Read below about Rostec’s video monitoring systems designed for heavy-duty operating conditions

Photo: Ruselectronics

Industrial video monitoring is a monitoring system used at industrial facilities for supervision over manufacturing processes, equipment and infrastructure. The primary functions of such systems include manufacturing process monitoring, measurements, quality inspection, etc.

Features and applications of the specialized cameras made by Rostec State Corporation are illustrated by the following examples.

To see an invisible eye

Rostec’s new product, that has not been launched yet, but has passed the first test stage, is a camera for detecting methane gas leakage on pipelines. As known, methane is a colorless and odorless gas and, therefore, its leakage is not easily detectable. The vast scale of our national gas distribution system with a total length of about one million kilometers – the world’s longest – makes the task even more complicated. And here, a special camera designed by the engineers from Central Research and Development Institute ‘Electron’ included in Ruselectronics holding comes to help.

Infrared cameras break new ground in gas industry. The point is that gas absorbs infrared light at a particular wavelength. This light is captured by special optics and converted into a human-understandable image where high methane concentration zones are highlighted against the background to clearly localize the leakage. The main advantage of such technology is that it enables remote detection of gas leakage without coming into contact with gas-polluted environment. It is important that the camera has a sealed housing, and laser illumination enables monitoring even in poor visibility, fog and precipitation conditions.

Hot to look at

Television Scientific Research Institute is another company, one of Russia’s earliest, included in Ruselectronics holding that focuses on industrial video systems. A next generation heat-resistant thermal imaging system has been developed here. Such systems have long been used in steel industry and other sectors, but due to the new heat-resistant camera, Rostec’s company was able to increase the peak operating temperature of the system from 1600 °С to 1800 °С. To ensure proper functioning in such conditions, the camera is furnished with an improved air and water cooling system.

Equipment overheating is the most frequent problem occurring at iron and steel works. High temperatures can damage structural integrity. It is also necessary to control metal melting process, burner flame, etc. These problems may be solved by proximity methods using video cameras and thermal imaging cameras. The latter can measure a mean temperature and temperature difference in various facility areas without coming into contact with the surface. Besides the steel industry, Rostec’s heat-resistant thermal imaging system is suitable for chemical and glass-making facilities.

Looking into a reactor

Nuclear reactors are another example of extreme conditions where machines must replace humans. Here also numerous parameters shall be monitored and the state of reactor vessels and internals shall be inspected. For this, special TV systems are also used.

Radiation is the main challenge facing video equipment engineers in this case. Gamma radiation exposure is harmful not only to living organisms — lens glass also gets dark over time when exposed to radiation. Therefore, the engineers from the Television Scientific Research Institute have created a special radiation-resistant camera intended for operation in reactors. The lens is designed to make color and black-and-white images with a resolution of at least 1 000 television lines — this is higher than that of traditional CCTV systems.

By the way, such systems may be used not only in NPP reactors. It is planned to install Rostec’s TV system on Project 10510 lead nuclear-powered icebreaker – Rossiya – that will be used on the Northern Sea Route.