Natural Gas Station Boiler Inspection

Constellation Clearsight performed a remote inspection of a natural gas generating station’s boilers via drone.

A Natural Gas Generating Station experienced issues such as bulged and ruptured water wall tubes within their boilers. Nearing peak load as a result of summer temperatures, the plant quickly requested our services. By proactively identifying compromised tubes that were likely to leak, we significantly reduced operability risk for the site.  

For this inspection, we implemented a two-phased drone inspection of the boiler to locate issues as well as identify any tubes that were “out-of-round.” The first phase was an all-encompassing boiler inspection to identify maintenance issues that needed repair. The second phase was a close inspection of the 80-foot water walls to identify bulges. This phase allowed the plant to decide which areas needed immediate attention and could be addressed during the outage. 

By mobilizing quickly, and by streamlining the inspection process, the site was able to fix all equipment issues within the time constraint. Using a drone with a 4K camera, we eliminated the need for scaffolding in order to gather high-resolution data throughout the boiler. The site was able to return the unit to operations several days sooner than the traditional, manual inspection methods would have allowed.