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Waygate Technologies, a Baker Hughes company and global specialist in non-destructive testing (NDT) solutions for industrial inspection, is launching a new service that uses state-of-the-art robotics to ensure the safe and efficient inspection and cleaning of industrial boilers. The service, called Bric (acronym for Boiler Robotic Inspection & Cleaning), will eliminate any physical risk to inspectors, provide more accurate data than any previous inspection technology in this area, and significantly reduce inspection costs for customers in sectors such as the chemical industry, paper manufacturing or energy.
Zero risk, twice as fast, multiple perspectives
Conventional boiler maintenance involves sending people into an extremely dangerous environment when no human intervention is required to perform visual and ultrasonic inspections as well as water jet cleanings. The Bric completely eliminates the risk to humans.
However, the Bric does not just increase security; it also collects 95% more high-quality data than conventional inspections. More reliable data on wall thickness are provided by three separate ultrasonic sensors. And the company's exclusive 3D LOC technology creates a digital twin of boilers, geolocates all the data collected, so that customers can anticipate the risks.
Conventional boiler inspection also comes with significant costs in terms of preparation, supply, logistics and HSE requirements. If we add to this the time needed to coordinate all the actors, these methods can be costly and time-consuming. With the Bric service, a single team of specialists takes care of everything. And since there is no human intervention or scaffolding, advance planning is much less necessary. According to Waygate Technologies, fewer stakeholders and less preparation saves an average of 30 to 70% of time compared to traditional maintenance methods.
"We are thrilled to now be able to offer our Bric service to companies around the world," said Ekkehard Zwicker, Product Line Leader Robotics at Waygate Technologies. As a leading provider of industrial inspection solutions, we have been working closely with asset managers in the chemical, energy and paper manufacturing sectors for decades and we know that reducing physical risks in these hazardous work environments is always a priority. At the same time, their businesses are facing increasing pressure to limit costs and downtime. With Bric, we have developed a solution that manages to meet these two factors. »
A set of services and systems developed with Basf
Waygate Technologies deploys state-of-the-art inspection robotics. The material integrates visual and ultrasonic imaging with ultra-accurate cleaning and measurement. But the technology was not designed to adapt to all tasks. With its Bric service, Waygate Technologies offers its customers a five-step individualized inspection solution. The services cover the entire process, from customer information and assessment to planning, inspecting and delivering inspection data, all provided by a single team of experts.
Among the first users of the Bric program is the chemical group Basf. Waygate Technologies cooperated with Basf to move Bric from pilot to full industrial use. "While an inspection usually requires three weeks of calculation, we can now reduce this time to one week. So we save about two weeks of downtime on an inspection,"says Jürgen Moors, Director of Operations at Basf Antwerp.
Visit:
inspection-robotics.com
