January 23, 2023—After more than a year of meticulous preparation and research, the Elios 3 has successfully completed a 3D mapping mission inside a 1960s-era vault designed to store radioactive waste. This achievement provides critical data for planning the safe removal of the waste, marking what many believe to be the first time a drone has ever been flown inside such a high-level radioactive storage facility. The mission took place in late November 2022 at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, part of the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho. Around 50 people supported the operation, including setting up a plastic tent over the top of the vault to comply with FAA regulations and DOE requirements, as well as using a crane to carefully lift the vault’s lid and underlying hatch. Flying the drone into the highly irradiated environment was a tense moment—losing the drone inside would have made retrieval nearly impossible. Despite the challenges, the Elios 3 performed flawlessly. Within just seven minutes, Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC), the DOE contractor leading the mission, managed to collect all the necessary LiDAR data to create a detailed 3D map of the vault. A specialist from GeoSLAM, the 3D mapping software company, was present to immediately process the data, ensuring the final model met the project's exacting standards. “The Elios 3 exceeded expectations,” said Kevin Young, Principal Electrical Engineer at IEC. “Even in such an extreme radiation environment, it delivered all the data we needed. This is a game-changer for our project.” The IEC’s Calcine Retrieval Project has been searching for the ideal solution to map the interior of the waste storage vaults over the past two years. Known as calcine, the granulated high-level radioactive waste was originally placed in large, 20-foot-tall stainless-steel bins inside the vault, with no immediate plans for removal. This left planners without clear blueprints or a 3D map of the vault’s interior, complicating efforts to safely extract the waste. IEC’s proposed solution involves drilling into the vault, attaching robotic pipes to the tops of the bins, and cutting into the bins using a plasma cutter. However, without precise knowledge of the vault’s layout, determining where to drill was impossible. After reviewing several options—including the use of an articulating arm and a helium-filled blimp—the Elios 3 was chosen as the best tool for the job. To ensure the drone could handle the intense radiation, IEC conducted rigorous testing, exposing it to up to 10,000 Roentgen per hour. They also built a full-scale replica of the vault to train pilots in conditions closely resembling the actual mission environment. “This project has been a remarkable journey,” said Alexandre Meldem, Managing Director of Flyability North America. “Seeing the Elios 3 perform so effectively in such a challenging situation highlights the immense potential of our technology in gathering crucial data in otherwise inaccessible areas.” Following two successful flights, IEC conducted a third experimental flight with one of their dosimeters attached to the drone, significantly increasing its weight. During this flight, the drone struggled to maintain altitude after entering the vault, eventually descending and becoming stuck on a piece of angle iron atop one of the storage bins. Despite multiple attempts to retrieve it, the drone ultimately ran out of power. Fortunately, before shutting down, it transmitted a maximum radiation reading of 7 Gy/h (700 rad/h) at the top of the bin. Experts analyzed the situation and determined that leaving the drone in place posed no risk to human safety or the structural integrity of the bin. With the vault now fully mapped in 3D, the next step is to develop a removal strategy for the calcine, which IEC aims to start later this year. There are six such vaults on the site, collectively holding 4,400 cubic meters of calcine that must be removed for the project to reach completion. For more details about this groundbreaking mission, you can read the full case study. --- About Flyability Flyability revolutionized confined space inspection by developing drones that allow inspectors to gather data remotely in hazardous environments. Launched in 2014, Flyability has grown into a trusted provider of innovative inspection solutions, offering advanced hardware and software tools to enhance safety, reduce downtime, and lower costs for internal inspections. With offices in Switzerland, China, Singapore, and the U.S., Flyability serves nearly 1,000 clients across 60 countries in industries like energy, oil & gas, mining, wastewater infrastructure, chemicals, maritime, and utilities. Learn more at [www.flyability.com](http://www.flyability.com) or follow us on Twitter @fly_ability. Contact: [Insert Contact Information], +41 21 311 55 00 --- About the Idaho Environmental Coalition In 2021, the Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC), led by Jacobs with North Wind Portage as a partner, was awarded a $6.4 billion contract by the U.S. Department of Energy to oversee cleanup operations at the Idaho National Laboratory over ten years. Comprising a network of integrated small business subcontractors including Navarro, ORT, and Spectra Tech, IEC brings extensive experience in accelerating cleanup efforts at the Idaho Cleanup Project (ICP). Their goal is to minimize environmental liabilities while supporting the broader INL mission. Visit [www.idaho-environmental.com](http://www.idaho-environmental.com) for more information.

Floating Head Heat Exchanger

Floated type shell&tube heat exchanger is mostly used for large temperature fluctuations and temperature differences, compared with Fixed Tube Heat Exchanger, its structure is more complex and more expensive.



One end of the tube is fixed on an immobile Tube Sheet, which is clamped between the shell Flange and the tube flange, and is connected by bolts; the other end of the tube is fixed on a floating head tube sheet, which is clamped between the floating cover and the hook ring connected by studs, forming a floating head that can move freely in the shell.



If the tube bundle and the shell are heated and elongated, they do not affect each other, so there is no temperature difference stress. The floating part is a detachable connection consisting of the floating tube sheet, hook ring and floating cover. It is easier to take the tube bundle out, and the tube can be cleaned both inside and outside and is easy access.

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