Drones, robots and virtual reality might have sounded like science fiction a few years ago, but in industrial gas operations, they’re becoming everyday tools. At the EIGA Winter Summit 2025, speakers shared how these technologies are making sites safer, cutting downtime, and even changing the way workers train for hazardous tasks.
Mark van der Horst, IVG Manager at Air Products, kicked things off with a look at how drones are transforming industrial inspections. “Using drones, we are focused on inspection,” he said, explaining how they’re now being used to check confined spaces and high-risk areas – without putting workers in danger.
Traditional inspections often mean scaffolding, long shutdowns, and sending people into places they probably shouldn’t be. “There’s quite a lot of risk involved in confined space entry. The drone could help navigating a confined space and it can save you a lot of time on your inspection.”
He gave an example of a 12-day inspection process that drones have dramatically shortened. “We come out to about a total of 12 days for conventional inspection [at a cost of] around €35,000 ($36,485),” he said. “Using drones, we can completely rethink this process.” Equipped with thermal cameras, zoom lenses, and gas detection sensors, these drones capture footage that engineers can analyse remotely – keeping people out of harm’s way and reducing costs.
According to van der Horst, a typical 35m tall hydrogen pressure swing adsorption (PSA) drum can be inspected using a drone in just four days at a cost of €13,000 ($13,500).
A drone was used to inspect a 35m tall H2 PSA drum used for syngas production. ©Air Products
But drones are just one part of the automation wave. Aleksejs Aleksejevs, Production Engineer, Northern Europe at Linde, followed up with a discussion on how robots are taking over gas cylinder filling.
“Our vision here is to remove manual handling from the cylinder industry,” he said. “If you’ve been to our sites, sometimes you see people rolling cylinders through their legs, holding the cylinder with their hands. You need to be really skilled. But when you’re using robotic systems, it’s extremely flat, clean, and safe, and cylinders are moved efficiently to dedicated areas.”
At one of Linde’s fully automated sites in Finland, robots now handle over 700,000 cylinders per year, doing everything from filling to labelling and distribution. “The modernisation has significantly changed the daily life of the workers,” Aleksejevs said. “Machines handle the movement of cylinders, so much of the risky work is taken off the people.”
Before filling, each cylinder gets scanned and fitted with an adapter. The carousel has two filling points, so different gas mixtures can be handled at the same time. A robotic system keeps track of up to 3,200 cylinders, remembering exactly where each one needs to go. When it’s time for delivery, the system sends the cylinders to automated guided vehicles (AGVs), which carry them to the terminal, ready for loading.
Linde’s six-axis robot transforms the way cylinders are sorted, picked and moved. ©Linde
However, automation isn’t just about safety, it’s also making the workplace more inclusive. “Historically, operations were a young, strong man’s area,” Aleksejevs noted. “But with automation, even people with disabilities can work as an operator in the filling site, because you don’t need to do the physical activity. And older workers who have spent 50 years moving cylinders – now, with automation, they can continue working for us. That’s great for society.”
Even with automation reducing risk, workers still need to be trained for these evolving workplaces. That’s where virtual reality is stepping in. Simon Müller, Product Manager for Digital Products and AI at Linde, spoke about how immersive learning is improving safety training across the industrial gas sector. “Practice makes learning safe,” he explained. “Training people in a very safe environment lets them experience harsh conditions without real-world risks.”
With VR, workers can practice operating machinery, responding to emergencies, and carrying out risk assessments – all before setting foot in a hazardous environment.
“Immersive learning allows learners to practice skills and test them in real time, in very safe conditions, even though the tasks they are learning are rather dangerous,” Müller said. “We can create massive learning experiences that enhance existing training by letting people practice in the exact same environment they will work in.”
Beyond safety, VR is proving to be an effective training tool. Studies show that workers trained in VR learn four times faster and retain information better. “By this, they are four times more emotionally connected when they go through a training-specific task, and that leads to better competency and performance in specific work situations,” Müller explained.
With drones reducing inspection risks, robots taking over dangerous manual tasks, and VR transforming training, the speakers made one thing clear: digital transformation isn’t just coming, it’s already here.
