A gas fired power boiler is one of the cleanest ways to produce the steam needed for energy production. Natural gas has a consistent quality that lends itself well to a predictable burn performance. However, this is not to say it is without its challenges. One of those challenges is an event called flame impingement. This happens when the flame itself touches the walls of the boiler. This event can cause significant damage to the boiler either by a water tube rupture or the refractory breaking down. Both of these events will be a time consuming and expensive repair. The unplanned shutdown of one of these repairs is generally enough to justify the cost of an entire camera system.

Another monitored event is called flame lift off. This happens when the flow rate of fuel to the burner is high enough that is causes the fuel to ignite not on the burner head but several inches/feet out from the head. This reduces the heat produced by the fuel and results in a lower exchange rate of fuel to steam production.