Drone inspection for industry & power stations: no scaffolding, shorter shutdowns

Whenever a spot could otherwise only be reached with scaffolding, rope access technicians, a crane or by man entry – such as boiler walls, silo roofs, the inside of chimneys or upper racking levels. In those cases the drone flies and personnel stay outside.

Internal inspections by drone reduce costs and the risk to personnel. Scaffolding, rope access technicians, cranes and man entry are not needed. As a result, the inspection takes hours instead of days, the shutdown is shorter, and several plants can be inspected during one shutdown. This makes maintenance planning easier.

Drones can be used in a wide range of enclosed spaces: in boilers and furnaces, in tanks and silos, in chimneys, in cable ducts and shafts, halls and racking warehouses. The drone reaches areas where access is difficult or dangerous for people and would otherwise only be possible with considerable effort.

Before every inspection, we assess the risks together with the operator and agree flight paths, access points and permits. The drone has collision protection and is flown around obstacles by experienced pilots. Regular maintenance and checks of the drones are part of every job.

With high-resolution cameras and LiDAR, drones record damage and anomalies such as cracks, corrosion or leaks – covering the entire surface rather than spot checks – and locate them in the 3D point cloud. How small a detectable defect can be depends on distance, light and surface; dust, steam or murky water limit visibility. The drone sees only surfaces: wall thickness, hammer testing, samples or exact crack widths are measured by your expert assessor, specifically at the points marked in our inspection report.

Confined and dark enclosed spaces are a challenge for any inspection. Inspection drones such as the ELIOS 3 carry their own lighting and collision protection, so they manoeuvre safely even in difficult environments. In dark and convoluted areas, too, they deliver clear images and data as a basis for your decisions. Inspection flights in confined spaces require experience – which is why our own pilots fly them.

Obstacles such as pipes or cables make an inspection more complicated. The Flyability ELIOS 3 is built for this: with its protective cage and stable control, it flies around obstacles and carries on inspecting. If it touches a structure, it remains airworthy.

The duration depends on the size and complexity of the inspection area. Because scaffolding, rope access technicians and cranes are not needed, the inspection takes hours instead of days. This shortens the shutdown and reduces costs.

That depends on the area. We always fly vessels, tanks, silos, boilers and refractory installations when they are out of service, emptied and released. Compared with conventional inspection methods, the shutdown there is considerably shorter: scaffolding, rope access technicians, cranes and man entry are not needed, and several plants can be inspected during one shutdown. In many hall areas operations continue; for racking, the aisle concerned is closed briefly. In short: our drone keeps shutdowns short, and some plants can be inspected without interrupting operations.

We capture high-resolution photos, videos and 3D point clouds and, depending on the task, thermographic images. From these, Inspectomatic, the reporting arm of our group of companies, produces the inspection report with located anomalies. It gives a clear overview of the condition of the plant and serves your expert assessors as the basis for their assessment and for planning maintenance and repair work.

We inspect throughout Germany from our base in Bremen; other European countries on request. We come to your plant.