MRS Training and Rescue are confined spaces experts. Our long history in responding to emergencies in the UK mining industry underpins our confined space and working at height services today.
Having worked with the Power Generation Industry for many years, our focus, primarily, is always to use our expertise to keep people safe during planned outages / maintenance and unplanned breakdowns. In the planning stages of outages, we provide a range of support, including rescue planning, advising on risk management, and helping to consider the safety elements that can be incorporated ahead of work starting, which can all help to achieve desired objectives. Internal inspection drones are something we will consider as they can be sent in hazardous places and dangerous situations instead of or ahead of humans, reducing risk and downtime too.
Power generation industry types we work with:
Traditional:
- Thermal – coal fired power stations – although very few remain in the UK, they do continue to operate and the conflict in Ukraine has resulted in them being operational for a few more years yet.
- Gas Fired – burning natural gas to generate energy
- EFW – Energy from Waste – non recyclable materials are burned to generate power
- Oil Fired – oil is burned to generate electricity
Renewable:
- Anaerobic Digestors – takes organic matter and burns it to produce methane that can be used as a fuel for renewable energy.
- Wind Turbines
- Solar
What type of inspections can drones be used for?
All types of power plants have a multitude of confined spaces present. Some examples are listed below along with details of how an internal inspection drone can be used to improve safety and lower cost:
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Steam Drums
- Check for internal condition and integrity of the drum and any associated components within the drum.
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Boilers
- Check for condition and integrity of tubes, inspect for tube leaks and any components within the boiler both waterside and fireside. Identify signs of overheating and carry out regulatory inspections as required.
- Check for condition and integrity of tubes, inspect for tube leaks and any components within the boiler both waterside and fireside. Identify signs of overheating and carry out regulatory inspections as required.
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Ducting
- Inspection of internal ducting for joint/weld defects, internal general ducting condition, and any material build up within the ducting.
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Storage Tanks
- Internal inspection of roof, floor and sides of the tank, and close inspection of any internal component parts.
- Internal inspection of roof, floor and sides of the tank, and close inspection of any internal component parts.
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Bunkers
- Internal inspection of bunker plates, joints and any material deposits.
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Silos
- Internal structural condition inspection roof, floor, component part close inspections and material build up investigations.
- Internal structural condition inspection roof, floor, component part close inspections and material build up investigations.
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Exhaust Towers
- Internal condition inspection along with insulation liner material condition and inspection
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Cooling Towers
- Internal structure condition
- Internal structure condition
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Ash hoppers
- These can be very dangerous places for manual inspections. By using the internal inspection drone, there may no longer be a need for a person to climb into a hopper to perform an inspection.
