Infrared temperature sensing technology

Low cost measurement of temperature in a range of industrial applications can be done quite easily using infrared measurement devices. Infrared or IR measurement devices can monitor and control process control applications in many different industries, without the need to stop the plant and hence interrupt production.

The temperature of components or products in a manufacturing plant can be critical in some applications. And IR sensors can be integrated into the control system you use to stop the system automatically if the readings taken are out of range. This can improve plant efficiency, reduce product malfunction and increase the life of the product or machine used.

The main benefit of using IR temperature sensors is because they are a form of non-contact sensing technology the target object will not be damaged by the sensing device. Also, because the sensor does not come into direct contact with the target surface, the sensor life-span is greatly increased.

It’s important to understand the relationship between IR temperature measurement and the emissivity of the object to be measured. The IR energy emitted by a target object is proportional to the emissivity as well as the temperature of the object.  It’s for this reason that the sensor you use should have an adjustable emissivity correction ratio, so the sensor can be used to measure temperature on a range of different materials.