Commercial drone usage is taking off fast. Projections from Statista show the industry is expected to be worth $6.4 billion by 2020. In the oil and gas industry, drones are playing an ever-increasing role, helping drivers cross treacherous terrain and providing status updates on hard-to-reach areas.
“Drones are being used for infrastructure monitoring at an increasing rate for things like visual monitoring 3D change detection, quantification of pits and waste products and detection of leaks,” said Lia Reich, senior marketing and communications director at PrecisionHawk. The company markets drones for use in a variety of commercial applications, including for oil and gas.
One company employing “drones” in its operations is Chevron. The company prefers the term “unmanned aerial system,” or “UAS,” for its drones—drawing a distinction between systems that don’t involve humans at any point. Chevron’s systems always include a human element.
Chevron has seen positive results so far in its limited testing, after the San Joaquin Valley business unit (SJVBU), ran a project late last year. The project collected images and infrared data to help create new base maps and thermal images of the company’s fields.
The SJVBU sees numerous use cases for drones, beyond initial test uses. “The technology can help us with a wide range of issues, from security and surveillance to evaluating enhanced oil recovery operations,” said Ken Lewis, SJVBU’s i-field research and development project lead.
Chevron also envisions using drones to monitor other aspects of operations, like shipping and production. The SJVBU business unit will now share its findings with other parts of Chevron’s U.S. operations.
Shell is another company employing drones in its operations, using them to monitor hard-to-reach areas. Drones allow the company to use a camera to check the status of places like under an oil rig and other places where it may be dangerous to send people. Shell uses gyroscopes in its drones to help stabilize them in windy conditions, crucial for offshore operations.
Drones are developing at breakneck speed. PrecisionHawk is currently exploring the use of LiDar surveying technology in drones. It surveys an area by using laser beams, and can provide a more accurate sense of changes occurring in a given area. Before recently, these LiDar sensors were too heavy to pack onto a small drone.
“LiDar for monitoring infrastructure is a much more accurate way to detect change and is what the manned aviation world has been using,” said Reich.
BP has used LiDar in its Alaska operations to help drivers stay on course in low-visibility conditions. LiDar-equipped drones can also provide an overhead view of pipeline conditions, alerting the company to areas damaged by icy conditions.
One of the major hurdles to widespread adoption is approval from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). BP claims to be the first company to receive FAA approval to operate drones in the United States, while Chevron was able to secure limited FAA approval for its SJVBU tests. On the whole, however, drones remain tightly regulated.
For companies that can secure FAA approval, though, there are likely to be big cost benefits. “UAS have the potential to be more flexible and cost-effective than piloted aircraft because they can be deployed repeatedly, rapidly and at reduced costs,” Lewis said.
Michael Brown is a technology reporter and editor. He has written for the International Business Times and the Sunday Times in London, and holds a master of science from Columbia University School of Journalism.