METHOD FOR DETECTING OIL POLLUTION IN THE BOTTOM SEDIMENTS OF WATER BASINS USING UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES Russian patent published in 2021 - IPC E02B15/00 

FIELD: environmental protection.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the field of environmental protection, in particular, to methods for searching for oil pollution in the bottom sediments of water basins using unmanned aerial vehicles. The method, including the study of the water basin by the operator, consists in forming a route from the survey points, programming the route, supplying with load 5, launching aerodynamic unmanned aerial vehicle 1 in the form of a multicopter with a rotating wing of a helicopter type of vertical take-off and landing, equipped with block 4 of devices for holding and dumping the load, a positioning system, a system for holding a given altitude, a system for returning to the launch site, and dropping load 5 at the survey points using aerodynamic unmanned aerial vehicle 1. Then, the route is programmed and aerodynamic unmanned aerial vehicle 2 is launched in the form of a multicopter with a rotating wing of a helicopter type of vertical take-off and landing, equipped with a positioning system, a system for holding a given altitude, a system for returning to the launch site, digital camera 8, thermal imager 9, a receiving and transmitting device and a backup removable recording device. Recordings from digital camera 8 and thermal imager 9 are transmitted in real time to the operator's personal computer and stored on a backup removable recording device. Load 5, dropped at the command of the operator of aerodynamic unmanned aerial vehicle 1 at each survey point, is a set of capsules, each of which contains a water-soluble shell and mixture 5a, forming a large number of gas bubbles 6 in contact with water, which lift oil aggregates 7 from the bottom sediments to the water surface due to the molecular adhesion of petroleum hydrocarbons to the boundary of two phases – air and liquid. After dropping load 5, aerodynamic unmanned aerial vehicle 1 automatically continues to move to the next survey point along the specified route, where it hangs in standby mode, and the operator gives the command to launch aerodynamic unmanned aerial vehicle 2 and controls the aerial survey of oil aggregates 7 raised to the surface of the water basin using a personal computer. Based on the results obtained, the operator concludes about the presence or absence of oil pollution 7 in the bottom sediments.

EFFECT: method allows one to expand the arsenal of technical means for searching for oil pollution in the bottom sediments of water basins.

2 cl, 1 dwg