LG Uplus and Korea District Heating Corp partner on AIoT safety

LG Uplus and the Korea District Heating Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance the safety management of district energy facilities using Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) technology.

District energy systems, which supply heat and electricity to residential and commercial areas, operate in high-temperature environments with underground pipelines. This poses risks such as ground subsidence (sinkholes) and pipe corrosion. The partnership aims to establish a predictive maintenance system to detect these hazards in real time.

Key technical implementations include: • Using tilt-sensing technology from remote underground geothermal detection terminals to identify micro-subsidence in the ground. • Monitoring electrical signals, such as current density and frequency, to detect stray currents that cause pipe corrosion. • Applying AI-based physical security to power distribution rooms to monitor access to core equipment 24/7.

The two companies previously collaborated in 2020 to develop IoT temperature sensors and completed field testing for miniaturized underground monitoring devices last year.