A refinery company in Germany is using thermal imaging to monitor its hydro reformers, enabling it to keep the installations up and running efficiently. Bayernoil has purchased a Flir infrared camera to make the inspections at its sites.
The high temperature hydro reformer installations at Bayernoil run constantly and at 100 per cent capacity to satisfy the high demand for their petroleum products. Hence the major importance of condition monitoring and preventive maintenance of furnaces and heat supply.
The information gathered by the furnace camera has helped Bayernoil to determine when furnace temperature sensors need to be exchanged, indicate if the temperature of piping stays within acceptable safe limits, provide information if productivity can be raised and to assess the condition of the furnace burners to determine whether they have to be adjusted or cleaned.
Engineers regularly inspect the different types of furnaces at the three Bayernoil sites with a Flir GF309 furnace camera. Calibrated for measurements of up to 1,500ºC, the camera provides temperature reading across entire high-temperature surface areas, enabling a faster inspection in critical or potentially hazardous environments. The camera's protective shield is designed not only to reflect the heat away from the camera and its user, but also entirely cover the area of a furnace inspection window.
Using the Flir Reporter software suite on the GF309 camera, Bayernoil engineers are able to gather and analyse their findings and to share them with the process safety, production and maintenance specialists at the plants, enabling them to assess and optimise production.
