Visualization is a concept that has been applied in impressive detail by Aker Solutions with its high-tech iPort facility, located in Stavanger, Norway, and built around its wholly owned subsidiary First Interactive’s real-time 3-D technology. This technology has been steadily extended to encompass several simulator locations in oil industry hubs around the world.

Visualization technology is nothing new to the upstream sector, but the level of detail now available – with software and data processing advances taken directly from the gaming industry – means that training, planning, and testing in advance of drilling and now maintenance, modifications, and operations (MMO) can enhance safety levels, reduce risk, add cost efficiencies, and improve efficiency before a single step offshore is taken.

This process of “Visioneering,” as Aker has dubbed it, goes well beyond the basic use of simulators and involves close cooperation and dialog between the company and its clients at every stage of a project.

Virtual version

First applied mainly to the rig and drilling simulation sector, Visioneering is now increasingly being applied to the MMO sector after a series of successful applications with operators proved its effectiveness.

Ole Paulsen, CEO of First Interactive, said during a recent media visit to the iPort facility in Stavanger, Norway, that on a rig, “We can test it. We can see that it works. The first rig simulator we did for training was for Maersk. They were [against] it at first, but 25 minutes later they had changed their minds.”

On another project for the Valhall facility offshore Nor-way, Visioneering was used to meticulously recreate the platform. Then this virtual version was used to make improvements to the control systems and work practices. “They then transferred what they had done offshore. The improvements were clear. On Valhall they were able to undertake 30 stands of drillpipe. Before the Visioneering sessions it was 12 or 13 in the same timeframe. So it almost tripled the rate, saving costs and time,” Paulsen said. “Visioneering helps to bring context to the content.”

Other project feedback came from DONG, where the 3-D visualization technology helped save an estimated US $17.5 million (NOK 100 million) by reducing the time required for a subsea retrieval operation on the Oselvar field from 14 days to less than 24 hours.

The operation involved removing a subsea control module from a christmas tree with a high-pressure riser connected. A “crash point” made it impossible to remove the subsea module without first removing the high-pressure riser.

No rig downtime

Aker used a 3-D simulation of the subsea tree, crash point, equipment, and the surroundings to investigate and find a solution to replace the module. The company achieved that solution in 23 hours without any rig downtime.

This was achieved by customizing the tool for replacing the subsea control module in 3-D and then getting the modifications carried out on the tool before a 3-D sequence was recorded and sent to the rig. The rig used the pictures and measurements to cut the frame surrounding the high-pressure riser at the seabed, and pictures of the underwater operation were sent to the iPort for verification. Personnel at the iPort, the subsea personnel testing the actual equipment, and personnel on the rig had an ongoing dialog to ensure that all the modifications were successful.

Aker now has drilling simulators similar to the one located in the iPort operations center at Stavanger in locations including Houston; Macae, Brazil; Kristiansand, Norway; Singapore; South Korea; and Baku, Azerbaijan. All of the locations are fully equipped with simulators and qualified staff to provide around-the-clock service on the contractor’s full range of topside drilling equipment.

According to Aker spokesman Ivar Simensen, the company significantly expanded its capacity in Houston in 2012 when it installed a second dome simulator. This has been an apparent success with customers. So far, the company has put more than 2,300 people through its training center there for simulator or classroom training (or both), according to Simensen. “And that is just in the US,” he said.

The advantage of having two simulators in the US, he continued, is that Aker now has two different rig configurations available for its customers. At the moment one is a drillship simulator, and the other is a semisubmersible simulator.

Realistic training

Meanwhile, back in Norway Aker has connected the equipment simulator to the well. “This means we have the opportunity to train in an even more realistic environment how to handle kicks and so on,” Simensen said. “Having spent the first phase on developing the best and most realistic environment for simulating the operation of physical equipment, we have now taken the next step in taking our simulators to an ‘offshore’ environment while still safely on land in the iPort in Stavanger.”

The “other big development,” according to Simensen, is seeing implementation by other segments of the oil and gas industry. The benefits of using simulator technology in the MMO business have already been demonstrated, he said.

In a recent case for Statoil on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, Aker built a full simulation of the fast-track project, which was to replace a series of lifeboats for the Visund facility. Using the iPort, Simensen said, Statoil was able to save money and improve the safety and efficiency of the operation.

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