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U.S. Department of Energy
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Detecting gas leaks using unmanned aerial vehicles

Patent ·
OSTI ID:1650996
Methods, systems and computer program products for detecting gas leaks using a drone are provided. Aspects include capturing a first set of data regarding a presence of a gas in the geographic area while flying along the initial flight path. Aspects also include creating secondary flight paths through regions in the geographic area in which the presence of the gas exceeds a threshold amount and capturing a second set of data regarding a concentration of the gas in the one or more regions while flying along the secondary flight paths. Aspects further include capturing wind data while flying along the initial and second flight paths and creating a three-dimensional gas plume model for gas leaks identified in the geographic area based on the first set of data, the second set of data and the wind data, wherein the three-dimensional gas plume model identifies a source of the gas leaks.
Research Organization:
International Business Machines Corp., Armonk, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AR0000540;
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY)
Patent Number(s):
10,677,771
Application Number:
15/800,116
OSTI ID:
1650996
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English