Often seen as the key arteries of energy production of many countries around the globe, pipelines, be that oil or natural gas, play a crucial part in transferring vital product to countless industries. Safeguarding these pipelines and ensuring they remain healthy is crucial, with incidents or risks being often too serious to ignore.

With the UAV and drone industry developing at rapid pace, Autel has seen a number of new industries emerge as areas where drones can bring sweeping benefits. In this article, we’ll dive into just how an enterprise level drone can assist with surveying and maintaining pipelines for the energy industry, and how adopting drone use can bring efficiency gains too large to ignore.

Whether through rapid response capabilities, high inspection efficiency through the latest imaging tech, or their overall low cost, we’re convinced drones are solidifying their place in the energy industry. 

1. Oil Theft Patrol - Eyes in the Sky

Oil theft is a rising threat in the energy industry, with theives armed with drills often making off with millions when stealing illegal product. One of the immediate benefits of a drone solution (notably Autel’s recent EVO Max 4T) is the ability to have access to rapidly deployed monitoring solution that can provide live video back to a headquarters. 

Couple that with the latest in drone imaging technology (including thermal camera technology), and the appeal becomes obvious. An Autel solution can promise highly reliable, accurate identification and tracking of potential thieves, even using AI to monitor and extract data such as license plates of suspected vehicles involved in theft. 

2. When A Leak Sprouts - The Power of Surveying

Through UAV drones equipped with visible light pods, we can monitor whether there is oil leakage in the oil pipeline and whether there is oil leakage in a pumping unit or through a pipeline system.

The ability for UAV’s to perform reconnaissance and actively identify points of concern is unprecedented, with modern systems involving a fully automated take-off, recon, survey and return-to-home function.

3. The oil and gas pipeline protection patrol of drones

Through UAV drones equipped with visible light pods and mapping equipment, we can monitor whether there are illegal facilities in the safety protection belt of oil and gas pipelines, and monitor the changes of the terrain and geomorphology on the left and right sides of the oil and gas pipeline.

4. Emergency patrols of drones

Through drone drones equipped with visible lights and infrared pods, the emergency situation can be dealt with at 24 hours day and night, and the emergency work such as the assessment of water area after flood, the emergency patrol of fire scenes, the emergency reconnaissance and tracking, the searching of oil leakage and pressure relief and so on can be carried out.

5. The plan of drones oil field and oil and gas pipelines

Through the drone equipped with an aerial survey camera, a tilt photography camera, a laser radar, etc., we can carry out geographic mapping and scene modeling of the oil field, generate the ortho-photo map and 3D model diagram of the oil field, and make digital planning for new pumping units and oil and gas pipelines.

Autel Robotics is headquartered in Shenzhen, where is the frontier of Chinese industry and software and the capital of drones. Autel Robotics also has a wide range of subsidiary bases in the United States, Germany, Italy and Singapore to recruit top talents to develop the leading UAV drone technology and autonomous solutions.