Infrared Thermography in the Balkans Cartonboard Mill - Starting From Scratch

Our goals for thermography are straightforward, try to avert unscheduled downtime and save a lot of money. Thermography is an efficient tool for these purposes as well as for other tasks like tracking changes in cartonboard through the machine process and detecting faulty insulation in the steam system. It is important that management realizes that implementing a predictive maintenance program using thermography makes sense, and buys into the decision. It takes some time to establish efficient infrared inspection routines, to optimize inspection time and intervals, and become knowledgeable with the thermal properties of process equipment. A lot of machinery and energy means many hot spots on both the electrical and mechanical equipment, as well as the steam and condensate systems. My first successful findings were ventilation problems on AC and DC motors, overloaded motors, and loose and misaligned belts. In my experience, thermography lends itself to new applications every day, like cooling down the cartonboard after the coating section while avoiding condensation, calculating heat loss caused by faulty boiler insulation, or determining the source of moisture variations in cartonboard.