Neptune: above-ground storage tank inspection robot system

Abstract

The Neptune system allows unmanned entry and sensor data collection in above-ground storage tanks (ASTs). The sensors are immersed in the petroleum product and uses video and ultrasonics to ascertain from the inside-out the state of corrosion of the floor and side-walls. This eliminates the need to empty or clean the tanks and also avoids the required human walk-through inspection, which results in a very sparse data set from which the tank's state must be statistically extrapolated.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>