Thermal cameras equipped with advanced analytics software find use in condition monitoring applications as well as asset protection
Teledyne FLIR has released its latest set of thermal imaging cameras that are finding greater use in industrial applications beyond the detection of fires.
The FLIR A500f and A700f Advanced Smart Sensors are ruggedised thermal cameras featuring high-temperature detection for extreme environments paired with on-camera analytics and alarm capabilities, making them ideal for industrial early fire detection or outdoor condition monitoring applications. Along with enhanced spot, area, line, polygon, and polyline analytic functions that improve the definition of areas of interest and object curvatures, the A500f/A700f can help commercial and industrial organisations protect assets, improve safety, maximise uptime and minimise maintenance costs.
Fire Detection and Monitoring
For early fire detection, the A500f and A700f thermal cameras can quickly identify increased temperatures related to potentially dangerous conditions.
If smoke is present, the cameras can help provide increased awareness for decision makers to properly assess and address incidents. Both cameras feature Flexible Scene Enhancement (FSX) technology, found on Teledyne FLIR K-Series handheld firefighting devices. The result is an ultra-sharp, finer-textured image that shows subtler edge details supplied by the embedded visible camera onto the thermal image, enabling operators to recognise objects and people more easily.
The A500f/A700f are also effective tools for pile-burn monitoring, providing automated early warnings for potential issues in waste management facilities or coal collection areas that operate around the clock.
Industrial Condition Monitoring
Manufacturing facilities, chemical processing locations or power substations that use common communications and control language can also benefit from the A500f and A700f beyond fire detection.
These cameras empower those organisations to reduce maintenance costs by identifying heat anomalies from mechanical problems early, thereby extending the life of plant components while maximising uptime.
Rugged Design for Outdoor Applications
Featuring a protective IP67-rated housing designed to withstand temperatures between -30° to 50°C, the A500f/A700f cameras are designed for harsh environments and discreet enough to deter from theft. In addition, the cameras use a single power-over-Ethernet (PoE) cable for both power and communication, helping to further minimise points of potential failure.
The A500f/A700f offers superior thermal imaging capability with a resolution of 464 x 348 (161,472) for the A500f and 640 x 480 (307,200) thermal pixel resolution for the A700f. Users can expect a ±2° C temperature measurement accuracy.
The A500f has a temperature detection range between -20° to 1500°C, while the A700f offers a temperature range of between 20° to 2000°C for detecting chemical fires and other extreme industrial fire conditions.
Along with thermal lens options ranging from 14° to 42° and an embedded HD visible camera, these devices fulfil the needs of most outdoor condition monitoring and fire detection applications.
Surveillance Integration
With its heritage in security and defence applications, FLIR has experience in surveillance camera integration and building camera systems, both thermal and conventional. To this end, both cameras are compliant with the ONVIF IP video camera interface standard and can easily integrate into conventional security Video Management Systems (VMS) and network video recording systems including control of pan and tilt functions.
For VMS integration, thermal and visible streams can be viewed independently or simultaneously on control screen arrays. The cameras are easy to add, set up and operate in HMI (Human Machine Interface) and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems. Both the A500f and A700f fully support IIoT protocols such as MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) and RESTful API with a system unique token key for extra security.