Fire spitting drone clears trash from high voltage wires

A fire spitting drone has been used by the electricity authorities in Shanghai for the first time to remove trash dangling from high voltage wires, reports thepaper.cn.

It was feared the trash, a 5-meter piece of plastic stuck to a wire near Huqingping Road, might float onto another key wire, resulting in a circuit failure.

To deal with the problem quickly and safely, the Shanghai Overhaul Company of the State Grid decided to use fire-spitting technology, fixed to a drone, to burn off the plastic sheeting.

As the sheeting was hanging between two towers, it would have been difficult to remove by any other means.

Even this process was fraught with danger. "The ignition time had to be very short, so there would be no damage to the wire," said the captain of the drone group says. "Our members have conducted dozens of simulation exercises already, and made adjustments to the flame thrower on the drone to ensure the security of the operation."

The entire cleanup operation took only about 20 minutes.