Researcher tests unmanned aircraft for pipeline inspections
June 16, 2014
907-474-2462
6/20/2014
University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Keith Cunningham wants to make pipelines safer and more cost effective by using unmanned aircraft systems to inspect them.
Recently funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, Cunningham’s $1.3 million research project will seek to transform his idea into a reality that will help the pipeline industry achieve greater safety and efficiency.
“The benefit of using UAS is multi-fold,” said Cunningham, a research assistant professor at the UAF International Arctic Research Center. UAS can replace manned aircraft when and where flying and data gathering are dull, dirty and dangerous. “We’ve already demonstrated that UAS makes sense when we don’t want to disturb animals — for example, in an earlier UAF project, we used it to count sea lions resting on a beach.”
The new project was developed and will operate in collaboration with the Alaska Center on Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration with the UAF Geophysical Institute. Cunningham will test whether unmanned aircraft systems are applicable for a monitoring task that is critical to the energy industry and to the state and national economy. U.S. law requires flying all pipeline rights-of-way 26 times per year to perform certain risk assessments.
In deploying unmanned aircraft to augment manned helicopter flights, Cunningham will examine how the technology affects the overall cost of pipeline operations. The idea has sparked interest within Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which operates the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and has agreed to participate in Cunningham’s project.
“We will also test the possibility of using low-flying UAS to help with the inspection of new pipelines,” Cunningham said. “In this case, the UAS would be used to collect survey data prior to covering a newly constructed pipeline with earth.”
Another research focus includes the use of infrared cameras for the close-up inspection of pipeline thermosiphons. Thermosiphons are devices that help prevent the thawing of permafrost that can lead to unstable soils and slopes in critical places like river crossings. The result may contribute to safer pipeline operations by reducing the cost of such inspections and easing the process.
An important goal of the research is to assist in the development of best practices for using unmanned aircraft in pipeline operations and provide the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. DOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration with useful guidelines as they set future UAS operational regulations.
Cunningham also expects his research to bring increased international attention to UAF, Fairbanks and Alaska. The project also demonstrates how researchers might work with ACUASI to use unmanned aircraft systems in their research projects.
“I hope that pipeline operators around the world will be attracted to this work as they, too, seek to reduce costs and increase operational safety in the pipeline industry. This type of major research can have a multiplier effect — opening the door to additional research funding for UAF, as well as supporting economic development in the city of Fairbanks and the state of Alaska.”
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Keith Cunningham, IARC research assistant professor, kwcunningham@alaska.edu or 907-474-6958.
YB/6-23-14/356-14