Guwahati: An Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG) incubated startup, Beta Tank Robotics (BetaTank), has developed two robotic solutions that efficiently maintain and clean petroleum tanks eliminating the need for human entry for this hazardous task.
These robots are a valuable addition to the oil industry, making it safer, more cost-effective, and environmentally responsible.
BetaTank has been incubated at the IITG-Technology Incubation Centre (IITG-TIC) in the year 2019.
Robots have a huge application in the oil and natural gas industry particularly in situations where human entry poses significant risks.
Major oil corporations encounter potential liabilities and reputational hazards when engaging in human entry into petroleum tanks. The robots developed by BetaTank help mitigate such risks and expedite the turnaround and downtimes.
Currently, the BetaTank has developed two solutions. A robot of the first solution cleans the crude oil tank bottom sludge.
These robots sweep tank bottom sludge and pump it to a receptacle outside the tank. These robots have three very distinct USP over its contemporaries in the world
A robot of the second solution can be used to water wash and strip retail outlet petrol pump tanks. These robots move inside the tank, raise their arms, spread their arms, and water-wash the tanks, including stripping the washings, which makes the gas freeing of these tanks easy, risk-free and fairly quick.
Chairperson of the IITG-TIC, Prof Senthilmurugan said, ”BetaTank Robotics’ journey, which began at our incubation centre in 2019, sets a shining example for what passion, innovation, and the right support network can accomplish. Their success is not only a reflection of their individual brilliance but a testament to the power of the ecosystem we have tirelessly built.”
“To fuel the next growth phase, we are actively facilitating crucial investments by engaging in strategic partnerships with esteemed investors aligned with the IITG-TIC. Our startups, including BetaTank, enjoy a well-rounded mentorship program that includes wisdom from the IITG faculty, insights from our accomplished alumni, and hands-on expertise from industry stalwarts at OIL India Limited,” he added.
Speaking about the crude oil robots, founder of BetaTANK Captain D Chandrasekhar said, “I planned to make this robot in 1995, when as a ship’s officer. I myself was inside ship oil tanks, overseeing some tank operations. I believed a robotic solution was the way to work in such an environment. That dream could not be realised for almost three decades until 2019.”
Captain Chandrasekhar was very confident about the technological superiority of this robot and shared that these are very compact and low-height robots that enable the robot to pass under the heating coils that are found in many tanks.
“The robot has a pump. The promoter has a firm belief that such thick sludge must use pump discharge pressure to move sludge through long distances and this cannot be sucked out by a vacuum truck from outside. The umbilicals are neatly contained inside a tail hose on castors. When working in such large tanks, hauling the heavy umbilicals is an issue to be catered for,” Captain Chandrasekhar added.
BetaTank won the Best Start-up award in the India Energy Week Summit at Bengaluru in February 2023. The company has received numerous requests for various oil industry robotic applications from various petroleum industry players since this summit and has been working on these applications.
As compared to competitive products in the market, the price of products developed by BetaTank will be much lower with several additional positive features.