Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Is There A Single Maintenance Inspection Window That Allows Both Infrared and Ultrasound Inspections?

Six months ago, a new engineer was hired as the head of the Heath & Safety department at your company.  He has initiated weekly, hour-long training sessions for the maintenance team, focusing on new models for conducting electrical asset maintenance and safety inspections.  A few of the sessions concentrated on the NFPA 70E 2018  guidelines that outline new electrical safety standards in the workplace.  The company has decided to begin the transition to a Condition Based Maintenance program utilizing both infrared and ultrasound technologies.  At a recent reliability conference, you were introduced to a maintenance inspection window that allows both infrared and ultrasound testing to be performed with a single device.  Since the company will incorporate both infrared and ultrasound technologies, you decided to search for information on this single inspection window that offers dual capabilities.  Let’s see what your search has uncovered.

When electrical distribution equipment fails, the results can be catastrophic to a company.  Workplace injuries and fatalities could occur.  A company’s profit margin can be negatively impacted by unscheduled downtime causing lost productivity and lost revenue.  Besides large fines from governing bodies, the company could face large worker’s compensation payouts and civil litigation. Companies constantly search for products to mitigate the risk of equipment failure and improve the safety in the work environment.

Electrical asset inspections can be performed while the asset is under full load but in a safe and guarded condition.  Frequent inspections of these assets will provide a data history allowing the maintenance team to routinely assess the health of an electrical asset and determine when that asset needs to be repaired or replaced.  Utilizing both infrared and ultrasound technology, the maintenance team can perform these inspections safely and routinely using a single maintenance inspection window without opening any panels.

Is there a single maintenance inspection window that provides both infrared and ultrasound capabilities? 

The answer is YES! There is a manufacturer in the United States that designed a Maintenance Inspection Window that allows the maintenance team to take high quality infrared thermograms and listen to and record ultrasound waves on electrical equipment.  These Windows are compliant with many of the stringent global Standards such as UL, CSA, CE, etc.  This Window incorporates a patented Poly-View System™ polymer for infrared inspection and an ultrasound port or embedded sensor all the while maintaining a safe, closed and guarded condition for the inspection team.  Another main feature of this Window is the ability to customize into any size or shape needed to get the inspection job done. These Maintenance Inspection Windows are truly a “Safety by Design” tool as outlined in NFPA 70E 2018.

Conclusion:

This single Maintenance Inspection Window with dual inspection technologies is gaining popularity as a key critical product used in a Condition Based Maintenance program.  Companies are continuously searching for solutions to mitigate risk, reduce operating costs and increase productivity.   Companies recognize that preventing equipment failures by performing proactive maintenance inspections saves them time and money in the long run. A single Maintenance Inspection Window that offers both Infrared and Ultrasound capability are cost effective and prove to be a critical tool in a Condition Based Maintenance Inspection model.