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At Solrød District Heating, we have taken the advantage of using Drone System and their services to obtain an overview of our network pipelines. The use of drones for thermal photo-registration means that we cover our entire network 100 %. This provides us with a superb overview so we can target leaks and abrasion in the pipelines. Drone Systems created a mosaic map which shows the entire network as one thermal image, making leaks and abrasions visible, enabling us to follow the evolution over the coming years.

Previously, we have done thermal inspection from a car. This time, Lystrup District Heating chose to let Drone Systems do the job. Categorization and identification of points of interest turned out to be really impressive with a very high hit-rate. Before they flew over our network, the loss in the distribution was 28.5 m3 in 24 hours. After the flights and the repairs of the identified leaks, the loss is now 12.8 m3 in 24 hours, after hitting a low of 3.4 m3. We are absolutely satisfied and, in spite of the cost, will use the method again.

During the winter of 2017/18, at Helsingør Utility we had our district heating pipelines drone inspected by Dronesystems.dk. The network consists of approx. 100 km primary transmission pipeline and 50 km distribution pipeline. The delivered results in the form of thermal web-maps with corresponding locations and analyses, were of high quality. We could use the results directly to make immediate repairs and to carry out trial digs in order to prioritize repairs of pipes showing heat loss, for example caused by soggy insulation.

After we have had our network pipelines inspected by your flights, we have been really satisfied. After we received the results, we, of course, studied the flights intensely in Teraplan. Later, we have used Teraplan for an analysis in connection with a larger renovation in our district. Further, the plan is that the consulting engineering company COWI and we will study Teraplan, when we get to the point where we are going to make schedules for maintenance – and in case we need supplementary information, we will certainly contact you. To put it straight, it’s a super tool for us compared to “the old” methods.

Since 2005, Lemvig District Heating Company has had its own professional equipment for thermal imaging, but in 2016 for the first time our inspection did not find a single leak in our pipelines. But since “the car” only covers 50% of our network pipelines, we decided to try drone-based thermal inspection which resulted in the identification of 9 leaks in distribution lines which are outside the range of “the car”, plus 11 points to be kept under observation.

Therefore, the car is now parked and we have entered a long-term contract about drone inspections – we are looking forward to the collaboration.