Drone inspection in the food industry

Drone inspection can be a great alternative when it comes to carrying out risk, time and cost-intensive tasks in the food industry.

Traditional inspectional of industrial assets like grain silos can be dangerous, expensive, time-consuming and often are not fully completed in one visit. Besides the fact that it is often difficult to achieve all required visual vantage points for a complete inspection of the silo.

With the introduction of drones, this has all changed. Drones have the potential to solve these problems, reducing risk, time and costs compared to a traditional inspection. How amazing is that!

A drone inspection in the food industry offers advantages such as:

• A fast overview of the production site and the state equipment or infrastructure
• High quality, detailed imagery and video of defects and failure, allowing for further assessment from the comfort of an office
• Data and insights that can be used in the maintenance planning
• Access to hard to reach areas
• Reduced downtime and optimised production
• High level of safety

Due to both the size, moveability and fast setup, drones are ideal for both indoor and outdoor inspections of pipe systems and hard to see areas like tank boilers and large silos. The difficult task of getting, having and keeping a detailed outline of the piping and tank supply on a large production site, can be made more simply with the use of drone imagery. Especially with the continuously adapting production lines of new output ratio, which often can result in a change of piping.

Getting a good view of piping is difficult due to piping location e.g. under the ceiling or hard to access areas. Reassessment can be pricey due to these inaccessible locations. Small drones can make this process easier allowing for more thorough inspections as often as required.

Cleaning validation made easy

There is a risk of contamination or biofilm from insufficient cleanings. Such coating can amass at inaccessible and high areas. In these cases, a visual assessment is very difficult and UV-lighting is needed.

Drones can be equipped with UV-lighting and high res camera marking. They can provide an entirely new overview of where and how frequently an inspection should be performed!

Drone inspection leak detection

Thermographic cameras make the process of finding leaks in liquid tanks, heating/cooling jacket or silos easy, safe and fast. While attached to a drone they can find that leak, even if it is 20 meters above the ground.

It’s not just finding the leak that drones can help with, they can help prevent them too. Bad welding or the beginning of cracks can be identified with high-resolution cameras mounted on high tech drones.

If you are interested in speeding up, reducing the cost and risk of inspections, then drones could be the way forward for you.