POWER GENERATION
Improve worker safety, operational efficiency, and data quality in your power plant

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0 human entry in
confined spaces

Visual inspections are performed
remotely from a safe distance

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$0.5 millions savings
for boiler inspection

from reduced downtimes and faster
inspection turnarounds

emergency-response-icon

470 hours of work
saved

for a scrubber inspection performed
with Elios in less than 10 hours.

Plant-illustration
0 human entry in confined spaces
Visual inspections are performed remotely from a safe distance
 
money-bag-icon
$0.5 millions savings for boiler inspection
from reduced downtimes and faster inspection turnarounds
 
hours-of-work-saved
470 hours of work saved
for a scrubber inspection performed with Elios in less than 10 hours.
 

Perform regular inspections to achieve maximum efficiency and reliable operations

Stress from regular operation makes power generation assets subject to defects such as cracking, corrosion, leaking, and a wide variety of other flaws that can combine to accelerate asset degradation. Facility downtimes limit the overall production capacity and can lead to costly and hazardous system outages.
 
With regular inspection and monitoring, you can ensure power generation assets remain free of flaws and damage that could lead to asset failure.
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Software output showing the drone trajectory inside the asset as well as the point of interest recorded during the inspection flight.

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Software output showing the drone trajectory inside the asset as well as the point of interest recorded during the inspection flight.

 

BENEFITS

A safe and effective way to inspect at heights and in hard-to-reach areas

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Reduce risks

Keep your people out of harm's way using drones to perform inspections from a safe distance. 

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Reduced costs

Conduct critical inspections while operations continue to run, minimizing maintenance costs.

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Enhanced efficiency

Get real-time data from inside the asset and use it for proper service planning.

APPLICATIONS

A practical solution for all kinds of visual inspections

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Mechanical integrity analysis

Undertake drone-based inspections of combustion chambers, flue gas scrubbers, boilers and other areas of energy-generation systems.

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Preventive maintenance

Get a quick overview and evaluation of the condition of an asset to improve maintenance planning, resulting in reduced maintenance-related downtime and costs.

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Confined spaces inspections

Perform remote analysis and evaluation of hard-to-reach confined structures, such as boilers or wind turbine blades.

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Emergency response

The quick deployment time and the ability to either screen a whole area or quickly get details of specific sections make drone inspections ideal for time-critical inspections.

ACCESSIBILITY

Access to advanced drone capabilities for a range of applications in the power generation industry

Our drones have repeatedly proven effective at performing visual inspections in the following assets:

check-icon Boilers
check-icon Wind turbines
check-icon Chimneys, smokestacks
check-icon Transformers
check-icon Vertical wells
check-icon Waste incinerators
check-icon Hydro power plants
check-icon HRSGs
check-icon Coal-fired power plants

HOW TO

Assess the condition of your industrial assets in a 3-step process

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01

Recon flight

Test the behavior of the drone within an asset and uncover any obstacles that might obstruct flying and/or the collection of visual data.

02

General inspection flights

Collect visual data on the state of the entire asset and analyze the video footage frame by frame to reveal damaged sections of the asset.

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03

Detailed inspection flights

Further inspect damaged areas revealed by the general inspection flights so that a maintenance decision can be reached.

IN ACTION

Capture every corner of the most confined assets remotely, from a safe location

Related Products

Elios 3

Indoor drone for inspection, mapping, and surveying

An easy to pilot collision-tolerant drone that captures high resolution data and allows for live reporting on a 3D model of your asset.
Learn more

Software solution

Inspector 4.0

An easy-to-use software solution developed to give asset operators a precise view of what's happening inside their assets so their team can act quickly in just the right place.

Learn more

OUR CLIENTS

Our products are trusted among a number of power generation companies worldwide.

General Electrics
Engie
Southern Company
EDF
Enel
Duke Energy
TotalEnergie
Constellation
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Siemens
Iberdrola
Icepco

CASE STUDIES

Learn how power plants and power facilities are using indoor drones to service assets

Power Generation 153217186454

Saving over $1 million: wind turbine inspections with the Elios 3

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Surveying a disused coal plant with the Elios 3

Power Generation 152594999356

Power station inspections in Hong Kong with the Elios

Frequently Asked Questions

In order to operate a drone, do you have to be an engineer, an NDE inspector or a piping inspector?

No, it is not required but you should always be aware of the regulations concerning commercial drone operations in your area before flying). Piloting Elios drones is accessible to everyone who has completed the introductory training. Traditionally our clients work in teams of two when running inspections, one pilot and one inspector who can analyze the data on the spot. With this approach, each person can focus on their area of expertise.

How do I train my team?

