10 minute read
Taking inspection to new heights
Xiang Wong, Cyberhawk, UK, explains how drone technology is helping LNG producers plan and optimise asset inspections.
It has been over a year since the first cases of the COVID-19 pandemic were identified, and the full scale of disruption it has caused is clear to see. For the LNG industry, the pandemic coupled with low prices and oversupply has placed increased pressure on operators.
To survive amidst a volatile market and capitalise on future growth opportunities, operators must act now to make their operations as safe, robust, and efficient as possible. From Cyberhawk’s experience, many LNG operators have already turned to drone-based inspections as a cost-effective and time-efficient approach to identify asset defects, mitigate health and safety risks, and prioritise critical maintenance work.
As oversupply continues throughout 2021, with new projects continuing to increase capacity well beyond the steady growth of demand, more and more LNG companies are expected to embrace the benefits of drone inspection compared with traditional methods, such as using rope access or scaffolding.
Maintenance backlogs
The roll-out of a COVID-19 vaccine has been welcomed around the world; however, the need for reduced manpower and social distancing at work sites remains critical. For LNG asset operators, consideration must be made to ensure they not only protect their workforce from infection, but are found to be compliant with strict guidelines set out by the regulators.
Since early 2020, many health and safety regulators have been carrying out ‘virtual visits’ to onshore and offshore sites and even vessels, as they continue to seek assurance that hazards are being effectively managed by operators. Last year, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) came together with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to send a loud and clear message that the “health and safety of workers remains paramount”, despite the operational challenges COVID-19 brings.
These remote visits have highlighted serious cases of inspections being deferred due to cost cutting and reduced headcounts, which has resulted in dangerous health and safety breaches and extensive maintenance backlogs.
Even prior to the pandemic, this was an issue. A total of 1382 non-compliance issues were raised with operators in 2019, an increase of 10% from the 1254 cases recorded in 2018, according to the HSE’s annual ‘Offshore Statistics and Regulatory Activity’ report. The category which generated the
largest number of issues was maintenance. At the end of 2020, a representative of Unite union expressed his concern, stating that “the build-up of outstanding work had increased in 2020 due to COVID-19”.
Turning threat into opportunity
The disruption brought on by the pandemic provides an opportunity for change for the LNG sector.
A portion of these maintenance backlogs are a result of employers reducing manpower on-site in an attempt to adhere with the social distancing measures in place. This has included the cancellation or postponement of traditional inspection methods such as scaffolding or rope access technicians. It is not surprising. Not only is it typically very costly to erect and dismantle scaffolding for manual inspections, costing operators potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds for large areas, it is a lengthy and dangerous process.
Using pioneering drone technology to inspect LNG assets, onshore and offshore, reduces the need to send personnel into dangerous areas, or have them work at height over extended periods of time. For example, Cyberhawk drones can fly in hard-to-reach confined spaces, often without the need for human entry, which is essential in the LNG sector as storage tanks and high areas of floating structures such as loading arms need to be inspected regularly.
As a result, by adopting a drone-based inspection programme carried out by highly experienced pilots who are used to working in complex and high-risk environments and regularly complete intricate inspections to a high standard, operators have the power to reduce the maintenance backlogs at a lower cost, without the risk.
The largest LNG producers are embracing drone-based inspections
In 2019, Cyberhawk supported a major global independent owner and operator of LNG midstream infrastructure by inspecting one of its largest floating LNG (FLNG) vessels, located offshore Kribi, Cameroon. Cyberhawk’s scope of work included the inspection of the structure and joints of the vessel, hoses and pipework, access ladders and platforms, and counterweight and ancillary components.
In just four days, the team was able to identify a number of defects located on the vessel’s loading arms caused by
corrosion. This included damage to various hydraulic hoses, with one showing deterioration of its coating. In addition, a section of shielding on the top access platform had a connection that had corroded, which resulted in a corner left loose. The team also found a loose bolt on the hose and pipe supports, which would have been near impossible to detect using traditional inspection methods such as scaffolding or a rope access as the area was particularly difficult to reach given its height and limited space surrounding.
Armed with the drone inspection data, the operator was able to quickly gain a better understanding of the condition of its vessel and therefore plan and prioritise maintenance work overtime. This helped keep the personnel who were working onboard safe and ensure operations continued to run smoothly. In fact, the operator recently reported that it was able to maintain 100% commercial uptime for more than two years.
If the operator had not taken this proactive approach to inspection work and enlisted Cyberhawk’s drone inspection services, and had instead relied on traditional methods, it would have taken weeks, if not months, to complete the inspection. There would be no guarantee that all defects would have been caught either.
