Case Study: Use of Drone Technology for an Internal Tank Inspection
BoK Content Type:
Presentation Slides
Video
Presentation Paper
BoK Content Source:
MainTrain 2021
Original date:
Thursday, June 3, 2021
As part of its digital transformation efforts in the area of physical asset management, Cameco is continuously exploring the use of IIoT and other technologies to reduce costs, increase uptime, and reduce or eliminate safety and environmental consequences. This presentation will discuss drone technology, in particular unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and how this was utilized for an internal tank inspection at Cameco’s Key Lake operation in northern Saskatchewan. The inspection was performed as a trial to determine the feasibility of this technology for this purpose, as well as the pros and cons of establishing a company wide drone-supported inspection program. It was discovered that there are several aspects and considerations to owning and operating an aerial drone. This presentation will cover several of these aspects such as insourcing or outsourcing drone expertise, drone selection, quality of the inspection, safety, and financial analysis. The actual business analysis for this use case will also be presented. At the conclusion of this presentation, attendees will have a better understanding of whether drones could be applicable for their application, and what questions need to be asked if pursuing this technology.