What affects the measurement accuracy of infrared thermometer?

Since infrared temperature measurement technology has been widely applied in industry and other fields, a higher accuracy of measurement is also required. Non-contact infrared thermometer is becoming more and more perfect in function and technology, but there are still some factors affecting its accuracy. Then, what are factors that affect the measurement accuracy of infrared thermometer?

Angle of measurement
In order to ensure accurate measurement, keep the infrared thermometer following the surface normal direction of the measured object as possible in measurement (perpendicular to the target surface). If you fail to guarantee the instrument in the normal direction, it is supposed to measure in 45 degree angles with the normal direction, otherwise the displayed value of the infrared thermometer will be low.

Environmental temperature
The infrared thermometer should be used strictly in accordance with the environmental temperature specified by the technical indicators of the instrument. Otherwise the measurement error of the infrared thermometer will increase when exceeding this range and even the infrared thermometerwill be damaged. When the environmental temperature is high, you can use air cooling, water cooling devices or thermal protective sleeve. The thermal protective sleeve can ensure the normal operation of the infrared thermometer in the environment of 200 degrees.
When a handheld infrared thermometer or temperature gun is taken from one environment to another environment with great temperature difference for use, it will decrease the accuracy of instrument temporarily. To get ideal measurement results, the infrared temperature gun should be placed at the working site for a period of time (at least 30 minutes is recommended), so that the instrument temperature and environmental temperature can be balanced before the use.

Air quality
Pollutants in the air such as smoke, dust, etc. and unclean lens will make the infrared thermometer unable to receive enough infrared energy to meet the measurement accuracy, thus increasing the measurement error of the instrument. Therefore, you’d better keep lenses clean, and air blowers will be helpful in preventing the lenses being polluted.

Electromagnetic interference
The infrared thermometer should be as far away from the potential source of electrical interference as possible, such as electric equipment with large change in load. The output & input of the online instrument should be connected with shield wires and ensured that shield wires are well ground connected. In the strong interference environment, the external rigid protective conduit works better than that of flexible conduit. In addition, AC power supply of other equipment shall not be introduced into the same conduit.

Environmental radiation
Therefore, as long as we pay attention to problems such as angle of measurement, environmental temperature and electromagnetic interference in the use of infrared thermometer, we can get data with high precision and avoid unnecessary trouble.

Visual field and target size
The target should be ensured to enter the visual field for instrument measurement, and the smaller the target is, the closer it should be. In addition, you’d better make the target size over two times of light spots in the visual field to reduce the error in actual measurement.
When there are other objects with higher temperature, light source or solar radiation around the measured object, these radiations will enter the measuring optical path directly or indirectly, resulting in measurement errors. In order to overcome the influence of environmental radiation, avoid the direct access of environmental radiation to the optical path, and make the visual field of instrument full of measured objects as much as possible. For indirect interference of the environmental radiation, it can be eliminated by shielding.