FOCUS
Oil & Gas
Projects, innovation and experiences from past issues
of AVEVA World Magazine
Welcome to the 2015 Oil & Gas edition of the AVEVA World Focus. This is a special compilation of customer case studies from recent issues of the AVEVA World Magazine, providing a wide-ranging perspective on the successes achieved with AVEVA technology in oil & gas facilities around the world. These are practical, real-world examples contributed by the customers themselves, describing the challenges they were seeking to overcome, their technology choices, and their experiences with adopting and using AVEVA’s plant solutions. Equally importantly, they also provide insights into trends and opportunities in today’s rapidly changing oil & gas industry. AVEVA gratefully acknowledges the willingness of these companies to share their experiences through the pages of AVEVA World Magazine. We hope you enjoy this Oil & Gas Focus and find it of value to your own technical and business operations. Worley Parsons 3 ADMA-OPCO 6 Ariosh 10 Atkins 13 IES Engineering 16 OFD Engineering 20 AMEC 23 AMEC 26 SETAL 31 RusGazEngineering 34 Origin Energy 38 Salamander Energy 40 Promon Engenharia 42 Houston Offshore Engineering 46 Aker Solutions Australia 48
Cover photographs: Main image: courtesy of Salamander Energy Lower images, left to right: courtesy of SETAL; courtesy of OFD Engineering; courtesy of IES Engineering.
Copyright © 2015 AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written consent of the copyright holders. Licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited or any other reproduction rights organisation do not apply to AVEVA World Focus. The views expressed in AVEVA World Focus by any contributor are not necessarily those of AVEVA. Continued product development means that information relating to AVEVA’s products is subject to change. No responsibility can be accepted by AVEVA for action taken as a result of information contained in this publication.
AVEVA World Focus on Oil & Gas 03
This article originally appeared in AVEVA World Magazine 2015, Issue 1
The Digital Asset
Brings Concrete
Benefits
AVEVA and WorleyParsons Digital
Enterprise collaborate to turn the
Digital Asset vision into reality
WorleyParsons, a globally
recognised full-service EPC, has
been a committed AVEVA user since
1998. Sharing AVEVA’s philosophy
that every physical asset must also
have a Digital Asset, the company
recently established its Digital
Enterprise division to focus on the
business opportunity of improving
asset operational integrity through
the use of technology. Jim Purvis,
formerly WorleyParsons’ Group
Director of Engineering Systems,
now joins the leadership team of
the Digital Enterprise as Director –
Capital Deployment. We spoke to
Jim about the exciting times ahead.
‘Our relationship with AVEVA has come a long way since we first used AVEVA PDMS for the FEED and detail design of the MLNG III slug catcher project,’ began Jim. ‘We immediately found it to be an effective tool for the design, weight and structural management of offshore projects. Our usage grew steadily, driven by the organic growth of the company and the increasing complexity of our projects. Today we have hundreds of PDMS users worldwide.’
The birth of the Digital Enterprise
Supported in part by AVEVA software, now the vision is for WorleyParsons to use its understanding of EPC projects and brownfield asset improvement to provide Digital Asset services for the creation and maintenance of digital plants for their clients. Digital Enterprise draws on its significant experience to deliver real gains in capital and operational efficiency across:
z asset deployment
z asset management optimisation z technology upgrade and management.
The division deploys four phases either singly or in unison across key organisational levers to deliver knowledge and know-how that ensures the digital and physical assets have been created to enable flawless start-up and optimisation across the complete asset life cycle.
‘The Digital Enterprise division is our response to growing demand from clients to provide services that support handover of information in a consistent and validated format, both in brownfield as-built and in greenfield project delivery. Once we have delivered that information to the facility, we also help to manage it so as to maximise its value to the client,’ Jim explained.
Business drivers
A number of business drivers have pushed the demand for the creation of the Digital Asset as part of a wider information handover and asset management strategy. For instance, clients now demand the elimination of handover issues that could delay reaching nameplate capacity and extend the payback period of their investment. Fortunately, this trend has coincided with the emergence of several technology developments from AVEVA to support WorleyParsons with the most advanced software solutions in this field.
