Determination of needed parameters for measuring temperature fields in air by thermography

The aim of this article is the parameters determination of equipment for measuring temperature fields in air using an infrared camera. This method is based on the visualization of temperature fields in an auxiliary material, which is inserted into the non-isothermal air flow. The accuracy of air temperature measurement (or of surface temperature of supplies) by this method depends especially on (except for parameters of infrared camera) the determination of the static and the dynamic qualities of auxiliary material. The emissivity of support material is the static quality and the dynamic quality is time constant. Support materials with a high emissivity and a low time constant are suitable for the measurement. The high value of emissivity results in a higher measurement sensitivity and the radiation temperature independence. In this article the emissivity of examined kinds of auxiliary materials (papers and textiles) is determined by temperature measuring of heated samples by a calibrated thermocouple and by thermography, with the emissivity setting on the camera to 1 and with the homogeneous radiation temperature. Time constants are determined by a step change of air temperature in the surrounding of auxiliary material. The time constant depends mainly on heat transfer by the convection from the air into the auxiliary material. That is why the effect of air temperature is examined in this article (or a temperature difference towards the environmental temperature) and the flow velocity on the time constant with various types of auxiliary materials. The obtained results allow to define the conditions for using the method of measurement of temperature fields in air during various heating and air conditioning applications