District heating and gas networks

District heating and gas network operators often run the same kinds of plants as power grid operators – often they are the same companies. The starting point is therefore largely identical: many distributed, rarely staffed sites, regular inspection obligations, scarce skilled staff.

Heating plants and heating stations are the most productive case. Inspection tasks: thermal capture of pumps, motors and heat exchangers, reading pressure and temperature measuring points, visual inspection of valves and flange connections for leaks, checking expansion vessels and water treatment, acoustic anomalies on rotating equipment.

Transfer stations in buildings are usually compact and too small for a stationed robot. They are more likely to be considered as an intermediate stop on a longer route.

Ancillary network facilities – booster stations, valve chambers, measuring points – resemble the underground facilities of power grids in their structure. What is described under Tunnels and underground infrastructure largely applies to them.

Biogas and sewage gas plants deserve separate consideration, because accessible and prohibited areas alternate within the same plant. Determining the boundaries is the first step here, not the selection of equipment.

Practically the entire approach carries over from the power grid: thermography as the most productive single discipline, unmanned sites as the economic lever, IT security requirements as a procurement criterion. Anyone who has already gained experience in the power grid can largely apply it here.

Further reading: Robot-assisted inspection in energy supply – the detailed account, whose approach largely carries over to district heating and gas networks.