- Write by:
-
Friday, October 12, 2018 - 2:12:32 PM
-
780 Visit
-
Print
Mining News Pro - BHP is trialing drones to inspect its ocean freight operations, building on the successful integration of the technology at mine sites.
According to Mining News Pro -BHP is trialing drones to inspect its ocean freight operations, building on the successful integration of the technology at mine sites.
The major miner uses drones at coal mines in Queensland such as Goonyella to check areas during blasting setups and to document the fumes that are generated.
Fitting drones with high-quality cameras at these sites saves BHP around $5 million a year when compared with equivalent plane costs.
The company also uses drones at the Olympic Dam operation in South Australia for the inspection of tall areas such as cranes and towers.
Marine drones can be used for a multitude of tasks in an ocean freight capacity, including hold inspections, checking the water position of rudders and draft readings.
BHP vice president of marketing freight Rashpal Bhatti said that drones could cut hold inspection times — which are generally performed while ships are berthed — by 75 per cent to 15 minutes.
“The hold inspection process involves ships which have five to nine holds which a person checks by climbing down ladders,” he explained.
“The inspector has to be physically fit, use fall protection, and carry a parrot (oxygen meter) to make sure there is enough air in the hold. And it takes a lot of time.
“With drones, we can fly them into a hold and capture 4K images, but also infra-red, and other types of cameras that can show cracks or other specific parameters that cannot be seen with the naked eye.’’
Bhatti also suggested that the use of tablet-compatible drones could provide safety benefits for chartered ships, especially for tension readings of ship mooring line.
BHP hopes its use of drones for freight inspections will create a “holistic technological package” to deliver several types of information to the same table.
“It’s all a bit futuristic but that is the direction we are going,” concluded Bhatti.
- BHP ,
- Source: www.stilmint.com
Short Link:
https://www.miningnews.ir/En/News/279334
Iron ore futures prices ticked lower on Monday, weighed down by diminishing hopes of more stimulus in top consumer ...
Interros, Nornickel’s largest shareholder, on Monday called allegations by fellow shareholder Rusal about undervalued ...
AbraSilver Resource said on Monday it has received investments from both Kinross Gold and Central Puerto, Argentina’s ...
Gold took a tumble as haven demand waned after geopolitical tensions eased in the Middle East.
Copper traded near $10,000 a ton, hitting a new two-year high on its way, as investors continue to pile in on a bet that ...
Adriatic Metals is taking over as the operator of the Rupice deposit development, which is part of the company’s Vares ...
A Russian arbitration court ruled on Monday that four units of Swiss commodities trader Glencore will pay more than 11.4 ...
The four largest indigenous communities in Chile’s Atacama salt flat suspended dialogue with state-run copper giant ...
A prefeasibility study for Predictive Discovery’s (ASX: PDI) Bankan gold project in Guinea gives it a net present value ...
No comments have been posted yet ...