Petrobras' FPSO P66 was the scene of the first inspection of tanks carried out by a drone-type aircraft. Activity was considered a success

Technology has been occupying more and more space in the execution of activities in the oil and gas industry. After Petrobras developed a robot for painting platforms, it was the turn to use drones to inspect FPSO tanks.
The use of drones has grown a lot in all branches of industry and now it seems that it is here to stay in the Oil and Gas segment.

The Brazilian subsidiary of the Japanese group Terra Drone used a drone-type aircraft to inspect one of the tanks of Petrobras' FPSO P-66 and the results were very satisfactory.
The unprecedented nature of the operation was a source of pride for the executive director of Terra Drone in Brazil, Marcelo Belleti, after all, it was the first time that a drone was used for inspection in confined spaces in Brazil.

The speed (a little over an hour) with which the inspection was carried out and the reduction in manpower, only two men were needed to perform the task, were the main advantages of using the drone.
Usually, in a platform tank inspection, four men and scaffolding or climbers are used, in addition to the drone having its own lighting and not needing such preparation.

Terra Drone's intention is to provide the service not only for Petrobras, but for other companies operating in the oil and gas sector, in the inspection of flares and thickness measurement of plates in ship tanks.

According to Belleti, inspection in flares is much more advantageous when performed by drones, as there is no need to interrupt the operation of the equipment to carry out the inspection.
In addition to the visual inspection, it is also possible to perform a thermal inspection of the flare and with 30x optical zoom cameras, the drone can remain at a distance between 50 and 100 meters away.

Company

Terra Drone, a Japanese group, bought 50% of the shares of 20 service providers around the world (including PlimSoll UAV) subsidiary of PlimSoll, an offshore engineering and maintenance group, with 25 years in the market.
Today the company operates on five continents and in Latin America it operates in three countries. Currently, the company operates throughout the oil and gas chain and also in energy, mining and mapping.

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