Nobody has to enter the boiler
Nobody goes into the furnace or up to height: the drone flies, your staff stay at the access point.
Boiler inspection by drone: inspect the furnace without scaffolding in the boiler
Internal inspection of power station boilers, furnaces and heating surfaces with the Flyability ELIOS 3. The drone flies through an opening into the shut-down, cooled boiler – from the hopper past the burner levels up to the underside of the boiler roof. You receive photos, videos and a 3D point cloud with located findings, without scaffolding having to be erected in the furnace.
- No scaffolding in the furnace, nobody goes in
- Hours instead of days, shorter shutdown
- Findings located in the 3D point cloud
A selection of Kopterflug clients and partners – operators in steel, chemicals, energy and logistics
The furnace is recorded before scaffolding could even be up
Christian EngelkeGet in touch with our experts:[email protected]
Your boiler goes out of service for the outage anyway. How long it stays down often depends on access: scaffolding in the furnace has to be erected, inspected and dismantled again before anyone can see the burner levels or the upper tube walls at close range. With the Flyability ELIOS 3 this is not needed for the visual inspection. The caged drone flies through the manhole or an inspection opening, records tube walls, burners, hopper and internals, and produces a 3D point cloud as it goes. Your staff stay outside the boiler.
The whole wall instead of spot checks
Tube walls from the hopper to the roof and every burner level – recorded without gaps, every anomaly located in the 3D point cloud.
Inspection costs up to 80% lower
Scaffolding in the furnace and rope access are not needed for the visual inspection. Your inspection costs can fall by up to 80%.
What plants look like inside – footage from our inspections
Does your boiler qualify? These areas we fly from the inside
We fly boilers in power stations, combined heat and power plants and incineration plants:
- Furnace and hopper of power station boilers
- Burner levels with burner openings and refractory
- Tube walls and heating surfaces up to the underside of the boiler roof
- Superheater and downstream heating surfaces, economisers and hangers – where the spacing between the tube banks allows a flight
- Auxiliary and start-up boilers
- Boilers of waste incineration and biomass plants
Refractory linings, combustion chambers and flue gas ducts are covered on our page on industrial furnaces, refractory and flue gas ducts.
Deformation, deposits, burner damage: know where the outage work needs to start
The ELIOS 3 shows the visible condition of the surfaces inside the boiler. Typical findings are:
- Deformation and bulging of tube walls
- Slagging, deposits and build-up
- Visible signs of erosion and wastage on tubes
- Damage to burners and burner openings, such as displaced or loosened parts
- Cracks and broken-out areas in the refractory around the burners and hopper
- Damage to hangers, spacers and internals
- Visible corrosion on tubes and steel components
Every finding appears in the inspection report with a photo and its position in the 3D point cloud. Before the contractors go in, your outage planning team therefore knows on which tube wall and at what height work is needed.
Your boiler goes back into service sooner
No scaffolding in the furnace for the visual inspection, nobody goes in: data capture takes hours instead of days.
Several boiler areas in one shutdown
We fly the furnace, burner levels, boiler roof and heating surfaces one after another while the boiler is released.
Scaffolding only where repairs are made
Your report shows where work is needed. You then erect scaffolding specifically for the repair.
Your contacts from permit to inspection report
- Christian Engelke
Philipp von der Born
Dipl.-Wirt.-Ing. (FH) Juliana Engelke
Stefan Wolf
We plan boiler inspections together with your maintenance and outage planning teams – since 2017, with our own pilots and the Flyability ELIOS 3.
Every defect with a photo and its position – your expert assessor knows where to start
We fly – Inspectomatic, the reporting arm of our group of companies, analyses and produces your inspection report in the browser, with nothing to install: photos, videos, a 3D point cloud and located findings – per boiler or per flight and, on request, compared with earlier outages. The point cloud can be exported in common formats for CAD, BIM or your maintenance software. The 3D point cloud with all located findings is produced by Inspectomatic – more on this at inspectomatic.de/punktwolken (in German). You will find more background on the analysis of boilers and a project example from a furnace on inspectomatic.de (in German).
We do not produce assessments or expert reports. These are prepared by your expert assessors or specialists you appoint, on the basis of the report – for example when planning tube replacement or weld overlay.
A shorter shutdown for your boiler – write to us using the contact form.
The drone records the furnace, your inspector measures where it matters – how the two complement each other
The drone is better where access and overview are concerned:
- It reaches burner levels, upper tube walls and the boiler roof without scaffolding, rope access or aerial work platforms.
- Nobody has to enter the boiler or work at height.
- It records the walls without gaps instead of spot checks.
- Every anomaly is located in the 3D point cloud.
- The flight can be repeated: deformation and deposits can be compared from one outage to the next.
People are better where contact with the component and decisions are concerned:
- Ultrasonic (UT) wall thickness measurement on tubes
- Further testing on the component, samples and material analysis
- Assessment of findings, expert reports and decisions on tube replacement, repair and continued operation
The drone takes care of visual inspection and mapping; your expert assessor measures specifically at the points our report marks. Our article on non-destructive testing gives an overview of these methods.
What your boiler needs for the flight – and where the drone reaches its limits
- Always out of service: we fly boilers and furnaces only during a shutdown. The boiler is out of service, sufficiently cooled, cleaned if necessary and released.
- Access: the drone needs an opening to fly in through, such as a manhole or an inspection opening. Whether your boiler is suitable we clarify in advance using drawings or photos.
- Visibility: soot, ash and stirred-up dust limit visibility. Where they are too dense, the drone cannot deliver usable images.
- Tight tube bundles: the drone cannot fly between closely spaced tube banks of superheaters or economisers. There we record the banks from the lanes and from below.
- Surface only: the drone sees the surface. It does not measure wall thickness – your inspector does that by ultrasound at the marked points.
Plan your next boiler outage shorter – request an inspection
Tell us the asset and the occasion, and we will tell you which recordings and which report make sense.
Initial consultation: 30 minutes by video, pick a time directly.
- We look forward to your enquiry and will get back to you promptly.
Or write to us
Frequently asked questions
When should we schedule the drone inspection in the outage?
As soon as the outage date is fixed. We then agree with your outage planning team which boiler areas are flown in which order and when the permit will be in place. If the flight takes place early in the outage, there is time to send scaffolding and contractors specifically to where the report shows anomalies.
Do burners or internals have to be removed before the flight?
As a rule, no. The drone flies around burners, hangers and internals, and the protective cage absorbs light contact. Whether individual parts block the way we clarify in advance using your drawings or photos.
Does the boiler need gas-free testing?
The boiler is released for the flight; the operator sets the conditions for this. Gas-free testing for personnel is not needed, because nobody enters the boiler. In hazardous (Ex) areas, for example with coal dust, the operator decides whether the drone may be used.
Does the drone inspection replace the internal examination by the expert assessor?
No. Inspection, assessment and decisions remain with the expert assessor. Our inspection report shows them the condition of the walls and burners with position and photo, so that they can measure specifically at the marked points. Whether and how they use the report is their decision.
Do we see anomalies during the flight?
Yes. The pilot and your contacts see the drone's live image at the access point. You can pass on conspicuous areas during the outage itself. You receive the inspection report promptly, as agreed.
How many boilers or boiler areas can you cover in one shutdown?
That depends on size, access points and permits. We bring enough batteries and recharge on site, so several areas or boilers can be flown one after another. We agree the order with you in advance.
Do your own pilots fly, and do you offer training?
Inspection flights in boilers and furnaces require experience – which is why our own pilots fly on our jobs. We do not offer pilot training. If you have your own ELIOS 3, we are happy to advise you on using it.