The Borescope Inspection is an essential tool for inspecting of power plant components. Commonly used in high-value rotating power-plant equipment such as steam turbines, gas turbines and generators it is also extremely useful for checking the internal or to reach external surfaces of boiler and HRSG tubes and piping.

The borescope inspection (also known as a “remote visual inspection” or RVI) involves using a flexible or rigid optical device that allow the inspector to examine areas that are otherwise difficult to access.

Early borescopes were a simple tube, whereas today even basic models are equipped with cameras (and usually) lighting at the end of the viewing probe. More expensive models include articulated heads and higher-quality optics.

The choice of hardware is to some extent dependent on the application, a lower-end scope without articulation is often sufficient for checking larger diameter pipes.