This company manages a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, enhancing energy security by facilitating the import, storage, regasification, and export of LNG. The terminal plays a crucial role in diversifying energy sources and supporting its move towards cleaner, sustainable energy solutions.
Playing a significant role in energy security, the company was aware that their terminals were crucial to continued operations. The robustness of port infrastructures was paramount to facilitate the smooth transfer of crude oil from their refining plant to moored vessels. However, jetty piles and sheet piles were susceptible to corrosion and structural flaws from exposure to seawater and the physical stresses exerted from mooring.
Many things were at stake. A terminal port breakdown because of negligence in performing underwater infrastructural inspections of jetty piles and sheet piles would severely affect production productivity. Even a terminal shutdown due to diver incidents would likewise hinder operations.
From this cause, the company wished to explore the benefits of switching from using divers to underwater drones for inspections of their jetty infrastructures.
Eventually, BeeX was sub-contracted for Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) A.IKANBILIS promising capabilities.
Over a period of six days, A.IKANBILIS was deployed onsite at the terminal. The scope? An impressive 67 jetty piles and 300 meters (about the length of three American football fields) of sheet piles.
With only two BeeX technicians onsite, Hovering AUV A.IKANBILIS, around a meter square in size, was lowered down into the nearshore waters from a small vessel. Then, the Hovering AUV collected visual footage and cathodic protection readings from the two pile types, displaying readings on Sambal User Interface in real time.
To show external conditions of all inspected piles, clear visual footage and snapshots of pile anomalies were obtained through a close visual inspection with A.IKANBILIS’ HD underwater camera.
Then, to test the corrosion resistance of the jetty piles and sheet piles, A.IKANBILIS used a cathodic protection probe to measure the voltage levels of inspected piles. These geo-referenced readings provided insights into the remaining zinc content in sacrificial anodes, commonly installed to divert the corrosion process from the steel piles. At least two readings per pile were taken to increase the accuracy of acquired data points, totaling 204 cathodic protection stabs during the mission.
Following deployment on each day, the gathered data was seamlessly uploaded to Sambal Portal, BeeX’s data reporting cloud. This platform quickly afforded the client company extensive insights into the integrity of the assessed piles.
Despite being a small vehicle, A.IKANBILIS seamlessly obtained visual and 3D data on the large project scope. The vehicle proved itself to be an opportunity for the LNG refinery to standardise using autonomous underwater robotic solutions for inspection jobs, ultimately reducing risk and supporting unhalted port operations.
Overall, this comprehensive innovative inspection approach enhanced operational efficiency and helped the client company make informed decisions for proactive future maintenance strategies.
