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CASE STUDY: Drone used in emergency tube-leak inspection
When a major coal-fired power station in Limpopo experienced a tube leak in a boiler, Skyriders
Access Specialists was called upon to deploy its Elios SkyEye drone technology to conduct an
emergency inspection.
Skyriders dispatched a two-person team that was quickly on site and able to get the drone into the boiler as soon as possible.
This is the second time that the confined-
space inspection technology has been
deployed in such an application, says
Skyriders marketing manager, Mike Zinn.
“The client required an urgent visual
inspection, in addition to determining the
possible collateral damage associated
with the areas,” reports Zinn.
Zinn explains that the drone was
controlled from just outside of the boiler
itself. “We were not necessarily flying it
blind due to the presence of its cameras,
but it did have to cover a considerable
distance.” While there are definite
challenges associated with a drone having
to cover considerable distances, due to
interference from other installations and
signal-emitting machinery like cell phone
towers for example, Zinn says that the
Elios SkyEye is used indoors, where
the signal is strong enough to prevent
such interference. “Basically, within an
enclosed structure we can travel about
150m into tunnels,” he says. “Where
necessary, we can place a range extender
at one end of a tunnel in a confined
space, fly the drone in from the other
end, and then we have signal throughout.
“When it comes to distance and
range, there are definitely challenges,”
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JULY 2019
he continues, “But with technology,
we are able to overcome them. What
we have done in the past, where we
were dealing with quite a large confined
space, and where the signal was erratic
due to the composition of the structure,
we would fly into a section, ensure it
is safe, after which the operator could
move into the section that has been
declared safe. We would then fly the
drone into the next section, declare it
safe, and leapfrog on from there to deal
with any range challenges presented.”
Identifying problems
In this case, the drone was not only able
to take high-definition photographs of
the internal area of the boiler in question
but also pinpointed the exact location
of the suspected tube leak. “We also
piloted the drone around the adjacent
walls and surrounding area to verify
whether or not there were any additional
issues,” Zinn explains.
While the Elios SkyEye drone was
used for inspection work on two
previous occasions at the same power
station, this was the first time it was
called upon in an emergency situation.
Skyriders dispatched a two-person team
that was quickly on-site, and able to
get the drone into the boiler as soon as
possible.
The project shows how quickly and
easily the drone can be deployed and
how flexible it is. Traditionally, scaffolding
or other time-consuming means of
access would need to have been erected
prior to inspections being conducted.
The best ‘eye’ for the job
Imported from Flyability of Switzerland,
the hi-tech Elios SkyEye drone includes
a full HD camera, a thermal camera and
an onboard LED lighting system with
remotely-adjustable intensity. Hence an
array of onboard tools is available for any
lighting conditions.
Zinn elaborates on the thermal
camera functionality, “A thermal camera
can detect something that the human
eye is unable to see, such as an area
of increased or decreased heat or
temperature that is in contrast to the
surroundings. Examples include server
rooms, cable trays where there is lots
of cabling, or boilers where there are
small leaks. A thermal camera can pick
up a heat signature that differs from the
surrounding areas, which would often
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