A novel method for the characterization of infiltration airflow using infrared thermography

Controlling air infiltration is crucial to ensure thermal comfort, optimal performance of ventilation systems, and the overall energy efficiency of buildings. The quantification of the overall airtightness of the building envelope, often conducted through pressurization tests, has been widely used. In addition, IR thermography is a valuable complementary tool for identifying and locating air leakage paths.  
A methodology to characterize leakage flows based on the bi-dimensional temperature array has been previously developed. This method was proved to be useful, but the total test time is very extensive because several image captures must be performed for to compose a three-dimensional array. This paper presents an optimized methodology where the measuring device is the three-dimensional matrix, obtaining in this way the three-dimensional image of the airflow with a single capture. The objective of this study is to optimize the characterization process of the infiltration airflow using IR thermography, reducing time, and improving its application in practice. 
This work opens multiple research lines, for example, the use of the presented methodology coupled with machine learning to estimate the airflow or the characterization of the air distribution of ventilation systems’ air inlets.