Testing systems, equipment, and production media
Safe working and production
Whether they are producing consumer goods or intermediates such as steel and additives for plastics, the safety of the people working in factories is the highest priority. This has been a focus of DEKRA’s commitment since 2001, when it established the DEKRA Industrial business area.
This now focuses on conventional testing services for industrial assets such as buildings and equipment, as well as sustainability services for production and ambient media such as air and water.
Taking a top spot
In January 2005 DEKRA acquired French company NORISKO S.A., and as a result moved into a leading position in the European market for testing services for industrial customers. NORISKO has 2,500 employees and is a top-three provider in France; its industrial business will be merged with DEKRA’s to create DEKRA NORISKO Industrial Group.
Broad international positioning
With 6,000 employees in 16 countries and a wide spectrum of expertise, DEKRA is already well-positioned in industrial asset testing. The company is nonetheless continuing to expand its services in this area, in close dialogue with its customers. Digitalization is key here.
Potential of sun, wind, and hydrogen
There is enormous potential in renewable sources of energy such as wind power, hydrogen, and solar power. DEKRA is working towards providing integrated and customized digital services for the safe and reliable planning, construction, operation, and dismantling of relevant systems.
Out of the danger zone
Human expertise is unquestionably a necessity for the testing of equipment and systems. But inspectors are often exposed to danger, especially in confined environments: Each year there are around 1,000 fatal work accidents in confined spaces worldwide, and more than 100 of these relate to inspections.
To protect its own experts as well as customer employees, DEKRA implements a clear strategy of systematically keeping people out of the danger zone.
This strategy relies on three approaches:
- Inspections being performed by robots equipped with ultrasonic and wall-thickness measuring devices.
- Test data being recorded and transmitted by sensors installed in situ.
- Entire systems being digitalized to facilitate data-based predictions (digital twinning).
People in the danger zone
Cramped, dangerous, and difficult – all ways of describing previous inspections in confined spaces.
Machines taking the risk
The M1000 is one example of a robot that can replace and therefore protect people during inspections. This Wall-E lookalike is used at DOW Chemicals in France to check pressure vessels for cracks, holes, and corrosion to the enamel coating.
Autonomous inspection
In the future, a wide range of inspection data will be consolidated on a central platform. This development, combined with advanced robot technology, is gradually making autonomous inspections a reality. Such inspections make proactive maintenance easier, reducing downtime and optimizing system performance by means of predictive analysis and automated decision-making.
Bird’s-eye inspections
Confined environments are one source of hazard – but other inspection situations can also be dangerous for people, for example climbing a cell phone mast.
That is why drones are already being deployed for external inspections. They are capable of recording visual and thermographic data from a structure without exposing a DEKRA employee to potential danger.
Renewable energy production – particularly wind turbines – is one area in which drones are used. These frequently necessitate work being completed at dizzying heights, not least because turbines are getting bigger and bigger.
DEKRA is already using drones to help inspect wind turbines – rotor blades, towers, and lightning protection, for example.
There are some tasks for which inspectors currently have to abseil down a wind turbine. Deploying automated drones to fly over the towers and rotor blades is a great deal easier. It saves a lot of time and represents a step toward AI-based evaluation of inspection data.
Data-based inspections
To inspect industrial assets and structures, a camera or thermographic measuring device is fitted to the underside of a drone. It is likely that the resulting images and measured data will be automatically compared in the future, with the help of artificial intelligence, to make it easier to identify material changes and initiate the necessary protective action and repairs.
The periodic inspection of wind turbines throughout their service life is a key service provided by DEKRA, wherein the access system, pressure vessel, electrical system components, and tower foundation are examined. The full portfolio of services offered to wind power customers encompasses the entire life cycle of a wind turbine – from feasibility studies to expert opinions on continued operation and dismantling. Each year DEKRA conducts 15,000 service activities on onshore and offshore wind turbines in Europe.
DEKRA supports a wind turbine throughout its life cycle. This is one example of how the company is already successfully extending its portfolio of industrial testing services with a 360-degree approach.