Sutro recently performed Global Mechanical Integrity Safety Standard (GMISS) inspections on Cooling Towers for Dow. The inspections required both external and internal assessment of the condition of the structural timbers. Historically, scaffold has been used internally to gain access to the internal wooden structure to assess the condition, which can be a lengthy process.
The cooling cells would be required to be offline for the duration of scaffold erecting, the inspection and dismantling, meaning that for the duration of works the cooling capacity would be reduced by 1/3. Due to the entire outside structure of the Cooling Towers also requiring full inspection, the amount of scaffold required to reach each level would be enormous. The areas which required inspection were within the 7 slats on both sides of the Cooling Tower, and the internal structure.
As opposed to using conventional means such as scaffold, our Robotic and NDT Inspection teams used commercial drone technology to obtain footage of both the internal and external
structure. This footage was then submitted to Dow’s approved Cooling Tower Specialists who reviewed the footage and submitted a findings report based on the images taken from the drone inspection.
By conducting the inspection using Sutro’s Dow Approved technology we saved an estimated 3000 pLife hours in scaffolding alone and approximately £150k in scaffolding costs. This does not take into account the potential loss of production rates from the lack of cooling capacity for the duration of the inspections.
Dow combines chemistry, biology and physics to create innovative products in several key markets. Dow provides forward-thinking and innovation to markets all around the globe with solutions that are essential to human progress. The Dow Silicons site in Barry, South Wales is one of three Dow sites in the UK. The site produces a wide range of products including various sealants, adhesives, rubbers, lubricants, silicon oils and solvents. These products are used in various industries from electronics and automotive to construction, healthcare and others.