A knowledge based infrared camera system for invisible gas detection utilizing image processing techniques

Abstract

An infrared camera system for real-time monitoring of invisible methane gas leakages is proposed, which can be used in production, transportation, and gas plants. Instead of using conventional lasers, a medium wavelength light-emitting diode (LED) with a center wavelength of approximately 3300 nm is used for the light source of the gas detector. We achieve compact cooling with low power consumption by using a small electronic part with a Peltier element instead of a larger cooling unit. We also propose an algorithm based on adaptive average method and adaptive histogram equalization process to extract the background efficiently. This knowledge based infrared camera system effectively detects the leakage of invisible gas. Preliminary experimental results confirm the potential and effectiveness of the developed equipment to be commercialized for use in real-time gas monitoring systems. We aim to eventually develop an image analysis system that combines image processing and knowledge engineering techniques.

The Development of a Cost-Effective Imaging Device Based on Thermographic Technology

“…One of the markets driving commercial thermal imagining is the automotive market, where thermal imagining is used for pedestrian and car detection for increased security and collision avoidance [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. However, there are other applications such as object inspection in construction [ 15 , 16 , 17 ], medicine [ 18 , 19 ], veterinary science [ 20 ], access control [ 21 ], agriculture [ 22 ], astronomy [ 23 , 24 ], gas leakage detection [ 25 , 26 ], inspection of solar panels [ 27 ], autonomous drone navigation [ 28 ], helping visually impaired subjects [ 29 ], and so on. While a more in-depth presentation of thermal imaging applications can be found in [ 2 , 30 ]; the application range is evident and diverse.…”