Developing Infrared Thermography as an Instructional Tool for Monitoring Energy Efficiency Issues in Micro-Manufacturing

Instruction in the basic engineering disciplines of energy efficiency and process control can be enhanced and expanded by incorporating various imaging capabilties into experiments and projects used to teach the concepts and practice of these subjects. Image capture, image processing, and image analysis offer means for visualization of phenomena and processes, and enable convenient and more expansive measurement capabilities to characterize and analyze fluid motion, phase transitions, and various thermal phenomena. Infrared imaging (thermography) offers new capabilities for measurements and analyses, as well as unprecedented means for visualization as an aid in learning science and technology in micro-manufacturing. Moreover, infrared thermography is becoming a commonplace— if not essential —tool in process control and analysis, quality assurance, nondestructive testing, materials characterization, and reliability; and in our view should therefore take a more prominent place in engineering education. For green manufacturing and sustainability, infrared imaging can be used to reduce waste and energy consumption, assess the performance of new energy conversion technologies, characterize heat and mass transfer in microscale devices, and support or enable more quantitative and objective metrics in product life cycle management. Educational institutions seeking to incorporate thermography in their curricula can benefit from a new generation of infrared imaging cameras that are comparatively inexpensive, easier to use, and more functional, as well as free-ware and widely available commercial image processing software (ImageJ, MATLAB). The paper presents an effort on developing educational laboratory projects with an infrared imaging analysis component for compatibility with course delivery by remote access via the web, or in traditional lecture and hands-on laboratory format.