Gazprom Neft uses flying drones to control oil pipelines and not only

If you think flying drones (UAVs)can only be used for entertainment, then discard this obsolete stereotype. One of the advantages of such use of these flying means is that these devices are excellent for observing from the air the ecological situation in hard-to-reach and dangerous places. For example, Gazprom Neft, one of the largest Russian oil producing companies, has been using drones for more than a year to monitor oil pipelines and other objects of its production infrastructure.

Content

• 1 What are flying drones for?
• 2 Drones for cargo delivery
• 3 Flying drones for exploration
• 4 Technical features of the new drones

What are flying drones for?

To monitor the status of Gazprom pipelinesoil ”has been using drones since 2014, when their first tests began at one of its subsidiaries. Tests have shown that unmanned technology is very effective. high efficiency unmanned technology. Today, the company uses drones not only aircraft, but also helicopter type.

Since the first test, dronesGazprom Neft monitoring the infrastructure of this enterprise has flown a distance of more than 500,000 kilometers. Today, as the company indicates, more than 60 percent of its pipelines, the total length of which is about 7 thousand kilometers, are fully or partially controlled by UAVs.

Gazprom Neft uses UAVs not only formonitoring the state of oil pipelines. These machines are very effective in detecting fires during fire hazard periods, and can also be used to monitor floods.

Drones for cargo delivery

Since 2017, the company began to usehelicopter-type drones for delivering small-sized cargo to fields, access to which in the difficult climatic autumn-spring period by land is difficult.

Use of small air cargo deliveryAccording to company estimates, manned helicopters were unreasonably expensive. Therefore, to resolve the issue began to use unmanned aerial vehicles. With a car weight of 37 kilograms, it is capable of delivering cargo weighing up to 4.5 kilograms.

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In the future, the company is considering the possibility ofthe use of larger unmanned vehicles weighing up to 500 and carrying capacity up to 200 kilograms. Tests of such developments are already being conducted at the company's closed test sites.

Exploration drones for exploration

In June 2019, Gazprom Neft was the first among oil companies to use unmanned aerial vehicles for the primary exploration of new fields.

Such studies are carried out both on land and withair using planes and helicopters. To get accurate information, you have to explore the same area several times at different heights. It is very expensive. The use of drones allows the company to conduct reconnaissance up to 10 times faster than can be done on the ground, and 2 times cheaper than using manned aircraft and helicopters.

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Technical features of the new drones

Recently, the company also announced that its subsidiaryGazpromneft-Khantos, located in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra has also joined the practice of using unmanned technologies. With the help of UAVs, the state of oil pipelines is monitored at three points of oil production, with a total length of 250 kilometers.

For monitoring, advancedcompact aircraft-type drones of the Russian concern Kalashnikov, with which Gazprom signed an agreement last year. Flying cars are able to determine the coordinates of the target at a distance of 50 kilometers from the operator and take photos and videos at any time of the day, transmitting data via the Internet. In addition, they are equipped with thermal imagers.

See also: A drone in the form of a ring can fly 2 times longer than quadrocopters

Devices are able to rise and work onheight from 50 to 800 meters above the earth. In one flight, the device is able to cover a distance of 170 kilometers, with an average flight duration of 180 minutes and with a maximum speed of 110 kilometers per hour. Drones are made from high-strength components, allowing them to work in the harsh conditions of the Far North. According to the press service of Gazpromneft, the machines can be operated without problems at temperatures from -30 to +40 degrees Celsius with wind speeds up to 15 meters per second. However, they have a high margin of safety, which allows them to be used in 50-degree frost.

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