‘A number of enabling technologies are now available that combine to make digital plant services cost effective,’ continued Jim. ‘Over the past few years, the cost of laser scanning has come down while the quality and usability of the end results have increased dramatically. The ability to handle data, to visualise and navigate across different datasets, has significantly increased the industry’s digital and data management
capabilities. As a result, a full-facility digital plant is now a practical, affordable and highly value-adding process.’ Laser scanning is by no means new to WorleyParsons; its use has been standard practice on brownfield projects for some time to reduce time on site and gather information of a higher quality. When installing complex equipment inside existing facilities, finding innovative ways of reducing downtime by quicker and more accurate installation has obvious and significant benefits. The company has several examples of laser scanning demonstrating a very high return on investment, and not only on brownfield EPC projects. Jim Purvis cited a Canadian oil sands project where a large in-ground steel lined chute suffered high wear and needed to be replaced periodically. ‘Previously, the lining would be cut out and the replacement lining installed using a new plate in-place; quite a lengthy process,’ he explained. ‘We decided to scan the existing chute, use this data to create its replacement in the shop, which was scanned for exact fit, and the new one dropped in after removing the old one. This method reduced downtime by a factor of 50, saved the client a lot of lost production and actually increased their production capabilities.’
Such conspicuously successful projects generated considerable interest among WorleyParsons’ clients in the provision of services to create complete digital plants for large facilities using world-leading tools. It was opportunities such as this which prompted the establishment of the dedicated Digital Enterprise division. ‘This is a growth opportunity for us,’ Jim said. ‘By targeting and concentrating our efforts we are becoming much more efficient in this area and are able to execute more projects of a wider range of scale and complexity.’
ADMA-OPCO project
One client to take advantage of WorleyParsons’ expanding capabilities is ADMA-OPCO, a major oil & gas producer in Abu Dhabi with a number of aging, complex assets. With over forty years of accumulated modifications and maintenance, documentation no longer reflected the true state of the facilities.
Determined to modernise its assets for the future, ADMA- OPCO contracted WorleyParsons for a Digital Plant campaign for the Das Island processing facility and the Umm Shaif field containing Super Complex and Well Head towers. Das Island, 160 km offshore of Abu Dhabi, is home to over 3,000 staff and contractors. The project, which makes extensive use of AVEVA applications, consists of consolidating the facilities’ existing design information, laser scanning, the creation of 3D as-built models from point cloud data using LFM and AVEVA PDMS™, and the creation of intelligent schematics and associated databases using AVEVA P&ID™ and AVEVA Instrumentation™. AVEVA NET™ has been customised to warehouse the facilities’ huge quantities of documents and data.
Scheduled for completion in 2015, the project features a progressive sequence of handovers which are going on at this time. This project is currently the largest implementation of its kind worldwide, therefore careful planning of the deployment is required. The intent is to test the systems internally before going live to ensure zero impact on day-to-day operations; this will include any changes in work processes and procedure to maximise the benefits of the systems to the end users.
AVEVA World Focus on Oil & Gas 05
WorleyParsons worked with ADMA-OPCO to as-build their facilities. Photograph courtesy of ADMA-OPCO.
‘We understand from ADMA that the project will deliver sufficient capital and operating efficiencies to quickly pay back the investment in creating the digital plant,’ said Jim. One important contributor to increased operating efficiency is the reduction in time spent searching for data and documents, which is not only costly in itself but often leads to costly delays and even Health & Safety issues. The project also creates a sound basis for future modification; a higher quality of input data increases the quality of revamp design, which reduces downtime and the exposure of engineering personnel to potentially hazardous environments,’ he added.
Future initiatives
Equipped with the additional capabilities offered by the Digital Enterprise division, WorleyParsons sees opportunities for data management services in two areas.
‘First, there are facilities like ADMA-OPCO’s Das Island with long operational histories but still with a significant service life ahead of them,’ said Jim. ‘Here, the Owner Operators are looking to create a baseline of verified current status that will enable them to better manage their existing facilities and run long-term upgrade and modification programmes.’
The second key client group are Owner Operators who have new or ongoing greenfield projects that have targeted asset data management for plant capital and operating efficiency gains. ‘We understand that clients for whom we are currently doing this work are being contacted by their peers to learn of their experiences and how successful the work is proving. Both areas offer excellent growth potential for our new division,’ Jim Purvis concluded.
With projects already booked for deployment up to 2017, the division clearly has plenty of work in hand and interesting times ahead.
WorleyParsons Digital Enterprise
WorleyParsons Digital Enterprise supports customer demand to frame, develop and implement digital technologies that will take the ability to monitor, analyse and optimise asset performance throughout its life cycle, to a new level.
With their deep understanding of the asset life cycle from concept through to decommissioning, they are uniquely positioned to provide stewardship of the integration of vendor and bespoke technologies, systems and architecture.
About WorleyParsons
Headquartered in Australia, WorleyParsons has been in operation for over 30 years and is today one of the world’s leading providers of technical, project and operational support services for the process industries. The company employs a global team of 38,700 and has 165 offices operating in 43 countries, including offshore Centres of Excellence in Houston, London, Kuala Lumpur and Perth. These are full-service EPC centres dedicated to each of WorleyParsons’ industry sectors: Minerals, Metals & Chemicals, Hydrocarbons, and Power and Infrastructure.
