Industrial Sites in Germany – Ageing Plants, New Inspection Methods

Ageing plants, rising safety requirements, tight shutdown windows: why remote inspection is becoming the standard at German industrial sites. Kopterflug has carried out inspections at the country’s most demanding facilities since 2017.

Ageing Infrastructure, Rising Requirements

Many major German industrial plants are 30 to over 100 years old. Blast furnaces in the Ruhr, chemical reactors along the Rhine, power plant boilers in Lusatia – all were built at a time when neither drones nor digital inspection methods existed. At the same time, requirements are increasing: the Betriebssicherheitsverordnung (BetrSichV), TRBS regulations and sector-specific standards demand ever more frequent, ever better documented condition inspections.

Three drivers are shaping the change:

1. Safety – Every avoided entry into a boiler, tank or reactor is a safety gain. DGUV 113-004 sets clear requirements for work in vessels and confined spaces. Drones inspect where people need not enter.
2. Cost reduction – Scaffolding, industrial climbers, elevated work platforms: conventional access technology is the largest cost block in inspections. Remote inspection by drone dramatically reduces this effort.
3. Shorter downtimes – Every day of shutdown costs money. A drone inspection takes hours instead of days and simultaneously delivers better documentation: 4K video, thermography, LiDAR 3D survey.

Kopterflug has specialised in exactly these challenges since 2017. As pioneers of indoor drone inspection in Germany, we have carried out numerous deployments at the country’s most important industrial sites – with experience working with TÜV, DEKRA and other testing organisations.

Since 2017 we have been inspecting Germany’s most demanding industrial plants by drone – as one of the first providers of indoor drone inspection in confined spaces.

Chemicals & Petrochemicals – Germany’s Largest Chemical Parks

The German chemical industry is the largest in Europe. At major sites, thousands of notifiable plants are concentrated in a small area – reactors, columns, pressure vessels and storage tanks for hazardous substances. ATEX zones, toxic atmospheres and narrow manholes make conventional personnel entry a serious safety risk. The Flyability ELIOS 3 inspects vessels and columns without personnel entry – faster, safer and with complete 4K documentation. This not only saves scaffolding costs but shortens turnarounds by days.

Ludwigshafen – BASF Verbundstandort The world’s largest integrated chemical site: over 200 production plants on 10 km². Tanks, columns, reactors and pipe bridges require permanent inspection.

Leverkusen – CHEMPARK One of Europe’s largest chemical parks with Bayer, Lanxess and numerous specialty chemical companies. Highly complex plants with strict ATEX requirements.

Marl / Herne – Chemiepark Marl Evonik’s home plant and one of Germany’s largest chemical parks. Over 100 production plants on 6.5 km² with complex inspection requirements.

Frankfurt-Höchst – Industriepark Höchst Former Hoechst site, now one of Europe’s largest industrial parks with around 90 companies from chemicals, pharma and biotechnology.

Leuna – Chemical and Refinery Site One of Germany’s most historic industrial sites: chemical production since 1916, today home to TotalEnergies refinery, InfraLeuna and over 100 companies. Over 13 km².

Steel & Heavy Industry – The Backbone of the German Economy

40 million tonnes of crude steel per year – and plants that are among the most extreme inspection environments of all. Temperatures of several hundred degrees, dust, confined spaces and heights of over 100 metres. Conventional inspections with scaffolding and rope access are not just expensive here, but dangerous. Our drone inspections deliver visual and thermographic data from blast furnaces, converters and top gas pipelines – without anyone having to enter. This significantly reduces shutdown times during revisions and makes condition assessment safer.

Duisburg – Europe’s Largest Steel Site ThyssenKrupp Steel operates Europe’s largest integrated steel site in Duisburg. Blast furnaces, hot rolling mills, coke ovens and a network of pipelines and gas purification systems.

Salzgitter – Steel and Tube Production One of Germany’s largest steel groups with blast furnace works, hot strip mill and tube production. Over 150 years of industrial history with corresponding inspection needs.

Saarland – Dillingen and Völklingen Dillinger Hütte (Germany’s oldest ironworks, founded 1685) and the UNESCO World Heritage Site Völklinger Hütte. Industrial history meets modern inspection technology.

Eisenhüttenstadt – Steel in the East ArcelorMittal operates an integrated ironworks here with blast furnaces, steelworks and rolling mills. The plants date from the 1950s and require intensive condition monitoring.

Energy Generation & Power Plants – Inspection Under Extreme Conditions

Whether fossil power plant or nuclear plant in decommissioning – inspection requirements are immense. Power plant boilers 80 metres high, refractory linings, flue gas ducts, cooling towers and chimneys must be checked for corrosion, cracks and thermal damage. Conventionally this means weeks of scaffolding erection in the shut-down boiler. With our drone we are done in hours – and the boiler is back online sooner.

Lignite Mining Areas Jänschwalde, Lippendorf, Niederaußem – major lignite power stations among Europe’s most powerful. Boilers over 100 metres high and complex flue gas purification systems require regular inspection.

Offshore Wind Farms (North Sea) Wind farms in the German Bight with hundreds of offshore turbines. Rotor blades, towers and underwater structures must be inspected under the most difficult conditions.

Gas Power Plants Lingen, Irsching and other sites – gas turbines and heat recovery boilers place high demands on thermography and visual inspection. Short revision windows make fast drone inspections particularly valuable.

Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Greifswald (Lubmin), Gundremmingen and other sites under decommissioning. Radiation-protection-compliant inspection requires non-contact methods – the drone minimises personnel time in contaminated areas.

