This Drone Will Spend a Year at Sea Inspecting Oil and Gas Equipment
This Drone Will Spend a Year at Sea Inspecting Oil and Gas Equipment
(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Operating in deep-sea waters with intense pressure and plentiful debris remains a costly challenge for the oil and gas industry—one with potential consequences for the rest of us, who have to live with the aftermath of a spill. Keeping platform equipment running and working properly in these environments is a constant battle, requiring regular inspections that can last as long as four months. In Brazil and Italy, scientists have designed a solution: the FlatFish, a 12-foot-long, 3-ton autonomous sub powered by batteries and artificial intelligence.
1. How It Works
The FlatFish contains a ton of buoyancy foam and is propelled by six thrusters. It’s designed to function in waters as deep as 10,000 feet for as long as a year and packed with gear that can withstand the attendant pressure, including laser-line projectors, sonars, and cameras that collect high-definition 3D images, helping it detect and evade underwater debris.
2. Tasks
The sub’s AI software recognizes complex shapes, adjusts to different conditions, and inspects pipelines, cables, mooring lines, and other subsea equipment, identifying even small dents and assessing whether they point to bigger problems. The FlatFish can call in other drones to make repairs.
3. Origin
The project started in 2013 as a collaboration among Brazilian research and development institute Senai Cimatec, German institute DFKI, and BG Group, now a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. After testing a prototype in shallow waters, Shell agreed to license the technology to Saipem SpA, an Italian oil and gas company that’s since funded its deep-sea adaptation and commercialization.
4. Cost vs. Savings
Saipem expects each FlatFish to cost $3.5 million to $5 million to build. The developers spent an estimated $10 million on initial R&D, and Roberto Di Silvestro, who oversees the FlatFish project at Saipem, says his company expects to spend more than that to bring the drone to market. The developers say they expect the craft to cut platform maintenance costs in half while eliminating the need for a carbon-spewing support ship on the surface.
5. Hurdles
In Brazil, a prototype carried out complex inspection tasks at depths of about 1,000 feet. As Di Silvestro’s team refines its latest model in Venice, scheduled for an extended trial later this year, perhaps the most complex challenge is refining the AI. Engineers are working to enable the FlatFish to identify and inspect installations that move with ocean currents.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeff Muskus at jmuskus@bloomberg.net, Jim Aley
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