Drone thermal imagery was used to identify air inleakage and insulation concerns on a coal plants’ baghouse to improve the unit’s efficiency. For this project, variations on the building’s outside siding indicated where insulation improvements could be made to minimize unwanted heat loss. On the inside, uniformity was seen among some bag groupings; however, others showed temperature ranges that the owner would address.
Thermal imagery is also valuable for electrical connection issues, on everything from breakers to high-voltage power lines within plant facilities. It also can be used along transmission and distribution networks. The thermal imagery captured by Hanson’s drone can provide pixel-specific temperatures, which can be used to identify temperature spreads across equipment during the evaluation of a client’s operations.