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    Eyes in The Sky Buyer Beware: Helping To Keep Your Business Flowing

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    Surya Teja Sarma
    Drones are transforming pipeline inspections in the energy industry by providing a cost-effective solution to regularly monitor pipelines from the air. Drones can inspect pipelines more frequently than traditional helicopter flights, provide high-quality aerial images and data to detect issues like leaks, and monitor pipeline construction and right-of-way areas safely from above. The drone industry is estimated to save oil and gas companies $50 billion over five years through applications like pipeline inspections, land surveying, construction monitoring, and right-of-way management.

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    Eyes in The Sky Buyer Beware: Helping To Keep Your Business Flowing

    Uploaded by

    Surya Teja Sarma
    64 views4 pages
    Drones are transforming pipeline inspections in the energy industry by providing a cost-effective solution to regularly monitor pipelines from the air. Drones can inspect pipelines more frequently than traditional helicopter flights, provide high-quality aerial images and data to detect issues like leaks, and monitor pipeline construction and right-of-way areas safely from above. The drone industry is estimated to save oil and gas companies $50 billion over five years through applications like pipeline inspections, land surveying, construction monitoring, and right-of-way management.

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    Drone benefits

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    Benefits_of_using_drones_in_midstream_oil_and_gas_industry_1606936257

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    Drones are transforming pipeline inspections in the energy industry by providing a cost-effective solution to regularly monitor pipelines from the air. Drones can inspect pipelines more frequently than traditional helicopter flights, provide high-quality aerial images and data to detect issues like leaks, and monitor pipeline construction and right-of-way areas safely from above. The drone industry is estimated to save oil and gas companies $50 billion over five years through applications like pipeline inspections, land surveying, construction monitoring, and right-of-way management.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    64 views4 pages

    Eyes in The Sky Buyer Beware: Helping To Keep Your Business Flowing

    Uploaded by

    Surya Teja Sarma
    Drones are transforming pipeline inspections in the energy industry by providing a cost-effective solution to regularly monitor pipelines from the air. Drones can inspect pipelines more frequently than traditional helicopter flights, provide high-quality aerial images and data to detect issues like leaks, and monitor pipeline construction and right-of-way areas safely from above. The drone industry is estimated to save oil and gas companies $50 billion over five years through applications like pipeline inspections, land surveying, construction monitoring, and right-of-way management.

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    of 4

    HELPING TO KEEP YOUR BUSINESS FLOWING

    NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 Issue 6 Volume 7

    Eyes in the sky


    Drones are transforming
    inspections in the energy industry

    Buyer beware
    Helping operators to identify and
    avoid pirated pump parts
    Eyes in the sky
    PIPELINE INSPECTION

    Drones are transforming the midstream energy pipeline industry


    Focusing on the processing, transportation back by millions or billions in clean-up infrastructure. But even these machines
    and storage of crude oil and natural costs, charges and penalties. And this cannot operate in bad weather, and in
    gas, the midstream segment serves is in addition to the damage to the the absence of a private airfield, the flying
    as virtual arteries of the oil and gas reputation of the business and the toll distance as well as the costs shoot up.
    industry. And just like prevention is the that the spill takes on the environment. And with the helicopter maintaining
    best cure for unhealthy arteries, drones So, it is safe to assume that in an ideal an average speed of 180km per hour,
    are fast emerging as a comprehensive, world, every operator would want to adopt you cannot really rule out the possibility
    proactive solution for managing fluid a proactive approach toward the upkeep of the on-board observer missing
    handling in the midstream sector. of pipelines. But the sheer scale of this linear out on a thing or two. After all, three
    In a new report, research analysts at infrastructure makes it virtually impossible separate companies had inspected
    Barclays predict that the oil and gas for energy companies to do that. Shell’s San Pablo Bay pipeline, which
    industry could save $50 billion (€45 billion) Sending out crews for ground inspection subsequently spilled 900 barrels of crude
    in costs by using drones over the next is not only a lengthy and tedious process, onto California farmlands in 2015.
    five years. Goldman Sachs Research but some hard-to-reach areas can only These challenges posed by
    estimates that the market for drone- be accessed through the sky. Ground conventional pipeline inspection methods
    based pipeline inspections alone could crews cannot carry out inspections in are exactly what makes unmanned
    be worth $41 million (€37 million) globally. bad weather or during night-time, while aerial vehicles (UAVs) so useful in
    This is because pipelines are a critical some sites that pass through dangerous midstream fluid handling operations.
    asset in oil and gas infrastructure – one areas could pose a safety risk to workers
    that is directly linked to a company’s no matter what time of the day it is. UAV applications in midstream energy
    bottom line. A leak in a pipeline or a This is why many businesses resort
    hillside blowout could cost organisations to the expensive proposition of hiring Pipeline inspections
    thousands of dollars in repairs. Large-scale a $2,500 (€2,253) per hour helicopter Since they can tackle several strategic
    oil spills could set energy companies to carry out inspections of pipeline and tactical challenges at once, drones

    Drones are ideal for regular above-ground piping and facility inspection to detect oil leaks

