Gazpromneft-Khantos

2019: Gazprom Neft expands environmental monitoring using UAVs

Gazpromneft-Khantos (affiliated enterprise of Gazprom Neft) started at the beginning of 2019 the system of air monitoring of oil pipelines and a production infrastructure of the enterprise in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.

The Pilotless Aircraft (PA) controls a status more than 250 km of trade oil pipelines on fields in Yugra. With its help monitoring of integrity of trunks and a situation on production facilities is conducted. It allows to minimize environmental risks and also to reveal the possible centers of ignition during the fire-dangerous period and to control onto a flood situation in the spring. The modern technological equipment increases safety of operation of infrastructure of the company and considerably reduces time of response to emergency situations.

The robot plane of domestic production is equipped the systems of photo and video filming. It is intended for remote observation and determination of coordinates of objects on removal up to 50 km with image transfer online at any time. For one change of BVS it is capable to inspect a route more than 170 km long, working in altitude range from 50 to 800 meters.

The average duration of flight of the device — 180 minutes. Maximum speed — 110 km/h. BVS is adapted for operation in the conditions of Far North and can be used both at a 30-degree frost, and during a 40-degree heat.

Since April, 2019 specially modified UAV inspected a status of pipelines of such fields as Southern Ob, Winter and a name of Alexander Zhagrin. Until the end of 2019 with its help it is going to explore Nut and Ermakovsky and Southern fields also. In the long term the system of air monitoring will cover all production facilities of Gazpromneft-Khantos.

Solutions using pilotless technologies are an integral part of production process of Gazprom Neft.

For the first time these aircrafts were tested on objects Gazpromneft Noyabrskneftegaz in 2014 for control of technical condition of oil pipelines. During daily flights pilotless devices flew by along the preset route and online transferred the acquired information to an operations control room. Tests showed high efficiency of the selected technologies and BVS were accepted in commercial operation. The total distance which was overcome by the drones plying over fields of this subsidiary makes already more than 500 thousand kilometers.

In addition to Gazpromneft Noyabrskneftegaz this technology is applied by Gazpromneft Orenburg, and to Messoyakhaneftegaz there are trial tests.

In general already more than 60% of the total length of pipelines of Gazprom Neft (about 7000 km), are in parts or in full controlled using the UAVs of aircraft type equipped with photo and video cameras and also thermal imagers. The used BVS are capable to be airborne till 7 o'clock, to overcome distance in 600 km and to gather speed to 120 km/h. Devices have a large supply of reliability and are capable to work at temperatures to −50 °C and wind speeds up to 15 m / c.

"Today the oil and gas industry is one of key customers and developers of hi-tech products. Innovations allow us to solve successfully production problems and to strengthen technological leadership of the enterprise, saving harmony with the environment. High standards of industrial and environmental safety are for us a priority. And the latest Russian UAVs help us with the solution of this task, providing operational condition monitoring of a production infrastructure even of the most remote objects" — the CEO of Gazpromneft-Khantos Alexey Kan noted.