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NETWORK / 30 / SEPTEMBER 2017 Texo profile S peaking to Network via telephone from his offices in Aberdeen, Scotland, John Wood, chief operations officer, Texo, is outlining his vision for the future of onshore drone inspection from the heart of the UK's oil and gas industry. "We're creating the future of the UAV market, and we're very proud to be doing so," he says. Wood makes this bold claim from the oil and gas hub, which provides the base for Texo Drone Survey and Inspection (UKCS), Texo's offshore arm for drone inspection in the oil and gas sector. It's a newer business, known simply as Texo Drone Survey and Inspection (Texo DSI), that Wood claims is redefining drone inspection for the energy sector onshore. Millions of investment Texo has invested £30m in the onshore division, which has been operating for 14 months. Customers in the UK include Anglian Water and EDF. Texo has a fleet of more than 90 drones and, at the time of writing, had surveyed more than 415 structures this year. For utilities, services provided by Texo DSI include UV corona detection, overhead power line inspection, reservoir analysis and mapping, and pipe- line inspection. In the renewables sector, the company's technology is being used to inspect wind turbines, monitor hydroelectric installations, and detect faulty solar panels and cells. The advantages of using a UAV for these types of application include accuracy, effi- ciency, and safety benefits, says Wood. "It is also cheaper, on the whole, although not massively so, and in terms of safety, heli- copters trying to get close to pylons for UV corona inspection is dangerous. "It is far easier to use a UAV and get closer. The UAV can record data more accu- rately and more efficiently." While UV corona provides a visual indi- cator of faults in high voltage systems for predictive maintenance, Texo DSI's selling points include not just its large fleet of UAVs for corona detection but the integration of a number of bespoke payloads, includ- ing what it claims is the only survey grade LIDAR – light detection and ranging – UAV system on the market. It also has payloads for hyper spectral imaging and ultrasonic thickness measurement. For the oil and gas market offshore, it is using UAVs equipped with alternating current field measurement equipment for integrated inspection and weld fatigue detection. This system is able to undertake full flaw and fatigue detection on multiple surfaces and welds, minimis- ing risk of exposure to rope access person- Eyes in the sky Unmanned aerial vehicles and drones have been used to inspect oil and gas installations for some time, but they are also proving their worth onshore in the energy sector.