Emissivity measurements on material and equipment in electrical distribution system

This paper studies on the emissivity of electrical distribution equipments using infrared thermography with 8-14 μm of wavelength. The infrared thermography camera is widely used for preventive maintenances propose in many industries. It can be captured a thermal image for identifying fault on electrical equipment and measuring the temperature as well. The most important factor to use the thermal image accurately is the emissivity of materials. Therefore, this project aims to define the unknown emissivity of electrical devices in order to apply with the infrared thermography camera. The heat chamber to control the operating temperature 30°C - 200°C has been created to maintain the temperature of material for measuring the emissivity. To ensure the emissivity measurement technique, the general used material such as iron, stainless steel, brass, copper and aluminum were done the experiment and compared with the standard emissivity table. The selected electrical equipments (new and old) are cable lug, P.G. connector, some part of fuse holder and disconnecting switch. Finally, the emissivity data of selected devices can be used to input to thermal image camera for a better accuracy of temperature measurement.