Refineries

Refining Solutions

It is often necessary to stop operations to address issues in refineries or conduct inspections, resulting in revenue loss. MFE Inspection Solutions offers comprehensive solutions to reduce downtime with our inspection tools, such as visual inspection drones, to effectively plan routine maintenance and the latest remote visual and non-destructive inspection equipment.

Indoor Drones For Asset Inspections

As safety is paramount in the refining industry and this industry faces increasing cost pressures, our customers are turning to innovative solutions that enable them to improve the quality of their inspection and preserve their assets. By choosing an indoor inspection drone such as Flyabilitie’s Elios Series Drone, they increase the safety of their employees while reducing inspection costs by performing more thorough and frequent visual inspections without the need for human entry or scaffolding.

Indoor Inspection Drone Refinery Applications

Visual inspection of production units is essential in refineries. Here are some suitable applications for indoor inspection drones.

Asset Rehabilitation & Decommissioning

Assess the extent of damage within an asset to plan for its decommissioning or rehabilitation without putting humans at risk.

Storage Tanks

During integrity-assessment turnarounds, look for cracks and corrosion in storage tanks’ rafters, walls, and roof sections, and perform a close visual inspection beyond the line of sight.

Chimney / Smokestack

Perform a visual inspection to detect cracks and anomalies internally within a towering smokestack.

Petroleum Refinery Processing Units

Perform a visual inspection of critical oil refinery production units such as Fluid Catalytic Cracking and Cokers.

Drones For Facility Management & Outdoor Inspections

Streamline project management by maintaining live overviews of an entire facility for staff safety or externally inspect complex structures to perform visual asset integrity assessments.

Outdoor Inspection Drone Refinery Applications

Outdoor inspection drones have a variety of payloads for different applications currently used in many refineries.

Gas Detecton

Cover large areas in a few drone flights to efficiently detect leaks and determine the leak’s extent. Significantly reduce the cost of acquiring detection equipment using payload gas detectors on drones. Real-time feeds of detection help inspection teams localize the leaks and act quickly to fix them.

Digital Twins of Assets

Automate the data collection process to create 3D models of assets with extensive coverage and ultra-high resolution. Perform higher quality inspections faster with minimal pilot training by using autonomous drones.

Project Management Mapping Software

Manage projects with a point cloud map with high accuracy using autonomous mapping features and GPS RTK or Ground Control Checkpoints. On-site or off-site personnel can use mapping software for site safety and improve team communication.

sUAS Thermography

Trained sUAS Thermographers can use thermal imaging payloads to check various assets such as boilers, heaters, steam traps, friction in motorized equipment, or even line blockage. MFE Inspection Solutions offers thermography certification courses to drone pilots and inspectors looking to further their inspection services on land or above.

Robotics for Site-safety & Data Collection

MFE Inspection Solutions features SPOT, “the quadruped robot dog,” with various accessories for autonomous inspections, project management, and routine data collection.

SPOT Robot Autonomous Solutions

Refineries now utilize SPOT to turn images into insights and manage projects and assets remotely or autonomously.

Digital Twins of Assets and Tank Inspection

Laser Scanners such as the Trimble X7 can be integrated onto SPOT for routine tank inspections. In addition, inspectors can use Emesent’s Hovermap SLAM-based LiDAR system accessory for SPOT to capture highly detailed georeferenced point cloud maps of environments or assets. By generating digital twins of assets with point cloud maps, you can create sophisticated inspection reports with high-quality data to share with your team.

Monitor Assets & Detect Anomalies

SPOT can be used to monitor assets or detect anomalies using a series of fiducials and programmable actions through a feature called, “Autowalk.” Also, for extended artificial intelligence, MFE Inspection Solutions offers AI models designed by levatas for advanced autonomy including gauge reading, thermal anomaly, and unsafe conditions detection.

Visual Inspection Cameras / Borescopes Applications

MFE offers a variety of remote visual inspection tools for pipeline lines, boilers, heat exchangers, vessels, tank inspections, and more.

