How Drones Can Benefit Tank Farms: Roof Checks Without Climbing

Can drones for tank farms reduce roof climbs?

Drones for tank farms can take over the first look at roofs, seals, shells, and dike walls. The drone captures imagery, and inspectors use it to screen high points before anyone climbs a tank. Where a crew otherwise walks the roof just to see what needs attention, that screening step is where most of the exposure sits.

The drone does not replace the inspection. It decides where people need to go, when they need to go, and which tools they should carry. Fewer unplanned climbs also means fewer people exposed to fall and vapor hazards on each round.

Our team picks the drone for your site, deploys and integrates it, trains your staff, and services it nationwide. You lease the drone through lease financing programs, and the lease is quoted after a free site assessment, so the terms are clear before anything goes on site.

What is the problem at tank farms today?

Floating-roof tanks are still checked largely by hand. According to a vendor page on automated tank roof inspections, operators regularly climb tanks about 25 m high to check the roof. The climb is the exposure: a ladder, a roof edge, and a deck that can hold rainwater and vapor.

Vapor is the other half of the risk. A patent filing on tank seal inspection describes vapors collecting in the space between the vapor seal and the roof, where they form a combustible mixture. A petroleum terminal safety guide names hatch and opening areas as both fall hazards and vapor release points. It also says travel restraint is preferred over fall arrest where a fall can be prevented.

We found no OSHA or API standard that specifically covers drone roof inspections. That gap is why a drone should be a screening tool inside your existing program, not a replacement for it.

What are the main benefits of drones at tank farms?

The benefits start with fewer climbs. A drone that images roof condition, rainwater on the deck, seal condition, and grounding cables lets the inspector decide whether a roof needs a walk. According to the vendor page, these images use high-resolution color and thermal imaging, so many issues show up in the photos before anyone steps onto the roof.

The second benefit is speed. A drone vendor reports that its flights complete 8 hours' worth of manual floating-roof inspections in 30 minutes. That is the vendor's own claim, and we found no independent, peer-reviewed hour by hour comparison. A 2018 UK case report found that an internal pontoon inspection by UAV took five days, where the traditional method would have taken weeks.

The third benefit is a repeatable record. Imagery from the same route on each round lets you compare this round with the last one, which is easier to act on than a handwritten note about a roof.

How does a drone work at a tank farm day to day?

A flight starts with a plan. The route covers tank tops, shells, and dike walls, and it is set around wind, rain, and the hours when the site is quiet. The crew keeps the launch area clear, and a spotter watches the airspace near the tank farm.

After the flight, the imagery is reviewed. Inspectors mark seal, roof, hatch, and shell items that need a closer look, then decide which tanks get a climb. Flagged items go into your inspection log with the image attached, so the next crew knows exactly what to check.

One vendor says its drone can carry out API-653-compliant ultrasonic inspections of storage tanks. Treat that as a vendor claim to check against your own program. Ultrasonic thickness work is a different task from visual screening, and it should be scoped and signed off separately.

Which areas of a tank farm does the drone cover?

Most of the value sits in the tank tops, seals, and shells, with dike walls and access roads covered on the same flight. The six areas that follow show where the drone works and why each one matters to the crew.

Imagery of the roof shows conditions that a visual screen can judge from above, including rainwater, grounding cables, and the state of the seal. Those are the items that otherwise send a crew up the tank to look.

How many tank farms are there in the US?

The count is large. According to ILTA's Peter Lidiak in an AFPM interview, there are thousands of liquid storage terminals, and about 4,400 for petroleum commodities alone. He describes that as an industry estimate, not an official count, but it means the screen-first approach applies across many sites.

The federal dataset uses its own threshold. The EIA petroleum terminal dataset covers operable bulk petroleum product terminals with 50,000 barrels or more of bulk shell storage capacity, or the ability to receive volumes by tanker, barge, or pipeline. That dataset is as of June 2023, based on Form EIA-815.

Bulk stations are a separate category, with under 50,000 barrels, and they receive product by rail or truck. A trade article estimates about 2,860 companies operate bulk stations in the US, so smaller sites matter too, even if their tank count and access routes differ.

Who works at a tank farm, and where does the drone fit?

The closest federal occupation is Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers, SOC 51-8093, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That occupation covers gauging and testing oil in storage tanks and controlling pumping systems, so the gauger is already the person who spends time at the tank.

A drone does not remove the team. One vendor says a drone with a crew of two can replace a team of three to five people on some ultrasonic thickness work. We would plan for a drone plus a smaller team: a pilot, a gauger on the tank side, and an inspector who signs off on findings.

Keep at least one person on site for every flight. Someone has to watch the airspace, handle the aircraft, and stay reachable. The drone takes the climb out of the screening step, but your people still own the decision.

What drives the savings in hours and labor?

Savings come from fewer climbs, fewer crew hours spent walking roofs for a screen, and a faster read on which tanks need attention. Vendors report large time gains. One says 8 hours' worth of manual work fits into 30 minutes, and another says its drone can do ultrasonic thickness inspections 10 times faster than traditional methods.

Those are vendor-reported figures, not independent results, so treat them as ranges to test rather than promises. The practical way to see what drives your hours is a before and after on a single tank group. Count crew hours per round, climbs avoided, and findings caught early.

Hours saved depend on tank count, roof type, how often the screen runs, and how many findings still lead to a climb. A farm with many tanks and frequent rounds will see more of the time gain than a site with a few tanks and occasional checks.

What can a drone not do at a tank farm?

A drone cannot replace the certified inspection or the gas testing your procedures require. Imagery shows roof condition, seals, and shells. It does not measure vapor concentration, and it cannot see under the roof deck or inside the vapor space.

Weather is a real limit. Wind, rain, and low light can stop a flight, and some airspace will not allow flights at all. Plan the route around the forecast and keep a manual inspection path ready for the day a flight is cancelled.

Operators also need to confirm how the imagery fits the standards they answer to. We found no OSHA or API standard that specifically covers drone roof inspections, so check the approach with your inspection program and regulator before you change the routine.

How do we get started at a tank farm?

Start with a free site assessment. We map the tank farm, identify the roofs, shells, and dike walls the drone will cover, and check flight constraints such as wind exposure and airspace. The lease is quoted after that assessment, and the payment comes in the quote.

The drone is leased through lease financing programs, which keeps the upfront spending low. Our team deploys and integrates the drone, trains your pilots and gaugers, and services it nationwide. A good first step is one tank group and a before and after comparison.

After the first round, we review the imagery and the crew log together. If the drone flags the right tanks and your staff trust the flags, you extend the route across the rest of the farm. If not, we adjust the route before the next round.