A camera that sees sound

A gas leak under pressure generates ultrasound — inaudible to a person, but perfectly visible to an acoustic camera. The FLIR Si2-LD carries an array of 124 microphones that overlay the sound source onto a live image: the screen shows exactly which joint the air is escaping from, from tens of metres away, without stopping the installation.

The software immediately computes the size of each leak (l/min) and its annual cost. You don’t get “it hisses somewhere around here” — you get a list of points with a concrete figure next to each one.

The screen of a FLIR acoustic camera showing an acoustic hotspot at a leak, with flow and cost readouts — On the camera's screen: an acoustic "hotspot" marks the source of the leak, and the readouts immediately give the estimated flow (l/min) and the cost of the loss — exactly what goes into the report.

What we detect

An acoustic camera locates any gas escaping under pressure. That defines the honest scope of the service:

Compressed air

The core application. Leaks from a fraction of a l/min, whole halls scanned from floor level, up to tens of metres away.

Technical gases

Nitrogen, CO2, steam, vacuum systems. Any gas under pressure generates ultrasound.

Ammonia (NH3)

Large refrigeration plants. Located from a safe distance, without entering the hazard zone.

Transcritical CO2

The high pressures of modern refrigeration work in favour of detection.

F-gas check support

Fast scanning of large systems alongside the mandatory tightness check. Micro-leaks of HFCs still need an electronic detector — we say so up front.

Beyond leaks — mechanical faults

The same camera hears the ultrasound that failing parts emit long before a person can. Run during the tightness audit, the scan doubles as predictive maintenance:

Worn bearings

Damaged or under-lubricated bearings emit a distinctive ultrasound well before they fail. The camera points at the bearing housing that needs attention.

Steam traps & valves

Blocked steam traps, passing valves and leaking safety valves — audible acoustically, and expensive when they go unnoticed.

Machine pneumatics

Leaking cylinders, fittings and quick-connectors in machine pneumatic systems — found without stripping the machine down.

What a leak costs you

Leaks are typically 20–40% of compressed air consumption — you pay for them on the electricity bill, all year, at night and on weekends too.

Chart of the annual cost of a compressed air leak by hole diameter: 1 mm ~2,600 zł, 2 mm ~10,000 zł, 3 mm ~20,000 zł — Annual cost of a single leak at 6–7 bar under continuous operation. The bigger the hole, the faster the cost climbs — one Ø 3 mm hole is on the order of ~20,000 zł a year.

20–40%

share of leaks in compressed air consumption at a typical plant

~20,000 zł

annual cost of a single Ø 3 mm leak at 7 bar

1 day

how long the audit takes to locate and price them all

Refrigerants and F-gas

On refrigeration plants a leak costs twice — you lose the refrigerant and pay for its consequences:

Lost refrigerant that has to be topped up — on the order of 380 zł/kg net, running into thousands of złoty for a single recharge on a large charge.
Reduced system efficiency: missing charge means higher compressor energy use.
Penalties for a missing or non-functional leak detection system: from 4,000 to 15,000 zł (Polish F-gas act).
An environmental charge on the emitted refrigerant, plus more frequent mandatory checks at higher CO2eq charges.

How an audit works

From arriving on site to a report that makes its own case:

Scan the system

We walk the installation with the camera — compressor room, piping, points of use, refrigeration machine room. No production stoppage.

Quantify

For every leak the camera computes the flow (l/min) and its annual cost. Points are ranked by the size of the loss.

Report

A document with the location, a photo and a figure for every leak, plus the total annual loss. Ready for a repair decision.

Post-repair check

Once the leaks are fixed we come back and confirm tightness — hard proof of the savings you recovered.

Why iceLAB

Refrigeration is our field. Ammonia, CO2, compressor racks — we work on these plants daily, we don't learn them on your site.

An independent audit. We don't sell compressors or refrigerant. Our report points at losses, not at your next purchase.

Bundled with service. We fold the acoustic scan into a service visit or an F-gas check — one trip, double the benefit.

Numbers, not guesswork. Every leak with a figure in złoty. You know what to fix first and how fast it pays back.

Acoustic Leak Detection