high resolution colour and mono images.
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