Towards the practical use of active methane imaging

Abstract:
An active gas camera is realized using an infrared camera synchronized with an interband cascade laser source at 3260 nm. The system is designed to stream concentration images in real time. A synchronization with visible and depth data allows for easy leak localization. Reliability is assured by locking the lasers wavelength to the target absorption line and an algorithm that prevents false gas information by moving objects. The setup is demonstrated on a metal background at distances between 2 m and 7 m at a methane flow rate of 40 ml/min.