SEEING THE INVISIBLE, TAKING THE TEMPERATURE OF THE UNTOUCHABLE
| Date | 01 October 1980 |
| Pages | 17-20 |
| Published date | 01 October 1980 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057152 |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
SEEING
THE
INVISIBLE,
TAKING
THE
TEMPERATURE
OF THE
UNTOUCHABLE
ALTHOUGH 180 years have passed
since Astronomer Royal Sir William
Herschel realised that there was more
to the electromagnetic spectrum than
met the eye and discovered infrared
radiation, thermography is still not as
widely accepted an industrial techni-
que as its remarkable benefits might
lead one to expect.
In fact, outside the really major
industrial companies and utilities like
the Central Electricity Generating
Board, thermography still appears to
be regarded rather as a subject for
"Tomorrow's World" than a tool for
today's industry-in Britain, at least.
Elsewhere, industry generally has
been quicker to recognise that follow-
ing Herschel to the rainbow's hot end
leads,
if not to a crock of gold, to a
host of benefits. The Swedes, for
instance, were quick to recognise the
industrial potential of a technology
which makes it possible to see the
invisible and take the temperature of
the untouchable. Their AGA
Infrared Systems AB dominates the
world markets for thermographic
equipment, including our own,
through its Leighton Buzzard, Beds,
subsidiary.
Like many techniques which have
subsequently been adopted in the
civilian sector, infrared detector sys-
tems were initially developed mainly
for military purposes, at first "active"
systems, using infrared beams to
illuminate targets for night sight-
equipped marksmen and gunners;
then, with the development of the
extremely sensitive photon detector,
"passive" systems, which produced
thermal images from the infrared
radiation emitted by the target.
Even then, the application of ther-
mography was limited by the scanning
time of ten minutes or more needed to
produce a thermogram or heat pic-
ture.
But in the 1960s AGA
developed and patented their Ther-
movision system, using rotating sili-
con prisms to produce the first com-
mercial real-time thermographic sys-
tem.
The Thermovision system, produc-
ing a television-type raster-line pic-
ture of the target, meant that ther-
mograms could be produced for mov-
Focus
on
the
benefits of
thermography
ing objects, and objects whose temp-
erature was constantly changing.
Photography of the image could
provide permanent records, scales
could be incorporated to make accu-
rate assessment of the temperature of
various parts of the image possible (in
the normal, monochrome mode, high
temperatures show as white, low
temperatures as black, though colour
imaging is now available) and infor-
mation could be stored on tape for
computer analysis.
At first, equipment was cumber-
some and, as is usually the case with
new technology - witness the pocket
calculator - expensive. Now, how-
ever, continuous development to
meet the temperature inspection,
measuring, recording and monitoring
needs of a wide range of users, from
medical researchers to maintenance
engineers, has led to new generations
of highly portable, battery-operated
infrared systems, such as the AGA
Thermovision 110 thermal viewer
and the AGA Thermopoint 80 com-
puterised non contact thermometer.
Scarcely more difficult to use than
the pocket camera its numerals echo,
the Thermovision 110, produces an
instant thermal image, making it ideal
for on-site trouble-shooting, where
DECEMBER 1980 17
To continue reading
Request your trial