To find out more, visit
www.worleyparsons.com/digital_enterprise.
‘The Digital Enterprise division is our response to growing demand
from clients to provide services that support handover of information
in a consistent and validated format, both in brownfield as-built and in
greenfield project delivery...’
The Next 50 Years
How ADMA-OPCO is using AVEVA
software to future-proof its assets
Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company, ADMA-OPCO is
a major producer of offshore oil and gas in the Emirate
of Abu Dhabi. The company prides itself on being a
pioneering petroleum organisation in this part of the
world, having completed over 45 years of oil and gas
production. But with assets now around fifty years
old, ADMA’s challenge is to ensure safe and productive
operation for the next fifty years.
Life extension
Central to the challenge of modernisation is the development and maintenance of a digital asset to support and inform long-term life cycle management of the physical asset. As a result, ADMA-OPCO has begun its As-Built Campaign to provide ADMA with a Digital Asset and develop a digital hub of up-to-date, validated information that accurately describes the current condition of its super-complexes, rather than how they were designed some fifty years ago.
ADMA’s Engineering Services Team Leader, Mohammed Al-Amry, explained their life extension strategy. ‘We would not extend the life of a particular platform simply for the sake of doing so. Safety remains paramount in all operational and maintenance decisions.’
‘The challenges are really all centred on the age of our facilities,’ he continued. ‘One issue was the fact that we could not be sure that our documentation was up to date; the information existed but it was scattered, making it difficult to integrate and access. The key objective of the implementation of our Engineering Information Management System (EIMS; namely, AVEVA NET™) is to compile everything in one place, while the As-Built Campaign will ensure that this accessible information is also accurate.’
The information problem
Basem Elnaggar, ADMA-OPCO’s As-Built Campaign Team Leader, highlighted the severity of the problem. ‘Imagine that you are working in operations and you need some drawings that contain information that will affect the safety or the progress of a project. You start searching but cannot find these documents. So you approach head office and the engineering services team, who may then approach individual engineers or the asset management team.’
From left to right: Mohamad Awad (AVEVA), Basem Elnaggar (ADMA-OPCO), Mohammed Al-Amry (ADMA-OPCO).
DAS Island. Photograph courtesy of ADMA-OPCO.
AVEVA World Focus on Oil & Gas 07
‘This process can take anything from one day to a month – and in the meantime the issue that you were trying to resolve has seen no progress and your ability to keep to the production plan and meet deadlines is compromised. These kinds of situations, where the required information is not available when it is needed, could result in project delays, loss of production, or even safety issues.
‘Engineers must be able to trust that all the information they have is up to date, accurate and complete,’ continued Basem. ‘Both original and current drawings must be categorised and accessible so that an engineer is not working with outdated information that could lead to misinformed and potentially dangerous decisions. Our As-Built Campaign is a concerted effort to make engineering decisions and actions faster and safer.’
The As-Built Campaign also aims to provide contractors with all the required information from the outset. This sharing of high-quality information would avoid common situations in which a contractor who does not have that necessary information simply charges the company to go on site and survey a particular area, or where the late discovery of an unexpected problem leads to costly contract variations and delays.
The AVEVA solution
ADMA began its AVEVA partnership in 2004, when it deployed AVEVA PDMS™. In 2012 it went on to choose AVEVA NET to support the As-Built Campaign project. ADMA’s selection of AVEVA NET was based in part on its integration with their design systems. This made the design processes much easier and eliminated time wasted in having to replicate information across multiple systems; an important facilitator of the As-Built Campaign project. With information coming in from a vast array of equipment, ADMA considered that establishing an EIMS was vital for handling the sheer size of the data stream. All of this information needs to be collated, managed and maintained alongside the physical maintenance of the super-complexes themselves. The As-Built Campaign project will provide the company with most of the 3D models for its assets. Taking the lead
‘ADMA needs to meet the challenges of maintaining the engineering information, and of keeping its facilities safe and productive, in order to drive the company forward through the next fifty years of operations,’ explained Mohammed. ‘The timeline for the As-Built Campaign is three years and we are firmly on track to build a system that will accommodate information streams from both our brownfield and our
greenfield projects. It will provide a system that accommodates all the deliverables and will impose consistent standards throughout.’
‘We asked ourselves, “Do we want to be leaders or followers?” This is a decision that every company must make. We see AVEVA technology as one of the key elements that support our leadership,’ concluded Mohamed.
