Just as General Electric unveiled its $125 million Oil and Gas Technology Energy Research Center in Oklahoma City this week, the company also introduced a Raven drone for use by oil and gas companies.
The drone weighs less than 20 pounds and can travel up to 50 miles an hour as it is powered by six sets of helicopter blades, each 21 inches long, according to a report in Popular Science magazine. In addition, the unit has six rechargeable batteries that allow the Raven to fly for 40 minutes.
“GE is working on having Raven make methane inspections go three times faster,” said Ashraf El-Messidi, a research engineer for GE. “Under the current way, a worker must walk around the well with an infrared camera to check for leaks.”
But the Raven drone can carry a laser-based sensor that shoots back live methane data to an iPad carried by a worker on the ground.