Thermal Imaging & Corona

SNAGS offer the following Corona surveys:

• Aerial Surveys of transmission assets (Using Helicopter)
• High and medium voltage substations / Transmission & Distribution assets.
• Switchgear

Advantages

• Inspection for corona sources is important throughout the life time of any substation / distribution or transmission, and in particular during commissioning of these same assets.
• Daytime corona cameras enable pinpointing sources of corona partial discharge and designate thereby faulty components and components in deteriorating stages.
• Using (HVS) systems in Substations / Transmission & Distribution can prevent outages and flashovers and reduces significantly the maintenance costs.

Thermal Imaging Cameras (IR)

All High Voltage Solution (HVS) condition monitoring surveys or insurance audits (either PD, HV – LV, energy or Mechanical audits) use an IR camera as one of its diagnostic tools. Thermal imaging has evolved into one of the most valuable diagnostic tools for predictive maintenance. By detecting anomalies often invisible to the naked eye, thermography allows corrective action to be taken before costly system failures occur.

Applications

There are endless numbers of applications for thermal imaging cameras in the Predictive Maintenance Area:

Low Voltage Inspections

IR cameras are commonly used for electrical inspections, As electrical connections become loose, there a resistance to current that can cause an increase in temperature (I² R = Watts) resulting in unplanned outages and injuries. In addition, the efficiency of an electrical grid becomes low prior to a failure, thus energy is spent generating heat causing unnecessary losses increasing your carbon foot print.

High Voltage Inspections

As with Low Voltage inspections, we use IR cameras to check the following areas:

Switchyards: Disconnector, transformer connections, bushings.

Substations: Switchgear, transformers (cooling radiators – core temperatures), cables & circuit breakers. With IR technology it is possible to locate the exact source of the heating allowing corrective action to be prior to it becoming a real problem.

Mechanical

In many industries, mechanical systems serve as the backbone of operations. Thermography data & trending of data can be invaluable of complimentary information to vibration studies in mechanical equipment monitoring. Using advanced software images can be down loaded & embedded into a report.