Automatic alignment of infrared video frames for equipment leak detection

Abstract

Petroleum refining and petrochemical industries start using infrared (IR) cameras to detect volatile organic compounds (VOC) leaking out of process equipment. However, further quantitative processing of these video image data or automatic recognition of VOC plumes are hindered by unaligned video frames owing to the slight vibrations of the camera. An automatic method is developed to align the IR video frames as a preprocessing procedure for other possible video processing methods. The alignment method is based on a two-dimensional spatial Fourier transform. The accuracy can reach fractional pixels in estimation of translational shift and 1-2 • for rotational shift. Temporal Fourier transform of actual industrial tests of IR videos is performed with both unaligned and aligned video frames. The results indicate that only after the alignment of the video frames, the camera motion interferences on VOC plume identification can be eliminated or minimized, and the VOC plume can be identified through investigating the characteristic flickering frequency power in the temporal Fourier transform. This alignment method provides a useful tool for IR or other optical video image data preprocessing purposes.

Chemometrics

“…Alignment of features between images is a problem that has limited the application of pattern recognition techniques to higher order data. Potential solutions to this problem have been recently proposed in the literature , .…”

Procedure LIAM (LDAR, IR Camera, Analyzing & Modeling) to determine the contribution of ambient emissions and combustion of hydrocarbon

“…The utilization of infrared imaging systems potentially simplifies the EPA LDAR program and therefore is already known in the industry as a smart LDAR method (Zhou and Zeng 2007;Epperson et al 2007). Due to the impossibility of measuring and monitoring air pollutants in all parts of an industrial complex, using standard models is considered as an efficient tool in management and evaluation of air quality (Ozkurt et al 2013).…”

Volatile organic compound plume detection using wavelet analysis of video

“…This results in visible, smoke like semi-transparent flickering plumes for propane and diesel. What is common in these VOC types is that the temperature of the VOC plume emitted from a leaking component drops during the initial expansion [1]. This causes a temperature difference between the VOC plume and the surrounding air.…”

“…Petroleum refineries and organic chemical manufacturers periodically inspect leaks of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from equipment components such as valves, pumps, compressors, flanges, connectors, pump seals, etc [1]. Common practice for inspection is to utilize a portable flame ionization detector (FID) sniffing the seal around the components for possible leaks [2].…”