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Aerostar Drone Solutions recently was engaged by a SAGD Operator to help monitor Surface Pipeline movement during start up. SAGD operations typically experience significant pipeline movement during the start up and shut down phases of these pipelines. This operator had seen substantial movement during the last start up resulting in damage to the pipeline and the supports. This had the potential to cause a catastrophic failure. Therefore, Aerostar was contacted inquiring about the ability to use drones to help monitor any movement that occurs to alert the operator in the event of any significant movement.
The team at Aerostar developed a procedure which incorporated UAV Inspections for the following:
- Normal operating conditions to establish a baseline
- Inspection after shutdown once the pipelines cooled down to measure any movement
- Continuous monitoring (24 hours per day) during the Start Up Phase
Two UAV Inspection Teams were engaged for 14 days operating around the clock to monitor the pipeline movement. All expansion and contraction were reported to the operator immediately so the significance of the movement could be investigated. For the night operations both Thermal Imaging and drones equipped with high powered LED lights were utilized to help monitor their pipeline movement. as they warmed up. The project was very successful and was the first-time drones were utilized for this type of inspection.
Below are a couple of images that were captured during these inspections.
Daytime Inspection Image
Thermal/IR Image During Night Operations
Aerostar Drone Solutions is the leading UAV Inspection company in Canada servicing the Oil & Gas and Petrochemical Industries. All of our UAV Pilots have Advanced UAV Certification by Transport Canada and Part 107 Certification by the FAA in the United States.
Contact Aerostar Drone Solutions today to learn the benefits of UAV Inspections and how they will reduce risk to people and reduce your inspection costs.
www.aerostardronesolutions.com
Main: 1-888-699-8421
Darren Jackson: 587-577-1565
Kurt Hewitt: 780-830-8303
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