Wind Turbine Blade Inspections with the Elios 3

Discover how the Elios 3 revolutionized wind turbine blade inspections, delivering results in just one day instead of five! This advanced drone solution is changing the game for maintenance teams across the renewable energy sector.

Key Benefits at a Glance

Safety Inspecting wind turbine blades traditionally involves working at height and in tight spaces. The Elios 3 eliminates the need for human entry, significantly reducing risk and ensuring safer operations.	Speed The Elios 3 completed an entire blade inspection in just 27 minutes, while traditional methods could take up to two hours using a rover or even two days with manual inspections. It’s clear that drones are the fastest option available.
Data Quality Equipped with a 4K camera, the Elios 3 captured detailed images of lightning strike damage and previous maintenance work along the blade. The LiDAR point cloud also provided precise navigation inside the blade, enhancing the overall data quality.	Access Once deployed from the hub, the Elios 3 can fly into each blade without needing repositioning. Its compact design allows it to reach nearly the entire length of the blade, providing remote access to critical areas that were previously hard to reach.

According to the Global Wind Energy Council, there are over 341,000 wind turbines installed globally. These massive structures are incredibly efficient—on average, a wind turbine from 2020 can power a household for a month in just 46 minutes. However, maintaining these towering machines presents significant challenges.

Wind turbines are located high above ground, often in confined and hazardous environments. Accessing them requires specialized training, such as that provided by the Global Wind Organization. Workers must be able to move safely within the structure, rappel out in emergencies, and handle unexpected situations. Finding qualified personnel for these tasks can be difficult, making regular inspections both time-consuming and costly.

Why Use Drones for Wind Turbine Inspections?

In February 2024, Drone Solution, a Swedish service provider, partnered with a wind turbine management company to explore the feasibility of using drones for internal blade inspections. While they already used drones for external checks, this was the first time a drone had been used inside a wind turbine blade.

The sheer size of wind turbines makes them difficult to inspect

Wind turbine inspections typically focus on identifying manufacturing defects or lightning damage. A lightning strike may leave only a small mark on the surface, but the internal damage could be severe and pose a serious risk. In some cases, if the Lightning Protection System is faulty or damaged, a strike could cause the blade to explode. Regular inspections are essential to prevent such incidents, especially since repairing a damaged blade can cost up to $1 million.

Drone Solution specializes in challenging inspections, including those in confined spaces. Their goal was to show how the Elios 3 could improve safety, speed, and accuracy during internal blade inspections, proving that drones could cover both internal and external parts of the turbine more efficiently than traditional methods.

Planning the Inspection with the Elios 3

Each wind turbine has three blades, and each must be inspected individually. Traditionally, this process requires workers to enter the blade, which is a narrow, confined space that tapers to less than a meter in diameter. Blades are divided by shear webs, which make the inspection more complex. A person must crawl along one side, then rotate the blade to inspect the other side, making the process slow and labor-intensive.

Given the complexity and risks involved, traditional blade inspections can take anywhere from 5 to 9 days per turbine. Drone Solution wanted to see how much faster the Elios 3 could make the process.

The Inspection Process: A Drone Wind Turbine Blade Inspection

The demonstration involved a turbine with 67-meter-long blades. Before starting, the team had completed their wind turbine training. At the site, they took a 20-minute elevator ride to the hub, where the access hatches for each blade were located.

The turbine was pitched so that two blades were angled upward, similar to the positions of 10 and 2 on a clock. This ensured that if the drone encountered any issues, it would roll back down safely rather than becoming stuck.

The Elios 3 outside of an access hatch on a turbine

The Elios 3 was flown into each blade and navigated along both sides of the shear webs, covering 30 meters of the structure. The pilot used the 4K camera to capture visual data and identify potential issues, including signs of lightning damage. As the drone moved deeper into the blade, the space became narrower, and the FlyAware LiDAR scan helped the pilot navigate beyond line of sight.

The entire inspection was completed in just 27 minutes, with three flights. After inspecting all three blades, the team used a separate drone to check the exterior of the turbine.

Snapshot: the Elios 3 flying inside a turbine blade with the shear web on the left

Results of the Drone Wind Turbine Blade Inspection

The results of the inspection exceeded expectations. The Elios 3 revealed internal damage that wasn’t visible from the outside, proving its value over traditional methods. This kind of inspection usually requires two trained individuals in the hub, but the drone allowed for a single operator, improving efficiency and reducing risk.

With the Elios 3, each blade could be inspected in under 30 minutes, compared to over a day using manual methods or 4 hours with rovers. This dramatic improvement in speed and safety made a strong case for adopting drone-based inspections for wind turbines.

Following the success of this project, Drone Solution and their client hope to expand the use of drone inspections across more wind farms. This could open up new opportunities for the company, transforming wind turbine maintenance into a faster, safer, and more cost-effective process.

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