Leak Quantification

Quantitative Optical Gas Imaging (qOGI) with QL320

QUANTITATIVE OPTICAL GAS IMAGING

Providence has developed two Quantitative Optical Gas Imaging (qOGI) products, QL100™ and QL320™. Both products are add-on devices to IR camera models GF320 and GFx320 manufactured by FLIR Systems, Inc. These products allow users who have already invested in a GF320 or GFx320 camera to quantify leak rates in pounds per hour or liters per minute. The Model QL100™ was the first qOGI product and it was launched in 2016. It has gone through multiple field evaluation tests with favorable results. The QL100™ requires a procedure called “synchronization” to be performed by Providence Photonics to “calibrate” the responses between a specific camera and the QL100™. The QL320™ is a latest model and no longer requires synchronization. Instead the QL320™ utilizes the thermal calibration embedded in the GF320 or GFx320 camera.

To support qOGI and OGI in general, Providence Photonics has conducted fundamental research to developed OGI Response Factors (RF) for nearly 400 chemical compounds. A Response Factor allows a user to assess whether or not a particular chemical compound can be imaged by a specific IR camera. It can be used to adjust the results from a qOGI method, allowing a single calibration with a single gas to be applied to the measurement of multiple gases. RF will also specify the sensitivity of a particular compound as compared to the reference chemical for the RF (e.g., reference to Propane). The RF for Propane is 1. If a RF value for a particular compound is 0.3, it means that the the compound has 30% of the sensitivity of Propane. If a chemical has a RF less than 0.1, it is likely that the chemical will not be visible by this particular IR camera under the same condition as the reference chemical. Although IR cameras have been used for leak detection for a long time, users often have questions on which chemicals the camera can be “seen”. This list of the RF for nearly 400 chemicals will help users to answer that question. The fundamental research work in this area can be found in a peer-reviewed paper published online by the Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association.