POWER April 2014 - 33

PLANT MAINTENANCE
dant inspections to superheat wrapper tube
intersection inspections, waterwall blower
(IR port) inspections, burner inspections
(including tangentiallly corner-fired and
wall-fired burner systems), and bottom ash
inspections, to name a few. Following are
specifics of two inspections.
Project X. The client in Texas needed to
inspect a Combustion Engineering (CE) 800MW
eight-corner furnace with a scope that
included CE furnace burners and wall blowers
during a short maintenance outage, but
they didn't have the time or funds for scaffolding
or buggies.
The United Aerobotics team was able to
reach the site within 8 hours and perform an
aerial inspection of all components in one
shift, using the MAGNEBOT. The inspection
scope included 80 burner/air tips and 50
IR ports.
The inspector was able to identify the
deterioration of aftermarket ceramic splitter
plates in the coal buckets. Due to vibration
and overheating, pieces of plate were falling
to the slope below, causing tube failures by
puncturing the tube wall. The inspector was
also able to identify multiple cracked lance
heads in the IR ports.
Project Y. This Missouri client needed to
inspect a Babcock & Wilcox 750-MW furnace
to determine the condition of previous
repairs to the membrane on the roof of
the boiler as well as determine if there was
erosion on the pendants due to adjustments
on the IR ports. This project used the MAGNEBOT
because its unique design allows it
to " land " on the roof and its small size allows
it to fit between pendants. The scope included
18 pendants and the seam on the roof line.
The inspector was able to identify missing
refractory behind the membrane as well
as confirm polishing behind the wrapper tube
on all pendants.
Drones Can Provide a Market Edge
New Environmental Protection Agency regulations
such as the Mercury and Air Toxics
Standards have altered the playing field in
regards to emissions control. Consequently,
burner performance and condition play
an increasingly vital role in the process of
maximizing efficiency while helping to meet
current and new standards and regulations.
Aerial drones can assist in this task by providing
quicker burner inspection than traditional
methods.
In the power industry, timing is always a
concern, from dates and duration of planned
maintenance overhauls to the time of year
that assets are effectively in operation. On
the maintenance side, getting the most work
done in the shortest period of time has been
the key to success. UASs help streamline the
process at multiple levels.
As for external inspections, U.S. FAA
flight restrictions are scheduled to lift in the
next six to 18 months, allowing for commercial
flights to take place in open air space outside
of an enclosed structure; however, UASs
are commercially utilized in other countries
today. (All exterior photos were taken by a
volunteer pilot flying the model recreationally.
Once FAA restrictions are lifted, we
will be ready to provide services to inspect
power lines, stack externals, cooling tower
externals, wind turbines, towers, and other
exterior equipment.)
At the end of the day, UAS inspections
are not just high on the cool factor. More importantly,
they get the job done. The power
industry has been in need of an innovative inspection
approach like that offered by drones
for decades, and technology has finally
caught up with demand. ■
-Jon S. Cavote (jscavote@udc.net) is
president and COO of United Dynamics
Advanced Technologies Corp.
HIGH-EFFICIENCY
FANS
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