CEM BXL-500 blackbody furnace solves the problem of on-site infrared calibration in high-temperature range
With the in-depth application of infrared temperature measurement technology in industrial inspection, medical health, scientific research, etc., the accuracy and reliability of temperature measurement has become a key aspect to ensure production safety and improve product quality.
Whether infrared temperature measurement is accurate is related to the infrared radiation characteristics of the target object. Blackbody radiation sources (blackbody furnaces), as standard radiation sources, are widely used as absolute standards for infrared devices and are the most typical calibration equipment for infrared thermometers.
01 – Pain of traditional calibration: low efficiency, difficult coverage
Blackbody furnaces are heating devices that use the principle of blackbody radiation. Their core lies in the ability to fully absorb all external radiation energy and fully radiate their own energy. This characteristic makes them widely used in temperature metrology, calibration, and heating fields.
Most manufacturers calibrate infrared temperature products using multiple blackbody radiation sources before sales. An ideal blackbody furnace should have high emissivity (close to 1), wide temperature coverage, fast temperature response, and strong anti-interference ability.
However, current devices often cannot balance these aspects: in high-temperature calibration, chamber thermal inertia causes long heating and cooling times; small target radiation sources cannot cover the field of view of large thermal imagers, resulting in insufficient calibration representativeness. Also, blackbody sources are expensive and complex to operate, making them unsuitable for on-site deployment. Compact and portable surface radiation sources can play an important role here.
The BXL-500 is a portable, high-precision, high-temperature standard infrared calibration source independently developed by CEM. It covers a wide temperature range of 35°C~500°C, meeting most temperature requirements for calibrating infrared thermometers and thermal imagers. With small size and portability, it plays an important role in industries such as petroleum, chemical, laboratories, research institutions, metrology, smelting, medical, and manufacturing.
02 – BXL-500: portable large-surface high-temperature infrared calibration source
The calibration of industrial temperature measurement devices such as wide field-of-view thermal imagers requires large-area radiation sources. The BXL-500 is equipped with a 152 mm (6 inch) large target panel, radiating uniformly from the entire chamber surface, ensuring sufficient radiation area and reducing edge-effect errors. It matches fields of view of various infrared devices, especially suitable for wide FOV calibration.
The surface radiation source has a fixed emissivity of 0.95, which can be compensated during calibration to ensure accuracy and consistency.
Traditional high-temperature calibration equipment has long heating time and low cooling efficiency. The BXL-500 adopts optimized heating modules and automatic temperature control for fast heating and good temperature stability: 30 minutes from room temperature to maximum, and 40 minutes cooling down to 100°C, meeting work demands both in field and laboratory.
In high-temperature industry and scientific research, long-term stability and fine resolution are critical. The BXL-500 performs precise calibration with 0.1°C resolution and repeatability from ±0.1°C (at 100°C) to ±0.3°C (at 500°C), with strong anti-interference and temperature stability, significantly improving calibration data reliability.
On-site calibration requires simple operation and adaptation to complex environments.
The BXL-500 features a color touchscreen interface, allowing intuitive control of surface temperature by finger touch. It supports Ethernet for data transmission and remote control. Its lightweight design and portable handle make it suitable for both lab and outdoor use.
With the popularization of infrared temperature measurement and deepening of Industry 4.0, CEM’s BXL-500, with high precision, good repeatability, and fast temperature adjustment, provides a reliable calibration tool and effectively solves the stability and efficiency challenges of high-temperature calibration.