An advanced aerial solution

Pipelines are a critical component of modern global energy networks. The transportation of oil and gas across vast distances ensures essential services, cities, businesses, homes, and industries continue to function. But while pipelines remain vital, the scale of the transportation infrastructure necessary to power the modern world comes with significant environmental complications and public safety risks. However, aerial surveillance solutions can mitigate pipeline infrastructure challenges not just locally but globally.

It might seem counterintuitive that a problem of this size could have a solution that’s comparatively small. Yet the engineers developing these advanced aerial drones are well-prepared to face the slow-moving but devastating Goliath-like problems in pipeline infrastructure. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are overcoming the limitations of traditional surveillance with greater efficiency and less laborious workflows. While UAVs aren’t yet the oil and gas industry’s standard inspection tool, the potential benefits of the technology will likely encourage rapid adoption in the coming years. So, to understand the future of pipeline maintenance, let’s look at the aerial solution in greater depth.

Limits to traditional surveillance methods

Pipelines are one of the safest methods of transporting essential resources around the world. After all, companies need a way to move natural gas and crude oil from their genesis points to processing plants so they can be dispersed for use. Obviously, this global energy production operation requires an extensive network of pipelines. The logistics of monitoring this entire network have long presented a thorny problem for energy producers. In fact, the sheer scale of the pipeline network requires an inordinate amount of time, funding, and resources to manage.

What’s more, the practical limitations of traditional surveillance methods make comprehensive and continuous monitoring all but impossible. This means companies will inevitably miss some cracks and other structural damage or threats. In addition, more cost-effective mitigation measures that could be taken are often left undone. As a result, preventable ecological disasters are widespread, and oil and gas companies bear the costs.

Corrosion, third-party intervention, natural disasters, or any number of other factors can damage the structural integrity of the pipeline. The potential resulting leak could go unnoticed until the surrounding environment or populace incur significant damage. As a result, many companies are already allocating significant resources toward surveillance. However, despite this effort, the results aren’t keeping pace with the frequency of new leaks along the line.

As with many industry sectors, there’s a lack of applicable technology available to augment the human effort of monitoring pipelines. Historically, this has been largely responsible for the frequency of ecological disasters. So, you can see why aerial surveillance UAVs are showing significant potential to reduce the scale of the issue.To better understand how new technologies can impact pipeline surveillance, let’s break down the pros and cons of traditional methods.

Three traditional pipeline surveillance methods

Historically, oil and gas companies have used three primary methods to monitor the structural integrity of their pipelines…

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Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/special-reports/27122023/an-advanced-aerial-solution/