Using 3D Laser Scanning Services to Study a Gas Engine

Preserving the world's largest blast furnace gas engine

Over the last several years, 3D laser scanning services have gained momentum in the technological world. It has made several jobs easier than ever before. This tool helps researchers study more in-depth and record whatever they are scanning. It helps keep accurate records of any object and can be shared virtually worldwide. There is no doubt why so many companies turn to 3D scanning services

Modern, professional-grade 3D scanners can scan a wide variety of items, from small objects like a screw or a human tooth to much bigger and more sophisticated objects like automobiles, rooms, or even whole structures. You may use them at your workstation or transport them to distant, inaccessible locations, even those without power outlets or internet connections.

However, this has not always been the case. Until recently, 3D scanners could be utilized only inside, with a constant power supply and a powerful computer under certain lighting circumstances. They were often large and heavy, making maneuvering them difficult, if not impossible while scanning. 

Notably, such scanners could only catch things up to a certain size – something small enough to sit on your desks, such as a sculptor bust or flower pot. Anything bigger was either too difficult to scan, took too long, or was plainly impossible.

This was the situation faced by the team at the Luxembourg Science Center in 2016 when they devised a plan to digitally preserve one of Luxembourg’s national monuments and a progenitor of the Center, the ‘Groussgasmaschinn’ or Gas Engine No11 – the world’s largest blast furnace gas engine ever built.

Restoring the gas tank using 3D laser scanning services

Using a 3D laser scan, the team can scan this massive gas tank. This is one of the largest pieces that could take years to observe and study. With the help of 3D laser scanning services this process becomes much quicker, more reliable, and exceptionally accurate. It’s one of the best ways to showcase the restoration project. 

The best thing about restoring this gas tank is that by using 3D laser scanning services they also are able to digitally preserve it. This means that every step that is taken can be recorded and shared with the rest of the world. It is the best way for future generations to learn and understand the process that was used. 

This gas tank was one of the biggest ever built and probably the last of its kind. There are now more efficient and readily available gas tanks that have taken over. The large gas tank may be one of a kind but it is not the most efficient for the modern world. 

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