Drones in Power Generation—Flyability Renews Reseller Agreement with Exelon Clearsight

Inspection solution company Exelon Clearsight has renewed its reseller agreement with Flyability.

As a subsidiary of Exelon, Exelon Clearsight’s inspection work focuses primarily on work in the power generation industry, with an emphasis on Power Generation Facilities and Transmission and Distribution systems. The company performs work for both Exelon and for other commercial clients.

To provide its customers with innovative solutions, Exelon Clearsight is constantly scouring the remote technology market for the world’s best-in-class robotics and sensors. In 2016, the inspection company first learned of Flyability when it was searching for robotics that could be used to perform non-destructive inspections in confined, hazardous, and high radiation areas.

Flyability stood out to Exelon Clearsight for designing a unique, collision-tolerant drone—the Elios 1—which could be flown safely in confined spaces.

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After validating the Elios 1 for use inside nuclear facilities to perform inspections without needing to send personnel into risk zones, Exelon Clearsight purchased eighteen Elios 1 units and dispatched them across its fleet of stations.

“Our team has found that there are many modern tools that increase the efficiency and safety of inspections that have, historically, been difficult to perform. Flyability cleverly designs tools that make inaccessible places accessible, enabling safer and easier data capture.”

– Chris Place, Business Development Manager, Power Generation for Exelon Clearsight

Although Exelon Clearsight focuses on work in power generation, it also works in several other spaces, including safety, emergency response, production facilities, and law enforcement.

Drones in Power Generation—Case Studies Highlighting ROI and Safety

After starting its relationship with Flyability as a customer, Exelon Clearsight eventually formed an alliance with Flyability, allowing it to become an Authorized Reseller, Maintenance Center and Product Advisor for beta testing as well as for conducting research and helping develop new products.

Exelon Clearsight regularly uses Flyability’s cutting edge Elios 2 for its work in confined spaces, as well as selling it to other key partners who work in industrial inspections.

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According to Chris Place, Business Development Manager at Exelon Clearsight, these are some of the top benefits the company has found in using robotics—and especially drones—to perform industrial inspections:

Eliminating safety risks (including radiological safety hazards)
Reducing operational costs and improving ROI
Reducing evolution hours and resources
Providing high quality data, insights, and media

In speaking with Place, he has emphasized the value both for safety and for ROI in using drones for inspections in power generation.

Drones can allow inspectors to access dangerous places without the risk of harm. When collecting visual data where a radiological risk is present, or when a steam leak has been detected, having a reliable tool for remote visual inspection is invaluable.

Here are a few case studies highlighting the value Exelon Clearsight has found from using Flyability’s drones for inspections in power generation.

1. Dose Exposure Reduced by 90%, Savings of More than $1.75M in Avoided Outage Time and Avoiding the Need for Scaffolding

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2. Steam Leak Identified in 5 Minutes, Savings of Almost $800K

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3. Radiation Avoided, $65K Saved in Condenser Steam Shielding Inspection

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Note: These case studies were extracted from a recent webinar hosted by Flyability featuring Chris Place of Exelon Clearsight. View the full webinar recording here.