AUTOMATED PIPELINE INSPECTION USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES

Abstract

Monitoring the condition of pipelines and site facilities of the oil and gas trunk transportation system, as well as other facilities of the oil and gas complex, allows you to collect the necessary information quickly, getting into hard-to-reach places where land transport or a person cannot get to, and reduce the response time to emergency situations and eliminate their consequences. The paper considers the existing designs of unmanned aerial vehicles used in systems for remote monitoring of technological facilities, analyzes their advantages and disadvantages while inspecting the linear part of the trunk pipeline. Two variants for automated platforms placing along the route for taking off and recharging unmanned aerial vehicles are proposed. The first variant allows more thorough inspection while flying around, the second one allows using fewer platforms and longer inspection area.