Standoff thermal hyperspectral imaging for flare and smokestack characterization in industrial environments

Flares and smokestacks are hard-to-reach structures that might turn out being difficult to characterize once in operation, i.e. in industrial environments. Standoff thermal hyperspectral imaging represents a powerful approach for these challenging installations as it is a non-invasive technique providing valuable information about both the chemical composition and the spatial distribution in emission gases. This paper illustrates how chemical imaging can be successfully carried out on installations at distances greater than 1 kilometer. Temperature and concentration profiles can be measured without the need of a complex experimental setup. This paper shows how this information can be applied to characterize operating flare installations.