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How to Locate Gas Leaks with an Acoustic Imager
Finding auditory issues in noisy environments can be difficult. Picture yourself trying to listen for someone’s voice at a loud, crowded party. It would be very difficult for you to hear their voice, let alone pinpoint their location among the sea of voices.
In a typical setting, your ears can hear and process the sounds of talking, doors opening, cars driving, etc., but how does that translate to sounds that are inaudible to the human ear or require extreme precision?
If you are trying to locate gas leaks, identify partial discharge in power grids, or analyze noise in automobiles, your ears are not capable of finding these problems. This is where acoustic imagers come in handy. Keep reading this blog to learn more about what acoustic imagers are and how they can be used to locate gas leaks.
When the imager is held up to a problematic area, the microphones in the device triangulate any sound being emitted and provide a visual image that helps the user locate faults or damages. To triangulate efficiently, these devices block outside noise to make sure environmental factors such as wind, echoes, or even footsteps don’t interfere with finding the location of the issue.
However, to truly understand why people would use an acoustic imager, we need to see what they are actually measuring.
Volume, measured in decibels (dB), is the amplitude of a sound wave. This is the measure of a resting sound wave to its loudest point. The higher the amplitude, the louder the sound.
Pitch is related to the frequency (Hz) of the sound. The average healthy adult can hear sounds from 20Hz – 20kHz. Anything lower than 20Hz is called infrasound, which is not registered by acoustic imagers. Anything from 20kHz – 20MHz is considered ultrasound, which acoustic imagers can read; however, most acoustic imagers can only read up to approximately 100kHz because their use cases do not require more precision.
Problems with industrial equipment usually occur between 1 – 28kHz, which is mostly in the range of what people can hear. Conversely, gas leak issues fall completely outside of human hearing capabilities, with the frequencies for some gas leaks reaching upwards of 42kHz, sometimes even exceeding that.
The device will start recording any sound-based data, whether it is audible or ultrasonic, and filter out any unrelated sounds. Then, it will provide a visual representation of that data to find a given leak. It does this by using a technique called “beamforming,” which is when the imager’s microphones determine the direction and approximate size of the leak.
The visual produced on the acoustic imager not only displays the location of the leak, but it also offers a “cloud map,” which highlights the sound pressure in different areas of the observed location, and color codes them to reflect that pressure. Once this information is gathered, it not only pinpoints the gas leak location, but it also provides an approximation of how severe the leak is to help the user figure out how to handle the uncovered leak.
Fluke ii900
FLIR Si2-LD
Fluke ii910
Reach out to ATEC today to learn more about our rental inventory.
In a typical setting, your ears can hear and process the sounds of talking, doors opening, cars driving, etc., but how does that translate to sounds that are inaudible to the human ear or require extreme precision?
If you are trying to locate gas leaks, identify partial discharge in power grids, or analyze noise in automobiles, your ears are not capable of finding these problems. This is where acoustic imagers come in handy. Keep reading this blog to learn more about what acoustic imagers are and how they can be used to locate gas leaks.
What are Acoustic Imagers?
Acoustic imagers are handheld devices with a cluster of small microphones inside used to visualize audible and ultrasonic data for electrical faults, mechanical issues, and air/gas leaks.When the imager is held up to a problematic area, the microphones in the device triangulate any sound being emitted and provide a visual image that helps the user locate faults or damages. To triangulate efficiently, these devices block outside noise to make sure environmental factors such as wind, echoes, or even footsteps don’t interfere with finding the location of the issue.
However, to truly understand why people would use an acoustic imager, we need to see what they are actually measuring.
Why are Acoustic Imagers Necessary?
There are two sound-based measurements to keep in mind when understanding the importance of acoustic imagers, volume, and pitch.Volume, measured in decibels (dB), is the amplitude of a sound wave. This is the measure of a resting sound wave to its loudest point. The higher the amplitude, the louder the sound.
Pitch is related to the frequency (Hz) of the sound. The average healthy adult can hear sounds from 20Hz – 20kHz. Anything lower than 20Hz is called infrasound, which is not registered by acoustic imagers. Anything from 20kHz – 20MHz is considered ultrasound, which acoustic imagers can read; however, most acoustic imagers can only read up to approximately 100kHz because their use cases do not require more precision.
Problems with industrial equipment usually occur between 1 – 28kHz, which is mostly in the range of what people can hear. Conversely, gas leak issues fall completely outside of human hearing capabilities, with the frequencies for some gas leaks reaching upwards of 42kHz, sometimes even exceeding that.
How do you Locate Gas Leaks with an Acoustic Imager?
When detecting leaks, acoustic imagers are typically simple to use, with the only settings needed for modern imagers being frequency range and dynamic range. Once those are set, you can go within the range of where the leak is suspected to be, as specified by your given acoustic imager, and start detecting.The device will start recording any sound-based data, whether it is audible or ultrasonic, and filter out any unrelated sounds. Then, it will provide a visual representation of that data to find a given leak. It does this by using a technique called “beamforming,” which is when the imager’s microphones determine the direction and approximate size of the leak.
The visual produced on the acoustic imager not only displays the location of the leak, but it also offers a “cloud map,” which highlights the sound pressure in different areas of the observed location, and color codes them to reflect that pressure. Once this information is gathered, it not only pinpoints the gas leak location, but it also provides an approximation of how severe the leak is to help the user figure out how to handle the uncovered leak.
How ATEC Can Help You
ATEC rents a variety of acoustic imagers from leading manufacturers such as FLIR and Fluke. Some examples of these devices include:Fluke ii900
FLIR Si2-LD
Fluke ii910
Reach out to ATEC today to learn more about our rental inventory.
Posted November 18, 2025