Flyability has put in place a complete certification and training program that takes drone pilots from discovering the particularities of piloting a drone indoors BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight), to being able to perform the most difficult indoor inspection missions. The certification tests the pilots on their ability to assess the difficulty of a mission and puts their own piloting skills into perspective. Our training courses are defined and provided by professional pilots with extensive mission track records using Elios drones. Every bit of theory you will learn is backed-up by practical exercises directly applicable to your everyday job as a pilot. Operators following our training courses receive a valuable professional certification, acknowledging their proficiency at using Elios drones.

Do I need to adapt my Standard Operating Procedures?

Asset owners are responsible for deciding whether to modify their SOPs to accommodate the use of drones. Nevertheless, SOPs provide a method to communicate the process changes to employees. As they no longer rely on humans to enter confined spaces for inspection, most of our customers update SOPs to take the drone into consideration.

Can a drone be used as a formal inspection tool?

Several clients have conducted formal inspections using our products that have been approved by classification societies. You can read more about an example in this article: https://www.flyability.com/articles-and-media/can-a-drone-be-used-as-a-formal-inspection-tool
The thing to note is that drones can't permanently be recognized as a formal inspection tool, since inspectors are agnostic to specific tools. Rather, inspectors can approve a given tool in a specific inspection when they see the data it can produce.

How to process inspection data?

Once your mission is completed, you can simply connect Elios to your computer using the USB port fitted on the top of the drone to import all data in Inspector, our companion software.

After retrieving the flight data, you have immediate access to a high resolution point cloud of your assets that you can visualise in Inspector. You can then review your POIs and document your inspection by taking notes in the POIs, making measurements, and exporting your data as a report.

Does Flyability keep your data safe from cyber attack?

As long as the user does not manually connect to a WiFi network, there is no physical link between the Elios system and the internet—ensuring complete data safety.
In addition, Flyability only collects data in one instance: when the drone is armed while the tablet on the GCS is connected to the internet. In these cases, we collect the unit ID — which is encrypted and can only be read by Flyability —, the time of flight, and the firmware version. Operators are notified of this and have the option to opt-out.

For more information on the data safety, please consult the following link:
Cyber Security With Flyability Drones

Are drones intrinsically safe?

ATEX is the European certification given to equipment tested and approved to be intrinsically-safe.

The Elios drones are not ATEX rated / intrinsically safe. It is hardly possible for a drone to be intrinsically safe (none to date).

You will need to perform a procedure to neutralize the environment of the asset you want to inspect like you would do when doing a manned inspection. You still have a lot to gain when performing the inspection with a drone instead of a human. For example, you can use nitrogen to neutralize the asset and send in a drone right away. If you do the same for a manned inspection, the inspector would have to carry a breathing apparatus and you would need to deploy bystanders, which is much more complicated and dangerous.

For more information on this subject, please follow the link: https://www.flyability.com/articles-and-media/are-drones-intrinsically-safe

Can I fly Elios drones outdoors?

Flyability drones can fly outdoors in ATTI mode to inspect outdoor assets. However, it is not recommended to do so as it is much harder to control the drone in ATTI mode. This use case is reserved to experienced pilots only. Keep in mind that flying outdoors is subject to airspace regulations, unlike indoor flights.

Should I insource or outsource drone-based inspections?

It depends on your usage and the regulations in place. Some industries may require a qualified and certified inspector to perform an inspection. In case you would like to outsource, there are service providers that use the Elios drones all around the world.

For more information on outsourcing, consult the following links:

Insourcing versus outsourcing your industrial inspection drone program

Drone Inspections Insourcing vs Outsourcing Your Drone Inspection Program

What is the size of the smallest defect the Elios drones can spot?

With Elios 2 & 3, you can capture images with a Ground Sampling Distance of 0.18 mm/pixel when standing at 30 centimeters from the surface you inspect. With this accuracy, you can easily spot defects that are a few millimeters wide such as small cracking patterns in the walls or a hole inside of silos.

 

For more information on the resolution of the Elios 2 camera:

Drones Camera Resolution: Three Metrics You Should Know About

 

For more information on the types of data the Elios 2 can collect:

https://www.flyability.com/articles-and-media/data-capture-elios-2

Is dust a blocker for drone-based inspections in cement assets?

Industrial indoor spaces are often full of dust, which makes First-Person View aircraft navigation difficult. Elios drones feature a dust-proof lighting system that allows you to traverse dirty places without losing sight of your objective. And for the extreme cases, you can navigate inside assets relying solely on the live map created by LiDAR and displayed instantly in Cockpit.

Do I need extra light for silo inspection?

No. Elios drones lighting system carries up to 16 '000 lumens of light, adjustable to your needs. Elios 2 & 3 provides the right amount of lighting whether you need to see the big picture or the tiniest crack. When additional lighting is required to get further details and higher image quality during close up data capture, Elios 3 carries an additional close up light source providing direct light to the object of scrutiny.