Two of Applus+ RVIS’s inspection tools have now received a Commercial Success Award from client Shell Pernis, Europe’s biggest refinery
Combining inspection expertise, technology and the principles of design thinking,
Applus+ RVIS creates award-winning remote inspection solutions that completely transform the customer experience. Two such solutions are its CU24 and PU12 remote inspection tools.
Last year, Applus+ RVIS developed the
CU24 based on client needs. The CU24 significantly improves the inspection efficiency of piping bridges and their supporting structures. The CU24 won the Shell Pernis Commercial Success Award in 2017 for being five times faster than conventional inspection methods, resulting in considerable cost savings to the client.
However, like every solution, the CU24 exposed a new inspection problem. There are areas in most plants in which maze-like piping structures can pose considerable inspection challenges. These areas are hardly, if ever, accessible in person and often involve pitch-black, labyrinthine areas of piping and steel structures. To solve this problem, the very same team came up with a new tool: the PU12.
The
PU12 is designed to inspect maze-like piping that is too complex for, or inaccessible by, manned inspections. This tool consists of a telescopic pole mounted with an inspection camera with 7x zoom capabilities and a powerful LED light for clear imagery in dark areas. Furthermore, it gives 95% accessibility up to a distance of 12 m and is considerably faster than conventional inspection methods. Within less than six months of its creation, in April 2018, the PU12 also won Shell Pernis’s Commercial Success Award.
Like all remote visual inspection services, the PU12 generates a vast amount of digital visual information. This information is transformed into invaluable data that helps the client to set their long-term maintenance and, sometimes, production strategies with a view to maximising resources.
The team involved in the development of these tools was able to win the Commercial Success Award twice in consecutive years in the biggest refinery in Europe by understanding the client’s needs and solving their inspection problems one step at a time, combining inspection expertise with up-to-the-minute technology and the principles of design thinking.