Assessment of uncertainties for measurements of total near-normal emissivity of low-emissivity foils with an industrial emissometer

The TIR100-2 emissometer (manufactured by Inglas GmbH & Co.KG) is an emissivity measurement device used by several producers of thermal insulation products for buildings and by some organizations certifying performance of insulation products. A comparison of emissivity measurements on low-emissivity foils involving different measurement techniques, including the TIR100-2 emissometer, gave widely dispersed results; the discrepancies were not explained. The metrological performance of the TIR100-2 emissometer and the uncertainties for measurement on reflective foils was not known, which could be detrimental to users. In order to quantify the performance of TIR100-2 devices for measurement of total near-normal emissivity of low-emissivity foils, the Laboratoire National de Métrologie et d'Essais (LNE) analyzed in detail the measuring principle and listed the associated assumptions and uncertainty sources. A TIR100-2 emissometer actually measures the reflectance and, for opaque materials, the emissivity is calculated from the measured reflectance. The parameters analyzed experimentally are the temperature stability and uniformity of the thermal radiation source, the emissivity of the radiation source, the response function linearity and the spectral sensitivity of the radiometric detection system measuring the reflected radiation, the size of the measurement area, and the measurement repeatability and reproducibility. A detailed uncertainty budget was established. The uncertainty sources taken into account are the uncertainties of the emissivities of the two calibrated standards used for calibration, the stability and uniformity of the radiation source temperature, the non-linearity and the spectral sensitivity of the radiometric detection system, the specific measurement condition related to the radiation source temperature, the uncertainties related to the temperatures of the standards and the sample, the noises on results, and the non-homogeneity in emissivity of the tested material. The combined measurement uncertainty was calculated for different types of reflective foils; the expanded uncertainty is around 0.03 for total near-normal emissivity measurements on smooth low-emissivity foils. A measurement campaign on five types of low-emissivity foils, involving four TIR100-2 emissometers, and a comparison to a primary reference setup at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) confirmed the uncertainties assessed.

A Review of Techniques for RSS-Based Radiometric Partial Discharge Localization

The lifespan assessment and maintenance planning of high-voltage power systems requires condition monitoring of all the operational equipment in a specific area. Electrical insulation of electrical apparatuses is prone to failure due to high electrical stresses, and thus it is a critical aspect that needs to be monitored. The ageing process of the electrical insulation in high voltage equipment may accelerate due to the occurrence of partial discharge (PD) that may in turn lead to catastrophic failures if the related defects are left untreated at an initial stage. Therefore, there is a requirement to monitor the PD levels so that an unexpected breakdown of high-voltage equipment is avoided. There are several ways of detecting PD, such as acoustic detection, optical detection, chemical detection, and radiometric detection. This paper focuses on reviewing techniques based on radiometric detection of PD, and more specifically, using received signal strength (RSS) for the localization of faults. This paper explores the advantages and disadvantages of radiometric techniques and presents an overview of a radiometric PD detection technique that uses a transistor reset integrator (TRI)-based wireless sensor network (WSN).

Microfluidic radiobioassays: a radiometric detection tool for understanding cellular physiology and pharmacokinetics

A historical and comprehensive review of microfluidic radiobioassays from their onset, including basics, techniques, applications, and prospects.

IonLab – a remote-controlled experiment for academic and vocational education and training on extraction chromatography and ion exchange

As a major contribution to modern web-based education and training in nuclear chemistry we have built and operated a remote-controlled experiment – IonLab – as part of the integrated EUFP7 project CINCHII. The setup is suitable for teaching basics on extraction chromatography and ion exchange using radionuclides. We describe separation of the beta emitting nuclides Sr-90 and Y-90 followed by radiometric detection, but the experiment is easily adapted to other separation schemes. This approach is aimed at institutions in academic or vocational education who need to convey the skills of handling radioactive (or otherwise dangerous, e.g. biotoxic) substances without appropriately licensed laboratory space for teaching. This camera-monitored remote controlled lab experiment has proved to be much closer to a real hands-on training and superior to a mere computer simulation.