The Danish innovative drone-tech pioneer Drone Systems is chosen for the finals of SDG Tech Awards 2022 out of more than 300 nominated.
Drone Systems is in the finals in the category Digital about creating and using digital technologies to meet UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Efficiently reduces this severe waste of resources
Every day unknown but enormous amounts of hot water are lost in “invisible” leakages in district heating systems under the ground. The Danish innovative drone-tech pioneer Drone Systems efficiently reduces this severe waste of resources by detecting leaks in the district heating systems underground.
Fast detection and repair of these leaks have many advantages: it saves water, saves the energy to heat the water, cuts down on CO2 emission, saves money, and prolongs the life of the pipe system.
Underground leaks are hard to localize, and the water pressure is high in these systems. The leaks are localized with drones with a small thermal camera and advanced software. This method saves many cubic meters of hot water, that otherwise would have been lost.
Drone Systems delivers a 100% thermal coverage interest with an accuracy of less than one meter. Traditional on-ground inspection methods (handheld or car-mounted infrared camera) only cover 50-70% and thus lose way more heated water than necessary.
With the inspection by Drone Systems, a district heating company gets an intelligent and precise tool, not only for immediate identification and localization of current leaks. But also, for long-term strategic planning and prioritization of maintenance and repairs.
“Our professional drone pilots bring back thousands of thermal orthographic images from the field. These big data images are analyzed, categorized, and processed in Teraplan – a unique cloud-based platform that Drone Systems has developed directly for and together with the district heating sector,“ explains CEO Henrik Grosen, Drone Systems.
More than 20,000 km pipes inspected
So far, Drone Systems has successfully inspected more than 19,500 km of district heating network pipelines. During this work, Drone Systems has identified and localized more than 1,750 leaks, 6,000 emerging leaks, and 3,900 components that were all causing severe heat losses – and thereby negative impact on both the economy and climate.
150 district heating plants already use Drone Systems’ expertise, both several of the largest in Denmark and plants abroad. Drone Systems was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Aarhus.
The final of the SDG Tech Awards 2022 will be held on 7 December 2022 at Industriens Hus in Copenhagen in collaboration with Clean, Denmark’s environmental cluster, DI, South Pole, TechSavvy and Marigold Innovation.
For more info, please contact
Gina Nielsen, Head of Sales and Marketing, Drone Systems +45 2068 5500, gina.nielsen@dronesystems.dk