The Oil & Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) has invested in three advanced robotics projects to reduce annual costs and enhance the safety of pressure vessel inspection.
The projects were selected as part of the company’s open innovation programme Call for Ideas, which was launched last year. Work will be carried out by UK-based firm Sonomatic and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.
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OGTC asset integrity solution centre manager Rebecca Allison said: “We’re delighted to be investing in robotics projects with Sonomatic and the University of Strathclyde, which we believe can significantly reduce costs, improve efficiency and enhance safety.
“Process vessel inspection and corrosion under insulation cost the industry more than £300m each year so it is important that our first two Calls for Ideas sessions focus on these challenges.”
The company intends to launch the second Call for Ideas session this month.
Sonomatic aims to develop advanced robotic technology to carry out non-intrusive inspections (NII) of pressure vessels with enhanced speed, agility and autonomy compared with existing systems.
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By GlobalDataIntegrated with upgraded inspection technologies, the robotics solution is expected to help increase production uptime while reducing costs and improving efficiency.
The OGTC is also working in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde for the development of a robot crawler that would feature 3D laser scanning and non-destructive testing technology.
The new crawler will help create a virtual, dynamic 3D representation of the inspection site enabling it to be operated safely from a remote location.
In addition, the university will use swarms of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to carry out visual inspections offshore.
