Emissivity compensated infrared thermometry for planar materials

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the conical-shaped compensator applied to infrared (IR) thermometry for planar materials. Design/methodology/approach The compensator for the IR thermometry system has been analyzed by means of numerical simulations performed in a commercial finite element analysis tool. Afterwards, the characteristics of a final system have been proposed. The simulation results have been validated by means of experimental measurements performed in a prototype of the proposed system. Findings The proposed conical shape geometry of the compensator is suitable to reduce the errors associated with the temperature estimation by IR thermometry when emissivity of the material is not known with adequate accuracy. Practical implications This work proposed an arrangement of conical-shaped compensator to increase the precision in the IR radiation thermometry of planar materials. Originality/value In this paper, the conical shape geometry is proposed instead of the classical semi-spherical geometry for the compensator of an IR radiation thermometry system with the purpose of reducing the thickness of the complete system. This new proposal can be advantageous when geometrical constraints are imposed.