Page 70 - Energize November 2021

TECHNICAL

requires inspectors to stand on scaffolding and use flashlights in confined, cramped spaces, These savings primarily come from:
exposing themselves to potential harm. Building the scaffolding can be costly and prolong • Removing the need for building scaffolding
downtimes, since maintenance workers often need one to two days to construct it and then for inspectors to stand on inside of assets
another one to two days to take it down. • Removing the extra downtime required to
Using a drone removes the need for scaffolding at this stage, since it removes the need for build scaffolding
a person to enter the confined space in the first place.
After saving US$420 000 in a single test flight
Using drones instead of people of the Elios 1, Argentinian energy company
Drones made for flying in confined spaces can take the place of the inspector’s physical Pampa Energia decided to invest in the Elios
presence, allowing the inspector to collect visual data about the conditions within the asset 2 country wide. Click here to learn more
remotely, without ever having to enter it. about how the company saved so much
Flyability’s Elios 1 and Elios 2 were created for flying in tight spaces, like boilers and tanks, money with a single flight.
in order to collect high quality, inspection-grade visual data. Both drones were designed to
be collision-tolerant, sitting within a cage that allows the drone to bump into objects without Longevity of assets
crashing. Drone inspections are very much cheaper
than manual inspections. Drones allow
Here are three ways that drones like the Elios 1 and Elios 2 can help improve power plant companies to increase the frequency of
maintenance: inspections while still realizing significant
savings.
Safety Over time, increasing the frequency of
Sending a drone into a confined space instead of a person helps keep that person out of inspections can help increase the longevity of
potentially dangerous scenarios. This is especially true at nuclear power plants, where the power plant assets by uncovering potential
danger is not potential but real. problems and addressing them earlier than
When conducting nuclear power plant inspections, inspectors must often expose they would be otherwise.
themselves to radiation in order to reach the areas of the plant that need to be inspected. In a Increased inspections are also good
single inspection of one to two minutes of the inside of the reactor building, an inspector can for the environment, studies have shown.
receive up to 250 millirem (2’500 µSv) of radiation, which is about 10% of the annual limit for Independent consulting group Boiler Room
radiation exposure. Consulting found that an increase in the
In addition, a radiation monitor must accompany inspectors when they are conducting frequency of boiler inspections, which
inspections, which means that two people are exposed to radiation every time an inspection was supported by Flyability drones, could
occurs. potentially reduce CO 2 emissions by as much
Using a drone to collect visual data at a nuclear power plant removes the need for human as 649 metric tons a year.
exposure to radiation, allowing inspectors to remain safely outside the tanks and other
irradiated areas while the drone enters them to collect visual data on their condition. Want to learn more? Check out the page
devoted to power generation on the
Return on investment Flyability website to see all the ways that
Using a drone instead of a person to collect visual data can help power plants realize significant drones can help power plants improve their
savings, often of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. maintenance processes. n

About Flyability
Flyability is a Swiss company building solutions
for the inspection and exploration of indoor,
inaccessible and confined spaces. By allowing
drones to be used safely inside buildings, it
enables industrial companies and inspection
professionals to reduce downtime, inspection
costs, and risks to workers. With hundreds
of customers in over 50 countries in power
generation, oil & gas, chemicals, maritime,
infrastructures and utilities and public safety,
Flyability has pioneered and continues to
lead the innovation in the commercial indoor
drone space.

Contact Flyability, info@flyability.com,
www.flyability.com/power-plant-
Drone inspection of a coal-fired power plant in the Ukraine maintenance

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