Researchers from Coppe / UFRJ are developing a system capable of identifying oil spills in the oceans using an unmanned vessel. Named Ariel (acronym for Autonomous Robot for Identification of Emulsified Liquids), the system is the result of a partnership between Coppe and the companies TideWise and Farol.

Ariel is a system that combines autonomous vessel (ASV) and unmanned aerial vehicle (drone). Equipped with visual cameras to locate leaks, and visual and thermal cameras for oil detection, the drone takes off from a platform installed on the vessel, called USV Tupan, from Tidewise, a company formed by former students of Coppe.

Developed by researchers from the Control and Automation Laboratory, Application Engineering and Development (Lead), the control and landing system for drone was successfully tested outdoors, at Coppe. The project was contracted by Repsol Sinopec Brasil, with resources from the Research and Development clause of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP).

"Soon, the system will be tested at sea. The drone will make the first stage of detecting oil stains using a thermal camera. The result can be confirmed by sensors embedded in the autonomous vessel, which detect the oil by contact," explained the professor Alessandro Jacoud, from Coppe's Electrical Engineering Program.

The vehicles work autonomously and collaboratively, and the integrated system allows continuous monitoring and rapid detection of oil spills at sea. The integration of meteoceanographic sensors makes it possible to integrate them with existing oil dispersion models, enabling predictive analyzes. In addition, Ariel's double check allows for a more reliable analysis than the method most used by the oil industry, which uses satellite images.

"Another major gain of the project is to eliminate false alarms from any oil leak incident, thus avoiding the unnecessary costs of mobilizing the containment and cleaning team", adds Marcelo Andreotti, Research Manager in Production Facilities and Operations at Repsol Sinopec Brasil is responsible for the project at the company.