Tanks and Vessels

PTZ (pan, tilt, and zoom) cameras can be helpful to inspectors who want to plan maintenance by observing defects before human entry to assets. We offer several camera systems with different zoom ranges, lumens, and lengths for rent or purchase.

Reactors, Heat Exchangers, Boilers and Pressure Vessels

MFE supports small diameter borescope tips with extended lengths and flexible ends that can be used to verify and notate inspection indications within pressure vessels, heat exchangers and reactors.

Wohler VIS 700 High Definition Push Camera

Pipeline Visual Inspection

Push camera systems are available for rent and purchase that support lengths up to 500ft or more. In addition, 1 1/2″ – 6″ diameter pipes can be inspected with articulating camera heads that include optional buggy or center devices, some of which include exterior lighting systems to obtain a greater field of view.

Remote Visual and Ultrasonic Inspection Crawlers

Remote-controlled crawlers can be used for various inspection purposes in refineries, laser scanning, visual inspection, and even ultrasonic testing. Typically, these crawler systems have optional magnetic wheels that can provide more traction on ferrous metallic surfaces.

Tank Scanning

Compact, portable crawler systems such as the MFE X3 UT Scanner make it easy to inspect hard-to-reach areas on the outer walls of storage tanks. These scanners are equipped with a water pump system to transmit ultrasonic waves from the transducer to the asset. In addition, these systems also integrate many different ultrasonic thickness gauges and flaw detectors.

Pipe Crawler Inspection

Pipe crawlers such as Deep Trekkers DT340 support tether lengths up to 400ft and are fully submersible. In addition, the DT340 crawler comes with a wide range of optional camera integrations such as PTZ cameras, rear cameras, fixed cameras, and even adjustable elevating arm cameras.

Small Diameter Pipe Crawler Inspection

MFE Inspection Solutions features Crab Robot Crawlers manufactured by Endo Control for pipelines as small as 2″ in diameter. These small compact systems include an articulating camera and an optional laser scanning sensor to measure internal geometries. In addition, the Crab Robot Crawlers’ six spring-loaded motor drive arms give it the traction not only to travel vertically but also to navigate through tight bends.

Non-Destructive Testing Inspection

MFE Inspection Solutions offers the latest NDT equipment for rent and purchase by qualified inspectors for various routine maintenance applications.

Tank Floor Inspection

Magnetic Flux Leakage (MFL) inspection is a quick method to check for volumetric indications that could result in environmental hazards or product loss. Check out the MFL training courses held at our Dripping Springs, TX office to learn how to find and proof indications and create high-quality inspection maps using our latest MFL Equipment.

Hardness Inspection

Ultrasonic Contact Impedance (UCI) hardness testers are commonly used for refinery applications. For structural integrity, hardness testers are used to evaluate material properties, such as strength, ductility, and wear resistance.

Ultrasonics

Ultrasonic Flaw Detectors and Thickness Gauges are often used in refineries to inspect assets for flaws and defects or to measure wall thickness where degradation may be suspected.

Positive Material Identification

XRF (X-ray fluorescence) guns are used in refineries for positive material identification. XRF guns break down the chemistry composition of metallic components. As an example, XRF analyzers can be used to ensure the correct metal alloys were used to fabricate piping and equipment to help prevent pipe corrosion that could lead to mechanical failures.

Pressure Vessel and Pipeline Inspections

Eddy Current and Remote Field testing is the preferred method for inspecting heat exchangers. Eddy Current Inspections do not require water which can conflict with adjacent work but also requires a little less cleaning of the heat exchanger bundle tubes. Now, Eddy Current Technology has made its way to external pipe inspections. Inspectors often use a pulsed eddy current system such as the Eddyfi LYFT to perform real-time c-scans even through insulation.

Gas Leak Detection

OGI (Optical Gas Imaging) cameras use spectrally filtered thermal imaging to see invisible gasses. Gas absorbs the energy from being detected by the sensor, causing a smoke-like shadow. Check out MFE Inspection Solutions’ cryo-cooled OGI camera to determine which detectable gasses suit your application.

Contact MFE Inspection Solutions

Contact one of our local MFE offices today for more information regarding how MFE Inspection Solutions can help with your next refinery project.