International cement company Refratechnik Cement used the Elios 3 to create ‘digital twins’ of assets in a new plant. ‘Digital twin’ is another word for a 3D model.

Benefits in a nutshell

• 3D live map

With the LiDAR data from the Elios 3, inspectors saw a live 3D model as they flew inside the factory. This gave them situational awareness. And therefore, also full coverage of each asset.

• Research-level digital twins

Thanks to the LiDAR data from the Elios 3, inspectors were able to create highly accurate ‘digital twins’ or virtual copies of the new cement plant using GeoSLAM Connect. In this way, they created an overview of the original state of the plant. Over time, this model can be compared with future ‘digital twins’ to determine the presence of defects.

• Speed of data collection

In less than 10 minutes of flying, the Elios 3 collected enough LiDAR data to create a virtual copy of three cyclones. This is a much faster method of data collection than covering an area on foot with a handheld scanner.

Introduction

It is often a challenge for plant operators to keep track of the change to their facilities over the years.

In cement production, this task falls to plant operators. They must identify changes in the plant and assets that indicate the development of defects. That way, they can fix the problems before they get worse.

Operators also want to keep an eye on where ‘bake-ups’ are forming. These are thick bake layers on the walls of the cyclone separator or calciner. A perfectly normal phenomenon. Although it is important to know how many bake layers have formed and where they are. Only then can you schedule the necessary time and personnel to clean them.

A major obstacle in keeping track of these changes, are the original plans. Those plans – used to build a factory – may differ from the actual factory.

In this case, 3D models rendered in CAD (Computer-Aided Design) are a useful tool. This is because they depict the entire factory in a detailed three-dimensional manner. But even here, there may be potential discrepancies between the plans and reality. Moreover, these models often do not provide insight into the layout inside a plant’s assets, such as a cyclone separator or a storage tank.

A recent solution for tracking such changes is for administrators to scan their plants with a LiDAR scanner. They can then use that data to create a virtual copy of it. This involves rendering the property in a 3D model as it really is. In other words, a digital snapshot of the entire factory at a given time. By applying this regularly, inspectors and facility managers can compare all models and see what changes have occurred.

The ideal time to take the first ‘digital twin’ of a factory is right after construction. That way, you have a faithful representation of the entire plant even before it is operational and changing.

Given the newness of this technology, not many factory managers have already adopted it. As time goes on and this becomes more widespread, the creation of an initial ‘digital twin’ will be seen as a necessary first step in new industrial plants, regardless of the sector.

Customer needs

Germany’s Refratechnik Cement produces and installs refractories for cement plants worldwide. For Märker Zement’s cement plant in Harburg, it supplied refractory materials for the entire clinker combustion line. Here, IKN GmbH, as general contractor, had the task of replacing the existing, 50-year-old cement plant with a new, state-of-the-art kiln line.

A special moment. Because once the plant was operational, they would never again have the chance to record data on the conditions in which it was built. Therefore, Märker Zement wanted to create a 3D model of the new construction. This way, changes could be tracked over time. The ‘digital twins’ will form the basis for future 3D scans. Factory inspectors will compare these original and new models to identify defects caused by everyday use.  

The most important 3D model was that of the inside of the refractory-coated parts used to make cement. Think of the cyclone separator, calciner and clinker cooler. These models are not only useful for inspections but can also help show people working in the plant where to go to carry out work in a plant.

Collecting LiDAR data for these models could not be done with a handheld scanner. This would take several weeks and consequently would have to be done partly while the plant was operational. In addition, insufficient data could be collected with this approach to create 3D models. Indeed, with a handheld LiDAR scanner, you can only collect data near a manhole opening, which would cause data shortages and consequently gaps in the ‘digital twins’.

Solution

Eventually, Refratechnik Cement contacted a drone inspection company to see if they knew a way to use a drone that could create the data for the ‘digital twins’.

The founder of the inspection company saw the Elios 3  as a possible solution to Refratechnik’s needs. The drone is made to fly in small spaces and is equipped with an Ouster OSO-32 LiDAR sensor. By processing the data from that sensor with GeoSLAM Connect, the founder thought he could produce the ‘digital twins’ that Refratechnik wanted. The Elios 3 also used LiDAR data and Flyability’s SLAM engine FlyAware to create a 3D Live Map as the drone flies. That shows exactly where the drone is in an object.

Results

Thanks to the Elios 3, data collection at the new facility could be completed quickly. This data was processed with GeoSLAM Connect to generate highly accurate, surveying ‘digital twins’ of the inside of the factory and its assets.

The Elios 3 led to the creation of ‘digital twins’ of the interior of all parts of the cement plant: 6 cyclone separators, the clinker cooler and the 50-metre-high calciner. In addition, each part of the plant was ploughed, and a model was made of each flight. These linked models show the entire inside of the plant in the form of a 3D model.

The founder of the drone inspection company then superimposed the models on the original CAD files to check accuracy. The result? The precision between the two was quite high, with only about a centimetre difference between the ‘digital twins’ and the CAD files.

In addition to the 3D models, the Elios 3 provided high-quality visual data for the entire plant and inside assets. When inspectors detect defects via ‘digital twins’, they can use these images to visualise the changes of a defect.

Conclusion

Having created an initial set of ‘digital twins’, the plant operator plans to conduct another round during the plant’s first shutdown. This will happen about six months after the start of production. A crucial source of information on defects for factory inspectors.

The drone inspection company founder believes that ‘digital twins’ will soon be widely used for maintenance management in numerous industrial plants. Both for launching a brand-new facility and for tracking changes in an old facility.

Are you looking for a way to do maintenance management more efficiently? Be sure to contact us about the possibilities of Elios 3 for your company.