AI inspection robots have been put into use in batches, unlocking the "unmanned era" of coal conveyor belt inspection

Belt conveyors, as continuously operating conveying equipment, are widely used in industries such as power, metallurgy and chemical engineering. To ensure the smoothness of the transportation arteries, climbing up and down along the long belt line, inspecting and checking through the dust and the roar of the machines is the daily routine of belt conveyor inspection work, which is not only intense, risky and inefficient, but also difficult to achieve real-time monitoring and troubleshooting of the equipment's operating status and problems.

At Lianyungang Hongyang Thermal Power Co., LTD., GCL Binhai Power Generation Co., Ltd. of State Power Investment Corporation and Datang Guizhou Fa 'er Power Generation Co., LTD., with a batch of "new colleagues" - AI inspection robots built by SCIYON - taking up their posts, from manual inspection to automatic inspection by robots, from "listening and seeing" to AI intelligent recognition and early warning, and from paper records to "one-screen management", The "intractable" problems of traditional manual inspection are all taken over by them, effectively ensuring equipment safety, personnel safety and production stability, and empowering the coal conveying system to improve quality and efficiency through intelligent transformation.

Lianyungang Hongyang Thermal Power Co., LTD

Lianyungang Hongyang Thermal Power Co., Ltd. is located in Xuwei New District, one of the seven major petrochemical bases in China. As the energy hub of the park, it is responsible for providing stable steam and electricity for major projects such as Shenghong Refining & Chemical within the park. This project is an important part of Hongyang Thermal Power's "Smart fuel system". Through the integrated application of technologies such as fully automatic control, machine vision, and multimodal perception, an intelligent inspection network covering the coal conveying trestle is constructed, achieving full-process intelligent management of the coal conveying system.

Multimodal fusion perception, no blind spots in inspection: By installing multimodal sensors such as sound, environment, and temperature, real-time perception and early warning of the coal conveying process in all scenarios and multiple dimensions are achieved. Such as high concentrations of toxic and harmful gases and flammable gases in the trestle, overheating of equipment such as idlers and motors, and "spillage and leakage" on belts.

With deep learning algorithms, anomalies are identified in seconds: Using a visual recognition algorithm based on an improved DeepLab-v3+ network, a high-precision image segmentation model is constructed by training massive belt image datasets. Real-time capture of belt edge images, pixel-level comparison with the benchmark template, calculation of deviation degree and determination of deviation degree. Combined with intelligent laser recognition technology, an alarm can be triggered within 30 seconds when belt edge wear and lateral tearing features are detected to prevent the accident from escalating.

3D visualization platform, control in one screen: Introducing the concept of "Digital twin", based on the SCIYON's independent EmpoworX industrial Internet platform, physical equipment and digital models are deeply integrated to build a three-dimensional visualization platform. The inspection results can be synchronously summarized and visually analyzed in real time. Managers can view the equipment status, alarm records and maintenance suggestions in real time through the platform, achieving "one-screen management". At the same time, the accumulated data on the platform can also provide decision support for subsequent equipment life prediction, maintenance strategy optimization, etc., promoting the shift of management tuning from "experience-driven" to "data-driven".

Since Hongyang Thermal Power's "coal conveyor belt inspection robot" was put into use, it has effectively reduced the frequency of manual inspections in high-risk areas and significantly shortened the response time to accidents. At the same time, it has significantly improved the efficiency of troubleshooting and early warning capabilities of the coal conveying system, reduced the labor cost of inspection work, and achieved a double improvement in safety and efficiency of the coal conveying system of Hongyang Thermal Power through intelligent management.

GCL Binhai Power Generation Co., Ltd. of State Power Investment Corporation

State Power Investment Corporation GCL Binhai Power Generation Co., Ltd. builds and operates 2×1000MW high-efficiency ultra-supercritical coal-fired generating units, generating over 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, and is an important energy supply base in East China. The project is a key part of the intelligent transformation of its coal conveying system, aiming to improve operation and maintenance efficiency, reduce labor costs and ensure equipment safety.

Based on multi-sensor fusion, high-precision image recognition AI algorithms, etc., the AI inspection robot can perceive in real time the gas, temperature, equipment operation status, etc. in the coal conveying belt operation environment, as well as intelligently identify and alert belt deviation, tearing, abnormal drum temperature, etc., and transmit data to the control platform in real time via wireless communication. At the same time, the robot body is designed with an IP67 protection rating to adapt to the high salt spray and humid environment in the coastal port area, and is equipped with ultrasonic radar for obstacle detection and emergency braking in the coal conveying corridor to ensure the robot's safe, efficient and long-term stable inspection operations.

The application of AI inspection robots not only liberates human labor and optimizes job allocation, but also efficient operation and maintenance, real-time monitoring and comprehensive data analysis can effectively prevent faults, ensure equipment safety and production stability, and further promote the overall intelligent transformation process of the power plant.

Datang Guizhou Fa 'er Power Generation Co., LTD

Datang Guizhou Fa 'er Power Generation Co., Ltd. is one of the largest thermal power enterprises in Guizhou Province in terms of installed capacity and a key project of the "West-to-East Power Transmission" strategy, with a total installed capacity of 2,430 MW. The project will create an integrated intelligent inspection system for coal conveyor belts by installing circular rails, robot bodies and protective devices, as well as building a communication system and simultaneously transforming the monitoring devices in the coal conveyor belt area into intelligent ones.

Through various sensors on the AI inspection robot body, combined with artificial intelligence algorithms, the environmental gas, temperature and humidity, equipment operation status, belt transportation status, etc. collected and identified during the automatic inspection process are transmitted in real time to the visual control platform. When the real-time detection value exceeds the preset limit or the real-time status is abnormal, an automatic alarm will be triggered. An upgrade shift from passive inspection to proactive response and prevention. The modular design, along with safety protection and self-cleaning devices, as well as an intelligent fault self-checking system, significantly reduces maintenance costs and time, further enhancing operational safety and stability.

Since the project was launched, the AI inspection robot has been conducting round-the-clock and full-coverage inspections, significantly improving the inspection efficiency of coal conveying belts. The combination of multi-sensor fusion technology and AI algorithms has significantly enhanced the accuracy of anomaly detection and fault diagnosis, effectively improved the level of equipment health management, and pushed operation and maintenance work towards intelligence.

As the infrastructure of the coal conveying system, the intelligent transformation of the coal conveying belt inspection is an important part of improving the quality and efficiency of the coal conveying system. At present, the SCIYON AI inspection robot has been successfully implemented in places such as Datang Nanjing Power Plant, Jinneng Xiaoyi Coal and Electricity Co., LTD., Datang Guizhou Fa 'er Power Generation Co., LTD., Lianyungang Hongyang Thermal Power Co., LTD., and Jiangsu Datang International Jintan Thermal Power Co., LTD.

In the future, SCIYON will continue to delve deeply into innovative technologies and applications of unmanned energy, contributing more cutting-edge demonstrations to the more efficient, intelligent and green transformation and development of the energy industry.