Confined Space Inspection: How Drones Are Transforming Energy Facility Maintenance

The Challenge

During a scheduled maintenance shutdown at an energy facility, the engineering team faced an urgent task. They needed to inspect a heater duct system. With less than a week before operations were set to restart, every hour of downtime was critical.

Confined space inspections like this are traditionally slow and labor-intensive. They require scaffolding, safety preparations, and careful planning before work can even begin. Crews often spend days setting up access, which delays other maintenance tasks, adds costs, and increases safety risks. Confined spaces make inspections even more complicated because access is limited, movement is restricted, and capturing detailed visual data without requiring shutting down the system for days and sometimes weeks on end. 

Our Approach

While the client was still setting up traditional scaffolding and preparing for a manual inspection and repair, we were brought in as an additional inspection methodology. Our goal was to provide a thorough pre-inspection that offered superior data and a more extensive review of potential damage than could be gathered through manual observation alone.

As a trusted provider of confined space drone inspections, we were called in to complete the work under tight time constraints. After a short safety briefing and site setup, our team deployed the Elios 3 drone, which is specifically designed for confined space operations, to carry out both internal and external inspections of the heater duct system.

The internal inspection was timed during the crew’s lunch break, giving us a 60-minute window to complete the drone flight without interrupting other maintenance and scaffolding tasks. The Elios 3 drone is designed to navigate tight spaces while capturing high-resolution images and video, making it ideal for all confined space inspections.

For areas that were especially hard to reach, the drone was dual-tethered and lowered about 30 feet by hand. This kept the footage stable, minimized dust and debris, and allowed us to inspect sections that would otherwise have required complex scaffolding and risky manual entry.

The full internal confined space operation consisted of four short flights, each lasting about seven minutes. The inspection was completed safely and efficiently, entirely within the scheduled window. By providing a detailed pre-inspection of the heater duct, the drone data gave the client a clear view of areas needing attention. This allowed them to plan repairs more accurately and efficiently, reducing guesswork and ensuring maintenance work could proceed smoothly.

The Results

The drone inspection uncovered significant deterioration inside the heater duct system, including several holes large enough to let in daylight. These defects had gone unnoticed in the initial inspections, proving the limitations of traditional methods in confined spaces.

All the data from the confined space drone inspection were compiled into a detailed report. The report included high-resolution images, video footage, annotated points of interest, and a 3D point cloud model accessible through secure cloud sharing. 

Replacing what would have been a week of scaffolding and manual inspection with under two hours of drone work saved the client time and resources. The inspection also provided higher-quality data, giving the client a clear picture of the asset’s condition. This operation demonstrates the advantages of using confined space drone inspections during planned maintenance.

Why Confined Space Drone Inspections Matter

Confined spaces are challenging for maintenance teams because access is limited, visibility is low, and entering these areas carries safety risks. Using a confined space drone, like the Elios 3, solves these problems. It can navigate tight spaces safely, capture detailed imagery, and provide actionable data with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.

Drone inspections also create a permanent digital record of asset conditions. High-resolution images and 3D models let teams track wear and deterioration over time. They improve planning for future maintenance and reduce the risk of unplanned downtime. For energy facilities, this means fewer delays and fewer safety hazards.

Using a confined space drone keeps personnel out of dangerous areas. Tasks that once required scaffolding and manual entry can now be done in hours. Drones provide a safer, faster, and more accurate alternative to traditional inspection methods.

Learn more about how our confined space drone inspections can help your facility plan repairs efficiently and safely by visiting our Confined Space Inspections page.