    22 FLUID HANDLING INTERNATIONAL l NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019


    PIPELINE INSPECTION

    For instance, a large oil and gas


    operator in Nigeria employed the services
    of Terra Drone to conduct an aerial
    survey of a 20km corridor earmarked
    as the location for a new pipeline. A
    fixed-wing drone flew at a height of 400
    feet to capture aerial images with a
    ground resolution of 2cm for a period
    of seven days. From the overlapping
    photogrammetric images, a full 3D digital
    elevation model (DEM) and a 3D digital
    terrain model (DTM) were produced. In
    addition, one seamless aerial image was
    created out of the thousands of images
    taken, whereby the final orthophoto
    mosaic was corrected for colour, scale
    and height differences. By leveraging
    Drones generate high-quality imagery for geo-referenced asset inspection 
    drones for land surveying, the operator
    was able to gain high-precision data and
    have emerged as the perfect answer survey site to discern infrastructure health save time and money in the process.
    to the problem of regular above- and identify vegetation encroachment
    ground piping and facility inspection to or potentially dangerous activities, Construction monitoring
    detect oil leaks. UAVs reduce per-mile such as new construction, near the During the construction phase of
    inspection costs, lower operational risks pipelines. This data can be viewed in pipelines, project managers can use
    by keeping humans out of vulnerable 2D or 3D formats from any desktop and drones to monitor and review the site
    areas, provide high-quality data and shared easily with all stakeholders. remotely. For detailed construction site
    imagery, and allow assets to be inspected progress tracking and reporting, weekly
    at much greater levels of frequency. Land surveying or fortnightly orthomosaics of the as-built
    Industrial drone solution providers Forward-thinking pipeline construction aerial imagery can be compared with
    such as Japan-based Terra Drone companies are using drones for the design. In case of any deviation
    Corporation use high-endurance a variety of mapping, surveying from the projected trajectory, timely
    UAVs for real-time pipeline monitoring. and modelling services. Apart from remedial measures can be taken. With
    With a flight time of up to three hours delivering time and cost efficiencies, non-disruptive LiDAR scans, the structural
    and range of 150km, Terra Drone’s UAVs help to mitigate safety issues by integrity of the infrastructure can also be
    autonomous drones can sustain wind removing the need for workers to visit checked from time to time. Regular drone
    rising to gusts of 30 knots. The surveillance areas like precarious terrains, water data simplifies the process of inventory
    is done through the integrated RGB/ crossings, or regions with wildlife. management as well. Moreover, aerial
    HD video camera with a standard data
    range of up to 40km line of sight. This
    allows the company to live-stream spill
    events to remote locations as well.

    ROW management
    Between 2007 and 2011, Nigeria lost
    more than $11 billion (€10 billion) to
    crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism,
    which led to the government deploying
    military personnel along the pipeline
    right of way (ROW). Today, a more
    cost-effective patrolling solution
    is present in the form of UAVs.
    But keeping a constant watch and
    relaying data in real-time to the command
    centre just skims the surface of what
    drones can do for ROW management.
    More commonly, drones are being used
    by pipeline operators for routine inspection
    works like hazard detection, surface
    hydrology, vegetation analysis, change
    detection and route documentation.
    Inspectors can fly a fixed-wing drone
    with a high-resolution camera over the Terra Drone group company Terra Drone Ventus operates a drone at an inspection site

    FLUID HANDLING INTERNATIONAL l NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 23


    PIPELINE INSPECTION

    A drone pilot watches mission progress from the ground control station

    imagery and video acts as conclusive pig receivers, etc. This sophisticated mountains of data quickly post-flight is
    proof in cases of litigation between imaging technology can be used to scan a Herculean task in itself. Consequently,
    contractors and energy companies. thousands of connections throughout many organisations prefer to partner
    a site quickly and safely. The false with a service provider that uses cutting-
    Localisation of underground pipelines alert rate is also minimal because the edge technologies such as machine
    A ground penetrating radar (GPR) analytical software automatically filters learning and artificial intelligence to
    mounted on a drone makes for out unwanted elements like moving dig out actionable insights from asset
    an efficient surveying solution for vehicles, rain, snow, shadowing and glare. inspection data. Companies integrate
    underground assets, as it allows pipeline this intelligence directly into workflows
    operators to see not only through the Build or outsource? – right from design to decommissioning
    concrete ground but also through the – to enhance their decision-making
    surface of hazardous or difficult-to-reach Drones may be a relatively new process and minimise incidents and
    environments, such as multiple layers of technology solution for the energy costs linked to asset failures.
    snow, boulders and water bodies. With industry, but businesses around the In essence, it is quickly becoming
    GPR drones, oil and gas companies world are quickly recognising that obvious to oil and gas companies around
    can get the exact 3D location of using drones in midstream applications the world that drones are the safest
    underground pipelines from the sky. essentially reduces ‘mean time to and most reliable tools for surveying,
    repair’ and increases ‘mean time before inspection and monitoring fluid activity
    Thermal monitoring failure’. This begs the question: should in the midstream sector. By providing
    With drone-mounted thermal imaging a pipeline business build its own drone indispensable information in real-time,
    cameras, pipeline inspectors can programme or outsource the data these eyes in the sky enable progressive
    easily identify structural anomalies in acquisition and processing jobs? pipeline operators to follow a proactive,
    the susceptible sections of the pipeline There are companies that prefer to data-driven approach to infrastructure
    infrastructure, including control valves, keep everything under internal control maintenance, which increases both
    pig traps, meters, pressure gauges, and start off by buying a drone and their productivity and efficiency. z
    processing software. But the biggest
    challenge they face is that of scaling
    the operations organisation-wide. It is
    one thing to fly and analyse 10 miles of
    pipeline in a day, but completely another
    to scan thousands of miles in a week.
    This is why many companies prefer to
    work with a third-party service provider
    or adopt a hybrid approach, wherein For more information:
    they retain certain elements of the drone This article was written by Ishveena Singh,
    veteran geospatial technologies writer and
    programme under internal control.
    GPR drones can detect underground pipelines head of marketing communications at Terra
    from the sky Also, let’s not forget processing Drone. Visit: www.terra-drone.net/global

    24 FLUID HANDLING INTERNATIONAL l NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019

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