Proposal for the Use of Unmanned Aircraft for

Plant and Future Inspection:

Justin Carlson Plant Intern
Brian Farley Plant Engineer
Team for Unmanned Aircraft Research
Engineering Deartment! ConocoPhillis "an Juan #as Plant! $e% &e'ico
()*()*+
"u,mitted to-
John Ritter
"cott &ansell
James &ars
Roy Fo'
C.P "an Juan #as Plant! $e% &e'ico
*
Contents
E'ecuti/e "ummary (
"tatement of Pro,lem +
.,0ecti/es 1
Technical Aroach 1
Identifying $eeds of Customers 1
Identifying Target "ecifications 1
#enerating Design Concets 1
"electing Design Concet 1
Pro0ect &anagement 1
Deli/era,les 1
Budget 1
Communication and Coordination %ith "onsor 1
Team 2ualifications 1
Conclusion 1
References 1
Aendi' A3 R4sum4s of Team &em,ers 1
Justin Carlson 1
5
Executive Summary
Unmanned aircraft through the aegis of ConocoPhillips should be in
consideration of use in Investigations and Inspecting of equipment and
instruments. Through the allowance and handling of unmanned aircraft,
ConocoPhillips would find great benefits in safety and production. Costs of
operating and owning UAs are quite lower then using cranes in areas of
e!treme height. Confined spaces are being inspected across America through
unmanned aircraft in water towers, cooling units and distilleries. "emote
operated devices are becoming quite useful in many applications around the
globe and are saving many companies time, and time is money. ConocoPhillips
would find these devices useful in many applications# further research and
funding would allow C$P to establish effective use of UAs.
ConocoPhillips attempts to lead the pac% in safety, they have yet to
master their techniques. C$P promotes& 'o (ob is so urgent or important that we
cannot ta%e the time to perform it safely. Through UAs we allow ourselves to
perform the tas% swiftly while upholding the integrity of our safety. The device
requires one operator and no assistance from other team members. This puts
one man in the line of ris% while having the ability to operate the device from
)*** feet away in a basic model. Confined space permits are still required by law
but once the device is placed within the space it is eliminating human ris% in
atmospheric change. +uman in(ury and error is miniscule to that of manned
operations where one is put at ris%. ,hen equipment failure occurs personnel
ris% is very high in a confined spaced humans while UAs face no harm to
personnel and can easily be removed through the attachment of a lanyard.
Cranes have the possibility to topple and threaten structures within its radius.
Personnel life cannot be replaced while a UA can easily be replaced.
"unning a cost benefit analysis on these unmanned aircraft in a flare tip
inspection scenario the unmanned aircraft beats the price of the crane
companies by far. The ob(ective of this machine was to not disturb plant
production. ,hen a crane is erected for flare tip inspection the plant has to be
shut down for the period of time the boom is in the air. -y $.+A standards each
crane needs at least / personnel, one operator and one rigger. Through UA
inspections the flare tip can be replaced at turnaround, not wasting any man0
hours or lost production hours. If flare tips are in need of being replaced when
inspected during turnaround then there are additional cranes being needed to
replace them and waste more production hours. This method is by far the most
cost0effective way to go when inspecting flare tips and possibly other methods of
inspection. Through the use of unmanned aircraft ConocoPhillips will be (oining
the formation of a new and useful technology.
(
Statement of Problem
$ur first investigation was a request for a flare tip analysis1inspection.
The goal was to inspect a /)*0foot flare tip with an unmanned aircraft. This
meant that we could save money and time on inspections while not having to
shut down the plant if flare tips were bad. $ur goal and concern was finding a
solution for ordering new flare tips before turnaround in a cost effective manner.
Through this goal we sought after ways to get an aerial shot from above and
around the flare tip using unmanned aircraft.
The researcher and designer behind this pro(ect was intern 2ustin Carlson.
Desin !b"ectives
6*7 First design o,0ecti/e! First Person 8ie%
"te Procedure Reasoning for "te
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5
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9
:
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657 "econd design o,0ecti/e! and
6(7 Third design o,0ecti/e>
A reason that a /ertical list is aroriate here is that readers often return to this section
to re/ie% those o,0ecti/es> ?a/ing the o,0ecti/e in a /ertical listing ma@es it easier to
find> If your design o,0ecti/es are comlicated and deend on /aria,les! consider lacing
them into a formal ta,le! %hich %ould ,e introduced ,y name3 Ta,le *! Ta,le 5! and so
forth>
In this section! you %ould resent te't that discusses more fully %hat you mean
,y the different design o,0ecti/es> That e'lanation %ould include a discussion of not
