The Emergency Response Teams of Firefighting Units need to be furnished with technological solutions to be able to respond in case of incidents, whether they are leaks, fires or even explosions.

Obviously, the response actions vary depending on the local regulations and conditions, but, for example, two typical response actions are location, isolation and ventilation in the case of leaks, and cooling and containment of the case of fires or explosions.

The Challenge:

Some industrial and domestic use gases, as hydrogen, methane or phosphine, have low ignition temperatures and have characteristics (low energy to ignite, very inflammable in
contact with air, etc) that make them very dangerous.

Leak detection of these gases is challenging because many are colorless, odorless, and
disperse rapidly when leaking. Their low molecular weight allows them to escape through extremely small openings, often producing weak or negligible thermal signatures. Additionally, in industrial environments, the background noise can mask ultrasonic emissions, making leaks difficult to identify without specialized acoustic imaging tools.

Flir Si1-LD Industrial Acoustic Imaging Camera for Compressed Air Leak Detection

Flir Si1-LD for the detection of leaks of highly flammable gases:

Flir Si1-LD helps firefighter teams to quickly and easily locate the exact source of the leaks, while detecting them from long distances, as for example 15-50 meters, keeping the firefighting professionals out of high risk zones. 

It also helps to confirm whether a leak is still active, as for the decision-making process
during or after incident inspections. 

In addition to this, for prevention purposes, it locates micro leaks during rutinary
inspections, reducing incidents probability.

Safety and time-in-action as a benefit:

Using Flir Acoustic Imaging Solution can help to early detect leaks of flammable gases, preventing fires, explosions, intoxications, very costly downtimes, and major losses. Reducing as well significantly the leak localization work, making it possible in minutes, instead of in hours.

A single major incident may cost from some hundred thousand to several million dollars, potentially leading as well into injuries or even fatalities.