Refineries & Oil/Gas – Inspecting Critical Infrastructure

Over 100 million tonnes of crude oil per year – processed in highly complex plants with columns up to 80 metres high, crackers, heat exchangers and kilometres of pipelines. In refineries every turnaround day counts: one week of shutdown costs millions. Drone inspections dramatically shorten the revision phase – we record the condition of columns, vessels and pipelines in hours instead of days, without scaffolding or unnecessary personnel deployment in ATEX zones.

Karlsruhe – MiROGermany’s largest refinery with a capacity of 14.9 million tonnes per year. Columns, cracking units and a pipeline network require permanent inspection.

Schwedt – PCK RaffinerieEast Germany’s largest refinery on the Druzhba pipeline. Strategically significant with extensive inspection requirements for columns, tanks and pipeline systems.

Hamburg-Harburg – Shell RefineryLocated in the Hamburg metropolitan area, processing around 5 million tonnes of crude oil annually. Tight site conditions make drone inspections particularly efficient.

Ingolstadt – BayernoilBavaria’s largest refinery with a complex network of distillation, reforming and desulphurisation. Regular turnaround inspections for all plant components.

Gelsenkirchen – BP RefineryOne of the largest refineries in the Ruhr area with a focus on fuel production. Columns and tank farms form a dense inspection network.

Shipyards & Maritime Industry – Inspection in Drydocks and Engine Rooms

Ballast tanks, cargo holds, hull structures – the maritime industry is characterised by confined spaces under time pressure. Every day a ship spends in drydock costs money. With the Flyability ELIOS 3 we inspect ballast tanks, cargo holds and engine rooms without personnel entry – results in hours instead of days. The inspection data is so detailed that classification societies accept it as a basis for their assessments.

Hamburg – Blohm+VossTraditional shipyard with drydocks for vessels up to 350 m long. Hull inspections, ballast tank surveys and engine room checks are daily business.

Kiel – TKMS & German Naval YardsNaval shipbuilding with the highest safety requirements. Submarine sections, frigate hulls and complex weapon systems require precise inspection procedures.

Papenburg – Meyer WerftWorld-famous for building cruise ships. The enormous construction hall and the vessels themselves offer numerous confined space inspection scenarios.

Rostock – WarnemündeImportant shipyard site on the Baltic Sea specialising in ship repair and conversion. Drydock inspections and hull surveys under time pressure.

Automotive Industry – Production Halls and Paint Shops

Production halls over 1 million square metres in area and ceiling heights up to 30 metres – the German automotive industry operates some of the largest production facilities in the world. Hall roofs, crane runways, ventilation systems and fire protection installations must be regularly inspected. Drone inspections work during live production or in short production breaks – without shutdown, without access technology, with LiDAR survey for precise condition documentation.

Wolfsburg – VW Main PlantThe world’s largest car plant covering over 6.5 km². Press shop, body-in-white, paint shop and assembly – each hall with its own inspection requirements.

Stuttgart / Sindelfingen – Mercedes-BenzOne of Europe’s largest and most modern car plants. The combination of historic fabric and modern production lines places special demands on building inspection.

Munich – BMWHeadquarters plant in the middle of the city with limited space for conventional inspection methods. Drones offer a decisive advantage for roof and facade inspections.

Leipzig – Porsche & BMWTwo modern car plants with architecturally demanding building structures. Roof structures and facade elements require regular visual and thermographic inspection.

Cement, Building Materials & Mining

Rotary kilns at over 1,400 °C, dust-laden clinker coolers, 40-metre silos – the cement industry is one of the harshest inspection environments. Drones with thermography detect hotspots in refractory linings early; LiDAR 3D scans document wear to centimetre accuracy. In mining, drones enable safe inspection of tunnels, shafts and slopes – without sending personnel into potentially unstable areas.

Erwitte / Geseke – Westphalian Cement RegionOne of Germany’s most important cement regions with several major plants. Rotary kilns, clinker coolers and silos require regular thermography and condition inspections.

Heidelberg – Heidelberg MaterialsHeadquarters of the world’s second-largest building materials manufacturer. Inspection standards for cement plants are defined here for global application.

Lausitz – Open-Cast Mining and RecultivationOne of Europe’s largest lignite open-cast mines. Slope inspections, conveyor plant inspections and documentation of recultivation are typical drone deployments.

Food & Pharma – Hygiene Meets Inspection Obligation

Freedom from contamination is the top priority. The Flyability ELIOS 3 leaves no residues and can be decontaminated after each deployment. Warehouses, cold stores, ventilation systems and clean room ceilings are inspected without contact.

Hamburg – Port Logistics and Cold StoresEurope’s third-largest seaport with large cold stores and logistics centres for food. Roof structures, refrigeration units and fire protection installations require regular inspection.

Darmstadt – MerckOne of the world’s oldest pharma and chemical companies. Clean room production, laboratory buildings and production plants place high demands on contamination-free inspection.

Mainz – BioNTechSite of state-of-the-art biotechnology production. GMP-compliant inspections of clean rooms and production lines are essential for continued operation.

Related Services

Chemical IndustryDrone inspection in chemical parks – reactors, columns, tanks under ATEX conditions

Heavy IndustryInspection of blast furnaces, converters, rolling mills and coke ovens in steelworks

Power Plants & EnergyBoiler, turbine and chimney inspection with minimal downtime

Oil & GasInspection of refineries, pipelines and tank farms – efficient and safe

Maritime & ShipyardsDrone inspection in drydocks – ballast tanks, cargo holds and engine rooms without scaffolding

Automotive & ProductionDrone inspection in production halls – roof structures, crane runways and building services

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