Every compression stage
Each stage and rotor is imaged and given its own observation and disposition.
Technical services · Thermal imaging
Thermal imaging that sees heat before it becomes damage.
Thermal imaging finds abnormal heat generation, stage-to-stage temperature imbalances, bearing conditions and cooling or lubrication problems across the whole compressor package and its drive motor.
What we measure
Where the readings come from.
Drive motor
Motor operating temperature and the cooling that serves it.
Heat-of-compression balance
Whether heat is distributed the way a balanced, healthy compressor distributes it.
The whole package
Overall package imaging catches anything the stage-by-stage survey would not.
What it tells us
Signatures, and what they mean.
- Stage-to-stage temperature imbalance
- Non-uniform heat of compression, inconsistent with a mechanically healthy, balanced machine.
- Abnormal heat distribution that matches a vibration finding
- Confirms a developing internal mechanical problem rather than an instrument or operating anomaly.
- High water temperature rise across the motor heat exchanger
- A cooling-flow problem; left alone, bearing and insulation breakdown follow.
- No abnormal pattern
- A thermal baseline for the next survey to be compared against.
From a recent assessment
The motor, not the compressor.
On one recent unit every compression stage imaged clean. The drive motor did not: it was running well outside normal thermal parameters, and the water temperature rise across its heat exchanger was extremely high.
The disposition was to fix the water flow through the heat exchanger right away, because bearing and insulation breakdown are what follow sustained high motor temperatures.
What you receive
Evidence, not a sales pitch.
Thermal imaging is one of four disciplines read together in every condition assessment. One finding can be noise; several pointing the same way is a diagnosis.
- Thermal images for each stage, the motor and the package
- An observation and disposition for each
- Correlation with the vibration findings
- A thermal baseline for future surveys
The other disciplines
Vibration analysis Bearings, rotors, gears, alignment, looseness and imbalance, stage by stage. Learn more Oil analysis Wear metals, contamination, oxidation and moisture inside the machine. Learn more Performance & surge testing Pressure, flow, efficiency and how much operating margin is left. Learn more
Find out what your compressors actually need.
A condition assessment reads vibration, heat, oil and performance together and gives every machine a plain verdict.