Having personnel working at height is notoriously dangerous, as is the failure to spot defects in a timely manner. It could result in debris or loose fixtures falling from a height and potentially cause harm to personnel working below, or even result in high-risk fires or explosions.
Figure 1. Cyberhawk pilot performing preliminary flight checks.
Figure 2. Cyberhawk pilot and inspection engineer performing a hand launch.
Figure 3. Cyberhawk pilot and inspection engineer performing an under deck drone-based inspection.
Data unlocks tomorrow’s efficiencies
Given current market conditions, many operators may be tempted to defer maintenance or equipment inspections and upgrades as they look to reduce costs and manpower. This could have negative consequences longer-term, however.
It creates a backlog of maintenance work that can quickly become unmanageable, as already seen across the upstream, midstream, and downstream industries. Defects can grow into larger, more complex, serious problems, which could potentially impact productivity at the site or vessel and even put a workforce in harm’s way.
For many LNG operators, the market conditions and the pandemic will mean they have no other option than to keep maintenance budgets to a minimum, therefore carrying out expensive inspection programmes with large crews is no longer an option. Maintaining assets in the future comes down to putting appropriate control measures in place and prioritising maintenance by adopting innovative and efficient solutions.
By deploying drones to carry out rapid periodical assessments of risk across their assets, operators can obtain a deep understanding of the condition of their infrastructure and equipment in a matter of weeks or even days, depending on the scale of the site.
This allows them to establish a maintenance programme, underpinned by data including terabytes of high-quality inspection imagery and videos, point cloud data, orthophotos, and 3D digital twins, helping them prioritise the areas most in need of attention or remedial action, instead of deferring maintenance completely and creating a backlog of work that threatens future productivity.
In doing so, operators are able to limit the personnel needed on-site, ensure equipment remains reliable and safe to operate, and help prevent corrosion and other defects leading to operational failure in the future.
As stated in McKinsey’s ‘The Future of Liquefied Natural Gas: Opportunities for Growth’ report, LNG producers should apply digital techniques to realise significant hidden value across
their operations.1 The global management consultancy also predicted key trends including digital tools increasing the flexibility and responsiveness of LNG production.
Where Cyberhawk believes digitisation really adds value is data visualisation over time. LNG asset operators, for example, have been faced with a long-standing challenge of collating, managing, and storing vast amounts of inspection data collected over years of asset ownership.
Many now realise that without digitisation, it is almost impossible to maintain an accurate record of the history and usage of equipment over time, track maintenance work carried out, and gain a clear picture of the state of the asset. This becomes incredibly important when demonstrating compliance to the regulator, allowing operators to effectively predict and plan future maintenance work.
Fortunately, the LNG industry will benefit from the impressive advancements in data management technology seen in recent years. Cyberhawk has developed its own cloud-based software, iHawk, which allows asset operators to completely digitalise their inspection reports. iHawk combines visual data gathered by the drones, ground 360˚ cameras with data from a myriad of field sensors, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices enabling real-time equipment location tracking and performance monitoring, locating specific areas of interest using RFID technology, and more, into a single visual interface. This is particularly useful for large scale onshore LNG plants.
For any work being carried out on-site, it is important that a record is kept and accountability for tasks is clear. iHawk offers the option of assigning physical areas of the LNG site for a specific task and purpose, assigning a responsible individual, and publishing this information to the stakeholders involved. A timeline is then created and made visible to every team member, which increases transparency and collaboration on a project.
In addition, the position and usage of equipment can be closely monitored by seamlessly integrating industry leading IoT solutions. Each piece of equipment can be fitted with vibration sensors that report uptime and other telemetry data, which is aggregated in the iHawk for interpretation and analysis, helping the site managers to derive the most value from the investment in the equipment and helping them maintain it over time.
Using cloud-based software, the operator can access up-to-date, full visual records of their assets. This allows for detailed information to be shared between asset management and operations teams, senior managers, and contractors. It can even be used to illustrate compliance to the regulator.
Cyberhawk sees the trend of data visualisation and the adoption of drone-based inspections continuing across the LNG landscape. With recent investments in terminals and pipelines to connect gas to consumers, and accelerated demand growth in regions such as Asia, the world’s largest energy-consuming region, there is a critical need to ensure the integrity of LNG infrastructure. From floating vessels to onshore plants, drone-based inspections can offer an efficient, cost-effective, and safe solution to safeguard a bright future for the global LNG industry.
References
1. McKinsey & Company, ‘The future of liquefied natural gas:
Opportunities for growth’, (September 2020).
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