only %hat you intend to do! ,ut also a 0ustification of %hat you %ill not do 6in other
+
%ords! %hat your audience might assume that you %ill do7> Aou might consider ha/ing a
aragrah for each o,0ecti/e> Please indent all aragrahs and do not s@i a line ,et%een
aragrahs in the same section or su,section> ?o%e/er! feel free to insert u to : oints
,et%een aragrahs! as is done in this temlate>
$ote that if you ha/e done a good 0o, in the B"tatement of Pro,lemC section! then
all the design o,0ecti/es should ma@e sense to the audience> A/oid ha/ing more than four
o,0ecti/es> Dists more than four are often not read> To a/oid ha/ing more than four! you
might consider grouing t%o or more o,0ecti/es> Please indent all aragrahs and do not
s@i a line ,et%een aragrahs in the same section or su,section>
#echnical Approach
This section discusses ho% you %ill o,tain the o,0ecti/es resented in the
re/ious section> This lan should follo% a logical seEuence> Please ma@e sure that you
ha/e a transition aragrah ,et%een the heading BPlan of ActionC and the su,heading
BIdentifying Customer $eeds>C
Identifyin Customer $eeds
?ere you %ould lace aragrahs that e'lain ho% you identified the needs of the
customer or ho% you %ill identify the needs of the customer> Please indent all aragrahs
and do not s@i a line ,et%een aragrahs in the same section or su,section>
Identifyin #aret Specifications
?ere you %ould lace aragrahs that e'lain ho% you targeted the secifications
or ho% you %ill target the secifications> Please indent all aragrahs and do not s@i a
line ,et%een aragrahs in the same section or su,section>
%eneratin Desin Concepts
?ere you %ould lace aragrahs that e'lain ho% you generated the design
concets> Please identify all of your design concets in this su,section> Aou might
consider lacing those concets into a ta,le %ith one column gi/ing a short summary of
the concet> Please indent all aragrahs and do not s@i a line ,et%een aragrahs in the
same section or su,section>
Selectin Desin Concept
?ere you %ould lace aragrahs that e'lain ho% you selected the design
concet> In addition! you should also identify %hat alternati/e design concets you ha/e
9
selected for the ro0ect> Please indent all aragrahs and do not s@i a line ,et%een
aragrahs in the same section or su,section>
Pro"ect &anaement
This section resents the lan for managing the ro0ect> This lan should follo% a
logical seEuence> Please ma@e sure that you ha/e a transition aragrah ,et%een the
heading BPro0ect &anagementC and the su,heading BDeli/era,les>C That aragrah
should introduce and e'lain your #antt chart for the ro0ect> An e'amle of such a chart
aears in Figure *>
Fiure ': #antt chart for the ro0ect> The solid ,ars indicate the ortions of the tas@s that %e ha/e
accomlished>
Deliverables
?ere you %ould lace a aragrah or aragrahs that resent the deli/era,les that
you %ill ro/ide the customer> Please indent all aragrahs and do not s@i a line
,et%een aragrahs in the same section or su,section>
(udet
?ere you %ould lace a aragrah or aragrahs that e'lain the ,udget for the
ro0ect> Include a ta,le such as Ta,le *> Please indent all aragrahs and do not s@i a
line ,et%een aragrahs in the same section or su,section>
Table 1: ReEuested items and funds for initial design>
Item Supplier Catalo $o) *uantity
Unit
Price #otal
acuum Pump 3c3aster Carr I204*5/6 ) 7)58.9: +',,-./
;low Pump 'orthern Tool C2<045= ) 7)8=.== +'01-1/
,ater ;ilter ,hirlpool >owe?s +ardware ,+@"/6 ) 788.:8 +22-.2
/818/A Plywood 9?!5? >owe?s +ardware none ) 7/9.=6 +/3-40
9A $ndine "ainma%er .martbargain.com )/=5*5 ) 7)=.== +2.-,1
:
Acrylic .heet )/A!/9A 3c3aster Carr 545*B// ) 796.9* +0'-10
Acrylic Tubing 6? C$D 5AE 3c3aster Carr 5954B4/4 ) 7/84.:* +/05-40
A5A ;lange C)8A $DE 3c3aster Carr BD0@", ) 799./9 +33-/3
F0)* ! )*A +e! -olt +out?s G .on?s Inc. 8964 6 76.9* +/.-55
#!#A6 ++++
Communication and Coordination 7ith Sponsor
?ere you %ould lace aragrahs that e'lain ho% you %ill communicate and
coordinate %ith your sonsor> Please indent all aragrahs and do not s@i a line ,et%een
aragrahs in the same section or su,section>
#eam *ualifications
?ere you %ould lace a aragrah that introduces the Eualifications for the team
and refers to the resumes located in Aendi' A> In this section! you should ro/ide a
aragrah for each team mem,er> Please indent all aragrahs and do not s@i a line
,et%een aragrahs in the same section or su,section>
8eferences
Fo'! R>F>! and A>T> &cDonald! Introduction to Fluid Mechanics 6$e% Aor@3 John
Filey G "ons! *=;<7! > 5+55+9>
?oughton! Richard A>! and #eorge &> Food%ell! B#lo,al Climatic Change!C Scientific
American! /ol> 5:H! no> + 6Aril *=<=7! > (=+H>
8arian Cororation! I"mithsonian Researchers Use ?ighJTech Digital Imaging De/ice to
"tudy Collections!I http://www.varian.com/ 6Palo Alto! CA3 8arian Cororation! *(
Fe,ruary 5HH57>

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Appendix A:
89sum9s of #eam &embers
The follo%ing ages resent oneJage r4sum4s of the team mem,ers for this
ro0ect>
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