Challenge
Corrosion is a gradual and often invisible risk in industrial facilities worldwide. It is particularly critical when it develops hidden beneath insulation – remaining undetected for long periods until significant damage occurs. The consequences are costly and dangerous: unplanned downtime, high repair costs, or safety-related incidents.
For over 100 years, the international industrial services provider KAEFER, headquartered in Bremen, has protected industrial facilities through insulation, fire protection, and surface protection. To meet growing demands, KAEFER sought a way to continuously and comprehensively monitor corrosion under insulation – a task that was previously difficult to achieve with traditional spot checks or by removing insulation.
Technical Challenges
During the development of a suitable solution, several technical obstacles arose:
- Moisture exposure could cause short circuits in the sensor strips, leading to inaccurate readings. To address this, a line-test sensor was integrated to detect short circuits and alert operating personnel – without affecting the measurement data itself.
- Limited battery life of the data modules required the implementation of intelligent power management to ensure long-term, low-maintenance operation of the sensors
- Data transmission was also a concern: currently, communication occurs via IEEE 802.15.4 wireless, with a future transition to LoRa planned to cover greater distances.
- Risk of explosion meant hardware designed for ATEX conditions.
Solution & Implementation
Together with ML!PA, KAEFER developed an IoT-based monitoring solution that makes corrosion risks visible at an early stage:
- Sensor strips are installed directly between pipes and insulation and continuously measure moisture levels across the entire surface.
- A line-test sensor monitors the integrity of the sensor strips and provides information on potential causes of faulty signals.
- Optimized power management significantly extends the battery life of the data modules.
- All data is transmitted wirelessly to an edge device, forwarded to the cloud, and processed and analyzed
Results
The solution transforms an otherwise elusive risk into a transparent process. Corrosion points can be detected early, before damage occurs. This allows inspection efforts to be reduced, maintenance measures to be planned more effectively, and unplanned downtime to be avoided.
Instead of sporadic spot checks, the solution enables continuous monitoring, providing operators with reliable data to manage facilities safely, efficiently, and with lower resource use while there is a risk of explosion. Anlagenbetreiber erhalten verlässliche Daten, um ihre Anlagen auch in explosionsgefährdeten Bereichen sicher, effizient und ressourcenschonend zu betreiben.
