During the CES summit, Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) joined Doosan Mobility Innovation (DMI) and GTI in announcing their partnership in launching DMI’s first hydrogen drone technology.
DMI’s DS30 drone system, powered by SoCalGas and GTI, will fly for up to 120 minutes and carry up to 11 pounds of payload, making it the best fuel cell powerpack performer available. One flight of the DS30 can monitor a 1-mile pipeline powered by hydrogen.
The DS30 drone will be used by SoCalGas to assist with pipeline inspections. Drones can help improve pipeline system maintenance by providing high-resolution imagery and aerial mapping services. An aerial mapping and three-dimensional topographic model of the utility’s service area can benefit from the DS30 demonstration’s close-up digital photography, which can be used in places that are difficult or hazardous to access. Drones can also record pipeline routes, construction sites, open trenches, and working conditions for future reference.
“This hydrogen-powered drone offers an opportunity to more efficiently monitor our pipelines in hard to access areas, allowing us to collect more data to quickly solve potential pipeline integrity issues,” said Neil Navin, vice president of clean energy innovations for SoCalGas. “This project is a great demonstration on the versatility of hydrogen and its broad range of applications as a clean fuel of the future. Adopting advanced monitoring hydrogen drone technology to maintain the integrity of our pipeline system is part of our mission to build the cleanest, safest, and most innovative energy company in America.”
Hydrogen-powered fuel cell drones can fly for up to two hours on a single charge because fuel cells have a higher energy density than lithium-ion batteries by a factor of four to five. DMI’s remote system uses fuel cells, which have a typical lifespan of over 1,000 hours and can provide real-time monitoring of a product’s status.
In order to advance hydrogen technology, this effort is a part of the larger project. To demonstrate that renewable hydrogen can be a cost-effective fuel for multiple end-use applications, including drones, when coupled with large baseload consumers that use hydrogen for clean, dependable, stationary power, GTI and SoCalGas have joined forces with a number of other project partners on a US Department of Energy project.
“GTI is excited to partner with SoCalGas and DMI on this demonstration of hydrogen in the fast-growing application of drones,” said Ted Barnes, Director of R&D at GTI. “Our role is to support the integration of hydrogen into new technologies and this partnership allows us to utilize our capabilities while working with leaders in the field.”
“Our partnership with SoCalGas and GTI means more than just a simple drone project. Our hydrogen-powered DS30 drone is used to inspect SoCalGas’ facility and serves as a perfect demonstration of how zero emission drones can be used, especially in a long-distance application such as pipeline inspection,” said Doosoon Lee, CEO of DMI. “We continue to discover a true value of 2 hours flying drone system powered by hydrogen for our customers. We hope this partnership can represent one of its greatest value.”
To date, DMI is the only company in the world to have developed and commercialized a hydrogen fuel cell system for drones, which is used in a wide range of industrial applications. At CES Las Vegas this year, DMI won seven awards for two DJ25 hydrogen fuel cell drone projects.
It is the policy of the Southern California Gas Company to operate its drones in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations.
