IRWeb INFO

This YouTube video from a local State of Michigan Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) office demonstrates how a blower door and infrared camera are used for home weatherization/energy efficiency measures.

This is not a “how to” video. The measures taken in this footage should not be attempted without professional assistance.

To assure accurate noncontact infrared temperature measurement (on the Raytek Corporation website)

A brief discussion of five key factors that have to be taken into account when planning use of an IR thermometer to make a noncontact temperature measurement.

These then are expanded upon in other Raytek web pages as part of the their website education area.

The Five Key Elements, you ask?

According to Raytek they are:

* Distance to Target (Spot) Ratio
* Field of View
* Environmental Conditions
* Ambient Temperatures
* Emissivity

Editors Note: We think that’s an excellent start, but would add that response time and traceable calibration as two equally important factors, if one is planning to make truly serious temperature measurements, such as is often encountered when using the measurement in controlling a process that has time-variable properties.

An online article in Photonics Online by Dave Bursell, Director, Science Segment at FLIR Systems, Inc. in North Billerica, MA USA. it explains about the physics of Infrared thermal emission, how it is related to the surface temperature of an object.

He goes further to also explain how the thermal radiation is collected, processed and displayed in an imager. An excellent introductory article to the subject.

TO GIVE STUDENTS A VOICE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING
In honor of Blog Action Day!

SANTA MONICA CA, USA — –/WORLD-WIRE/– Miles Electric Vehicles announced today that it is supporting NO GAS REQUIRED, a web site dedicated to helping students take direct action for positive environmental change. To kick off the launch of this online education and advocacy forum, Miles Electric Vehicles has also announced that it is partnering with NO GAS REQUIRED to promote the MILES Revolution Video Contest, which gives students the opportunity to create environmentally-themed videos for a chance to win $1,000 for themselves and a free MILES all-electric/no-emissions car for their college or university.

“Students are an extremely influential demographic and are at the vanguard of the sustainability movement,” said Miles Electric Vehicles CEO Jeff Boyd. “The MILES Revolution Video Contest asks students to use their creativity to spread the message of zero emissions transportation alternatives and make a difference on their campuses.”

Boyd added that nogasrequired.com offers an interactive forum where students can learn and dialogue about the environment and resources that help them take action to build a carbon-neutral society.

Students interested in participating in the contest should view the “MILES Revolution” video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emsaAXN2cDI then interpret it in their own unique style through any medium of expression (provided that it can ultimately be recorded in a video format). Entries should be submitted on the “UPLOAD” area of the NO GAS REQUIRED site. Qualifying submissions will then be posted by the NO GAS REQUIRED staff on YouTube for public viewing.

The five students whose works of video art garner the most views on YouTube will each be awarded a $1,000 cash scholarship. Each will also have a MILES all-electric vehicle donated to their college or university, in his or her name, to help reduce the campus’ carbon footprint. (Based on typical fleet driving, a university can eliminate roughly 12,000 pounds of annual carbon emissions for each gas-powered vehicle it replaces with an all-electric car or truck.)

To enter, visit www.nogasrequired.com and click on the “CREATE” tab for rules, eligibility, submission upload instructions, and contest-related downloads, including marketing materials (logos, tag, flyers, etc.) to promote participation at your college or university.

Learn More

To learn more about www.nogasrequired.com or Miles Electric Vehicles and/or the emerging all-electric vehicle marketplace, contact Beth McGroarty at 213.300.0107, beth@rbicom.com.
About Miles Electric Vehicles

Miles Electric Vehicles is dedicated to building safe, comfortable, and affordable all-electric cars and trucks that make it easy for drivers and buyers to make a difference. The company’s advanced low-speed vehicles are utilized by a prestigious fleet customer base that includes Stanford, UCLA, California State Polytechnic University, NASA, the U.S. Navy, the National Park Service, and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Building on its low-speed production experience, MILES is on track to introduce the first safe, affordable, mass-produced all-electric highway-speed vehicle (the MILES XS500 sedan) to the U.S. market.

Founded in 2005 by entrepreneur/activist Miles Rubin, Miles Electric Vehicles is owned by S. Shamash & Sons and headquartered in Santa Monica, CA. To learn more about our vision and vehicles, visit www.mileselectricvehicles.com.

Selected Window Thermographs From the IRLab at LBRL

The Infrared Thermography Laboratory (IRLab) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBRL) conducts detailed laboratory experiments on the thermal performance of windows and other insulated systems. During a typical experiment, a specimen is placed between two environmental chambers that simulate a long, cold night during winter.

Besides generating informative thermal images, the experiments collect several types of quantitative data with high spatial resolution that are useful for understanding subtle details in the thermal performance and for validating computer simulations of heat and fluid flows.

Dual Glazing vs. Single Pane - 50K

Dual Glazing, Clear vs. Low-E - 60K

SuperWindow vs. Regular Low E - 90K

Vinyl Windows, Hollow vs. Foam-filled - 70K

Prototype Vacuum Glazing - 80K

Thermography experiments in the IRLab use an infrared imager to produce qualitative thermal images, or thermograms, that help provide a visual interpretation of how heat is flowing through the specimen.

The infrared thermograms are also taken and postprocessed to extract numerical data to perform quantitative thermography that produces a database of the distribution of surface temperatures on the warm side of various specimen.

A traversing system is also used to measure the distribution of air temperatures and velocities near the specimen. Research results are presented at various technical conferences — see our schedule of upcoming conferences.

Technical papers on infrared thermography are available for downloading.

The IRLab contains a machine tool shop area that supports fabrication efforts in the Building Technologies Department. Other types of research, such as Non-Destructive Evaluation, are also conducted in the IRLab.

For more information contact:

Howdy Goudey Building Technologies Program 510-486-6046 (fax)

For window properties, measurements, simulations and ratings, contact Dariush Arasteh.

For software contact RESFENHelp@lbl.gov, THERMHelp@lbl.gov or WINDOWHelp@lbl.gov

For daylighting materials, systems, simulation tools and performance issues, contact Eleanor Lee.

For residential window performance guidelines, analysis and measurements of window and skylight performance contact Dariush Arasteh.

For commercial window performance guidelines, analysis and measurements of fenestration products and systems, contact Eleanor Lee.

To contact specific individuals in the Windows and Daylighting Group, visit the STAFF section of their website.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
1 Cyclotron Road, MS 90-3111
Berkeley, California 94720 USA

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is Operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Norfolk VA, USA –The Blackbody Calculator at www.SpectralCalc.com is an excellent tool for anybody working with, teaching or studying blackbody radiation.

This tool is simple but powerful.

With only a few clicks, you can plot the Planck curve over any desired range, in any system of units, and obtain numerical calculations of all the standard radiometric quantities: radiance, spectral radiance, in-band radiance, radiant emittance, peak of the Plank curve, and much more.

Unlike other online calculators, you can choose from any of the common units: watts, photons/second, microns, wavenumbers, and Hz.

Extensive documentation of the all the formulas used, complete with their derivations, is available.

Best of all, access to the Blackbody Calculator at www.SpectralCalc.com is completely free!

Welcome to IRWeb Info.

This is a free, open resource on Infrared Thermography Applications and Infrared Temperature measurement in general.

You are encouraged to share your experiences and learn from those of others that are posted here.