Environmental Analysis 41 Thermal Imaging Used to Monitor and Maintain District Heating Network


FLIRAdvanced Thermal Solutions (ATS) has announced a new applications report that describes how Linköping, Sweden, based company Termisk Systemteknik has developed an aircraft based system using a FLIR SC7600 thermal imaging camera to effectively monitor and maintain local district heating networks.


District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralised location for residential and commercial heating. Hot water or steam is distributed to households and companies through an underground network of pipes. District heating can potentially help to reduce a city's carbon footprint by increasing the efficiency of heating systems throughout the entire city. According to some researchers district heating is the cheapest method for a city to cut on carbon emissions. But maintaining a large district heating network can be a difficult task.


In Scandinavia district heating systems have been installed in many of the larger cities. But a significant portion of the district heating infrastructure is quite old. Old pipes tend to degenerate over time due to corrosion and will eventually start to leak. The exact numbers may vary but each year - Swedish companies lose several million cubic meters of water. This constitutes not only a


large financial loss, but also a loss to the environment as well.


Finding these leaks with conventional means is quite difficult. To solve this problem the thermography experts at Termisk Systemteknik mounted a FLIR SC7600 on the bottom of a small plane. By flying over the city and recording the thermal images, a thermal map is produced of the entire city on which district heating leaks can be detected and located. An automatic detection system was used on the thermal data to automatically point out leaks and other issues to the district heat maintenance teams.


The FLIR SC7600 thermal imaging camera that was used for the district heating monitoring system contains a cooled Indium Antimonide (InSb) infrared detector that produces thermal images with a resolution of 640 x 512 pixels at a thermal sensitivity of 20mK (0.02 °C). The FLIR SC7600 proved especially useful for this application because of its high frame rate and short integration time. The camera was able to capture full resolution thermal images at a frame rate of 100 Hz. Such high speed acquisition and short integration time proved indispensible when flying over a city at moderate speed whilst capturing sharp and clear thermal images.


Reader Reply Card No. 179 New CALION Standards for Calibration and Performance Validation


Torion Technologies (USA) introduces their new CALION Standards. The new CALION Performance Validation (PV) Mixes are unique, solvent-less standards used for calibration of GC retention indices, MS ion masses, and target compound concentrations. The CALION PV Mix #1 contains 13 compounds specifically customized for calibration and performance validation of Torion’s person portable GC-TMS, the TRIDION-9. Custom CALION mixes are also available.


CALION standards come in a closed vial that contains standards adsorbed into a granular solid matrix. The solid matrix prevents standards that are typically liquid from spilling or leaking. CALION standards offer extended stability compared to conventional standards prepared in liquid solvents. They offer excellent reproducibility for time periods typically up to 30 days or more. In CALION standard mixes the adsorbed standards partition between the headspace of the closed vial and the solid sorbent granules to provide a fixed concentration of the analyte in the vial headspace. The standards in the vapor phase are collected using a solid phase microextraction (SPME) fiber. This technique is ideal for adsorbing the analytes from the headspace and transferring them to the injection port of a GC or GC-MS. Sampling is quick, easy and reliable with Torion’s novel CUSTODION SPME syringes. The CUSTODION SPME Syringe needle can be easily inserted into the headspace of the vial through a Mininert style vial. The SPME fiber is exposed to the vapor phase analytes for ~15 seconds to collect the standards. The standards are then analyzed on a GC or GC-MS system to complete calibration and performance validation procedures.


CALION PV Mix standards deliver consistent levels of calibrant compounds over multiple uses, which make them reproducible, quantitative, safe and easy to use. The calibration mixture allows GC-MS systems, such as the portable TRIDION-9 GC-TMS, to calibrate mass range, tune the MS, and calibrate retention times of the GC. The convenience of using CALION PV Mixes allows instrument tuning to occur in the field quickly, ensuring quality data and superior instrument performance..


Reader Reply Card No. 180


New Mercury Analyser Range Helps Labs Do More


CETAC Technologies (USA) launches a range of new mercury analyzers, QuickTraceTM


M-7600 and M-8000, to


the European market at the Analytica trade fair in Munich (April 17-20) – booth A1/122. These products will enable laboratory customers to analyse post-digest aqueous samples for total mercury to lower detection limits, faster than ever. Both instruments are built around patented gas-liquid separator technology that delivers the most stable signal possible for the ultimate in precision, accuracy and detection capability in a wide range of liquid sample types.


The all new M-7600 combines this with a novel dual beam atomic absorption spectrophotometer and filtered CCD detection system to offer robust, yet high performance analysis at an affordable price point. The M-8000 builds on this capability with optional dual gold amalgamation trap and atomic fluorescence spectrophotometer technology with a sensitive photomultiplier detection system, offering unsurpassed detection power. Sample introduction for both systems can be fully automated with CETAC’s industry standard ASX-500 series of autosamplers, with 1-, 2- or 4-rack options with or without autodilutor. HEPA filtered enclosures are available to facilitate the highest quality ultra-trace mercury analyses. Additional software flexibility and new methods of operation will also enable the fastest analysis of its kind. Unique QuickTrace software and hardware features also offer analysts the most intuitive user experience in the industry, with features such as gas-liquid separator overflow detection as standard on both models.


Both instruments offer outstanding performance, with the M-7600 capable of <0.5 ng/L (ppt) detection and the M-8000 capable of <0.05 ng/L (ppt). Accuracy of within 5% and precision of <2% RSD over extended periods are no problem, even at low ppt levels, making these analysers ideal for regulated water, waste and soil extract analyses. Typical analysis times per sample are from 1 to 3 minutes, depending upon the performance level required.


This all adds up to a mercury analyzer range that allows customers to do more than ever.


Reader Reply Card No. 181 Reader Reply Card No. 182 www.envirotech-online.com IET March / April 2012


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