Hydrogen is expected to play an important role in Australia’s continued journey to net zero, and maintaining safety in the industry is paramount.
Though the Australian energy industry has evolved significantly over previous decades, one thing that has remained consistent is a focus on safety, with asset monitoring playing an important role in preventing, monitoring and addressing hazards.
As technology has advanced, this has become much simpler – and thermal imaging in particular has been a game changer.
The technology offers the unique ability to visualise potential issues that are not always observable to the naked eye.
This feature is critical in the energy sector, where safety hazards that can have disastrous consequences – such as gas leaks, hotspots in electrical infrastructure and invisible flames – can go unnoticed.
Solving hydrogen hazards
Hydrogen projects are booming in Australia because of the renewable resource’s potential as a clean energy superpower – however, they are not without hazards.
Hydrogen is a highly flammable gas that can ignite in the presence of oxygen, and unlike methane and gasoline, it burns with a nearly invisible flame in daylight.
This is of particular concern for technicians completing purging or flaring works during system setup, maintenance or leak detection,
where it is crucial that workers have a good view of the flame.
Common technologies used to monitor hydrogen flames include thermocouples, ultraviolet sensors and infrared sensors. These techniques, however, do not allow workers to actually see the hydrogen flame.
Thermal cameras, on the other hand, enable technical staff to visualise the exact movement of the flames by picking up the thermal radiation they emit.
Other benefits of thermal imaging equipment include:
- Improved situational awareness: thermal imaging cameras provide a visual representation of the entire scene, including hydrogen flare installation
- Improved staff safety: detection sensors inside a thermal camera do not need to make physical contact with the flame, so technical staff can monitor flames from a safe distance
- Multiple uses: beyond flame detection, thermal detection cameras can be used for electrical inspections, mechanical inspections and more
- Identifying temperature differences: thermal imaging cameras enable maintenance workers to visualise subtle temperature differences, enabling them to detect hotspots, overheating problems and possible equipment malfunctions
- Fewer false alarms: thermal imaging cameras are less prone to false alarms caused by non-flame sources such as sunlight, welding arcs or hot surfaces
A targeted solution
FLIR’s thermal and acoustic technologies offer the most efficient method of monitoring energy assets and ensuring safe operation for workers.
All FLIR cameras provide users with detail-rich thermal images in a variety of thermal colour palettes, and there are a range of products to support technical professionals to work safely with hydrogen.
For example, the Si2 acoustic imaging camera can detect gas leaks by visualising the sound of a leak from up to 200m away, and the G343 – an optical gas imaging camera – can visualise hydrogen leaks by using carbon dioxide (CO2) as a tracer gas.
Products such as the E8 Pro handheld infrared camera quickly pinpoint hotspots with the assistance of multi-spectral dynamic imaging, which brings the visual and thermal spectrums together. The technology can also be used in other applications across the energy industry more broadly.
With FLIR, Australia can continue to safely forge ahead with its renewable energy transition.
For more information, visit flir.com.au
