Drone inspections of oil and gas

Drones help oil and gas professionals inspect and manage assets, such as refineries, storage tanks, offshore platforms and chimneys / chimneys, with minimal downtime and without compromising personnel safety.

Unmanned aircraft can be used to conduct inspections of refinery infrastructure to help identify failures or weaknesses. Before drones, helicopters would be needed to examine light signaling systems or the installation of scaffolding to allow personnel to inspect tall structures - both expensive, while the latter is also dangerous.

Drones can also be employed for pipeline integrity management. They can quickly cover large stretches of pipeline - especially useful when flying over complex, undulating terrain - helping to identify leaks or anomalies.

Drones can prevent downtime, reduce routine maintenance time, and perform inspections without having to stop operations. This is a big plus, as every second of inactivity is a loss of revenue.

Drones can help:

• Evaluate the functioning of the refinery torches;
• Evaluate steam systems;
• Identify weaknesses in structures;
• Point failures in the flanges;
• Reveal deformations.

Inspection of the drone's power line

Drones offer an effective solution to inspect and manage power lines, with greater speed, efficiency and safety, all while reducing working hours and costs.

Performing an automated drone inspection can save 30 to 50% of costs and time compared to alternative methods.

After all, traditional methods are expensive, laborious and dangerous. Using a helicopter is expensive, noisy, and complex, while manual methods can be dangerous, slow, and hindered by difficult terrain.

Drones change all of that. And they are particularly well suited for power line inspection as they help cover large areas quickly and are an ideal tool for repeat inspections; typical of the powerline inspection industry.

The use of drones in this can help us not a little, in fact in recent years, some specialists in the sector are testing and bringing home excellent results with aerial surveys, with the use of this type of means, which allow to have an overview from above, using the different Payloads, such as multispectral or thermal chambers, in the first case by exploiting the multispectral values ​​given by the chamber, data that are georeferenced, after the data collection, it will be necessary to carry out an analysis to confirm the presence of an excess of water in certain points. While the use of thermal chambers, exploits the sudden changes in temperature that exist in the fluids that pass in the pipes, when they have a temperature different from that of the ground they can be identified even if they pass through underground systems, in the same way the localization of leaks can also take place, also in this case, by exploiting the georeferenced data it is possible to have a complete and detailed analysis of the territory.

With this technique there are several advantages, among which; Rapidity of intervention, being able to cover large areas quickly and without too many movements, in some places it is often difficult to intervene due to the state of the soil or vegetation. but much higher costs, but the most important thing is the high definition data with the various sensors that can be analyzed.

The uses are the most varied, we can carry out periodic checks in dams, using not only drones with purely visual cameras, but also using drones with thermal or Multispectral, analysis of land water pipes, in search of leaks. Control of sewer pipes, control of waste for agricultural use.

This is why DJI collaborates with industry bodies by providing drones applicable to this use, offering the possibility of exploiting the camera of the DJI Phantom 4 RTK Multispectral with attached D-rtk2 gps station, which allows to have an accurate precision of all the survey performed. While to take advantage of the thermal dji offers the Dji Matrice 300 + H20T or the brand new M30T.

Inspections of utilities and infrastructures

Utilities and infrastructure is a broad term, but it includes resources such as roads, bridges, telecommunication towers, and railways, among other things.

Drones are used in this industry to perform regular maintenance checks or following natural disasters - such as hurricanes or floods - where the condition of the property is not known but may have suffered damage.

As with other industries, one of the main benefits of using drones for public service and infrastructure inspections is the ability to acquire quality data quickly, safely and relatively cheaply. For example, personnel don't need to climb a telecommunication tower, but the drone can.

When it comes to bridge inspections, there is no need to use heavy machinery, as drones can collect the required data in one flight or series of flights and can perform follow-up inspections more regularly due to the ease and cost-effectiveness of the their use. These flights can also be automated.

Drones can also be used for project updates. Balfour Beatty used drones on a major development of the Smart Motorway, regularly flying the 13.6-mile stretch to track progress and spot errors. Imagine how much more difficult and time-consuming it would have been without a drone.

Drones can inspect:

• Service towers;
• Bridges;
• Roads;
• Railway lines.

Building inspections with drones

The construction industry is the fastest growing user of commercial drones and inspection plays a significant role.

Deploying drones for construction can save hundreds of thousands of pounds over the life cycle of a project and can be much more efficient than traditional methods, taking hours to collect data instead of days in some cases.

Drones can be used in the construction industry to monitor progress on site, check for errors, measure inventory and compare actual construction against design plans.

As a result of drone inspections, companies are able to build 2D orthomosaic maps or 3D models for highly detailed and accurate visual representations of the design. These digital twins can be shared quickly and easily with staff and stakeholders to improve communication and decision making.

Drones can also be employed to inspect the job site for any safety or maintenance issues, such as a damaged section of the perimeter fence or using a thermal imaging camera to detect an overheated tank, for example.

As a result, drones help construction companies meet deadlines, reduce costs, improve communication, and protect workers.

Relief with agricultural drone

Drones have quickly emerged as a vital tool for agriculture, replacing the ancient method of farmers walking their fields manually to monitor and inspect their crops.

Thanks to drones and their sophisticated array of sensors, farmers are able to increase crop production, monitor and inspect crop growth, create a richer picture of their fields, improve agricultural efficiency and maximize results.

For example, farmers can build 3D models of their land to better understand irrigation conditions or use a drone to provide regular updates on crop conditions in remote locations on a large farm.

Drones are able to obtain this information much faster than walking in the field and, compared to manned aviation, are a much more accessible and cost-effective method. This data can also be collected over time, allowing farmers to compare crop patterns across seasons or years.

Drones provide information in real time and are not evasive to crops.

Resources for inspection include:

• Collected;
• Irrigation;
• Ground conditions;
• Soil health;
• Livestock.

Public safety drone programs

Public safety officials are increasingly using drones for inspection purposes.

UAVs are powerful during a live crash, thanks to their ability to deliver real-time footage and vital situational awareness, helping to model a more effective response and keep crews out of harm's way.

The partial collapse of the dam wall at Whaley Bridge in 2019 proved this. Derbyshire police have deployed a DJI drone, with a zoom camera, to inspect the situation and monitor the extent of the damage. Without the drone, someone would have had to approach the damage, climb a rope along the dam to get a look and risk their own life.

As the image shows, the police also used the drone to check where the bags of aggregate from RAF Chinooks were placed to secure the damaged section and look for any violations, providing instant, real-time and close-up information thanks to the zoom.

Officials can also employ drones to inspect a crime scene or conduct an accident scene investigation.

Public safety drone inspections include:

• Collection of visual data of ongoing incidents, such as fires;
• Vital situational awareness to help distribute resources in the safest and most efficient way;
• Distribution after an event, such as inspecting areas destroyed by fires, for example;
• Accident reconstruction;
• Inspection of public spaces such as stadiums or festival grounds for safety concerns or pre-event planning.