Steam pipelines is one of the important power sources in factories such as cigarette factories, and it is necessary to detect whether the piping leaks through infrared thermography. In order to improve the accuracy of detection, the steam pipelines model is established, and the surface temperature of the pipelines is simulated and analyzed under different working conditions. In order to provide a theoretical basis for the infrared thermal imaging sensor to detect whether the steam pipeline leakage, according to the simulation results and infrared thermal imaging sensor data can accurately determine whether the pipeline leakage and the type of defects.