Preventing Knowledge Loss, Securing the Future: The Role of Modern Technology in Maintenance – AI and Drone Technology in the Waste-to-Energy Plant

Using the latest technical measurement methods, especially by drones, which ensure quick and safe access even to parts of the system that are difficult to reach, it is possible to precisely collect data on the current status.

by Stefan Kiene, Susanne Kumm, Matthias Probst and Waltraud Engel

Waste-to-energy plants are facing major challenges: Demographic changes in management and the slow digitization of maintenance data are increasingly leading to impending gaps in knowledge about the condition of the plant. The use of modern technology can and should help. Using the latest technical measurement methods, especially by drones, which ensure quick and safe access even to parts of the system that are difficult to reach, it is possible to precisely collect data on the current status. In addition to visual data, 3D point clouds, wall thicknesses and layer thickness measurements can now even be carried out using the drone. Feeding the data obtained into the cloud-based software enables structured, digital access regardless of the user‘s level of knowledge and also facilitates search functions in historical data. Thanks to the use of artificial intelligence and the creation of a digital twin, it will even be possible to make predictions about the future condition of the system. Centralized data collection ensures the transfer of knowledge between generations and further develops modern maintenance in a future-oriented manner.

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published: Abfallwirtschaft und Energie, Band 2, 1|2025
Keywords: Energy Recovery, Mixed Waste, Methods, Analyses, Data, Germany