A Drone-Enabled Approach for Gas Leak Detection Using Optical Flow Analysis

Abstract

The recent development of gas imaging technologies has raised a growing interest for various applications. Gas imaging can significantly enhance functional safety by early detection of hazardous gas leaks. Moreover, optical gas imaging technologies can be used to identify possible gas leakages and to investigate the amount of gas emission in industrial sites, which is essential, primarily based on current efforts to decrease greenhouse gas emissions all around the world. Therefore, exploring the solutions for automating the inspection process can persuade industries for more regular tests and monitoring. One of the main challenges in gas imaging is the proximity condition required for data to be more reliable for analysis. Therefore, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles can be very advantageous as they can provide significant access due to their maneuver capabilities. Despite the advantages of using drones, their movements and sudden motions during hovering can diminish data usability. In this paper, we propose a method for gas leak detection and visually-enhancement of gas emanation involving stabilization and gas leak detection steps. In addition, a comparative analysis of candidate stabilization techniques is conducted to find the most suitable technique for the drone-based application. Moreover, the system is evaluated using three experiments respectively on an isolated environment, a real scenario, and a drone-based inspection.