About ADMA-OPCO
The story of ADMA-OPCO and its progression over the years is reflected in the phenomenal transformation of Abu Dhabi itself from an island characterised by simple dwellings, with fishing and pearl-diving as the main source of income, to a modern cosmopolitan city, encompassing multi-faceted businesses. In the early days, surveys carried out by oil companies revealed the existence of oil in huge commercial quantities in the seabed of two oil-bearing fields: Umm Shaif and Zakum. The two fields became major oil & gas producers, yielding hydrocarbons for more than 48 years, right up to the present time.
Over those years, the company underwent substantial changes, in terms of both its scope of operations and its manpower. It has, at the same time, managed to strike a balance between introducing the latest technology and the necessity of training its workforce to use it. Its vision is to be the premier offshore oil & gas production development company, aspiring to operational and technical excellence and highest effectiveness of resources utilisation through innovative teams to maximise value. To learn more, please visit www.adma-opco.com.
Zakum Central. Photograph courtesy of ADMA-OPCO.
‘ADMA began its AVEVA
partnership in 2004, when
it deployed AVEVA PDMS.
In 2012 it went on to choose
AVEVA NET to support the
As-Built Campaign project.
ADMA’s selection of AVEVA
NET was based in part on its
integration with their design
systems. This made the
design processes much easier
and eliminated time wasted in
having to replicate information
across multiple systems...’
Scanning for Opportunities
in West Africa
How AVEVA PDMS, AVEVA E3D and laser
scanning gave Ariosh real competitive
advantage in challenging revamp projects
As Owner Operators increasingly
turn to laser scanning to extend the
life of their assets, Nigerian leading
EPC contractor, Ariosh has secured
a valuable competitive advantage
by pioneering laser scanning
competence in Nigeria.
Supported by AVEVA PDMS™,
and now AVEVA Everything3D™
(AVEVA E3D™), Ariosh can generate
accurate as-built 3D models
and drawings, perform virtual
installations and generate job cards.
This capability has helped them to
deliver several brownfield projects
with the accuracy needed to
achieve right-first-time installation.
Their most recent success was
the laser scanning of several
platforms in Nigeria, after a major
international OO had been forced
to halt modification work due to
unforeseen design clashes.
Recovering flare gas
In 2012 Ariosh was awarded the contract to provide follow-on engineering services during a revamp of the OO’s seven offshore platforms. Production needed to be stepped up in order to provide approximately 300 million cubic feet per day of natural gas feedstock for a refinery which will convert natural gas currently being flared into high-value, clean transportation fuels.
Serious problems
The challenges of executing brownfield projects became apparent following the completion of detailed engineering and fabrication drawings by an international EPC. The OO experienced significant clashes during installation of the first modifications on the first platform. They suspended work on the first platform and proceeded to the next one, only to encounter the same problems. Worried that history would repeat itself with the remaining five platforms, the upgrade programme was put on hold. Ariosh was contracted to help recover the situation.
Heavy cost impact
The problems needed to be resolved quickly to avoid the serious impact of increased costs, schedule delays and lost production, as well as safety and reliability concerns. The direct costs alone were heavy; the barge used for installation cost over 100,000 USD per day. Modification work during installation offshore can take at least twice as long as modifications in the fabrication yard.
Solving the problems
Ariosh started by laser scanning all seven platforms and then modelling the new design, using AVEVA PDMS for the first two and AVEVA E3D for the remainder. These 3D models were superimposed on the laser data and clash checked using the built-in clash management capabilities. Design verification, completion of fabrication and fabrication assurance, and installation on the first three platforms was completed in only 18 months.
Design verification should obviously be performed prior to fabrication. However, on this project, fabrication of the spools and structures had progressed to over 70% before Ariosh’s involvement. These spools and structures were then scanned in the fabrication yard to allow Ariosh to conduct virtual installations of the as-fabricated spools to make recommendations for correcting installation issues in advance. Rework was also minimised.
Modifications performed at Idmon, the fabrication yard based in Warri, Nigeria, were also verified by laser scanning. Scans of the modified spools and structures were superimposed on the design models within AVEVA E3D to ensure compliance with Ariosh-issued construction drawings. Although it took Idmon about a year to implement all Ariosh’s recommended corrections, the resulting 98% first-time fit achieved a substantial reduction in overall installation time and provided the OO with a cost saving of around 40%. Clash checking and reporting could all be efficiently performed within AVEVA’s single 3D model environment, thus saving Ariosh’s OO client considerable time and cost during project execution.
Implementation of AVEVA solutions Serving a wide client base, Ariosh operates a range of engineering and design solutions. From AVEVA’s solution offerings, it currently uses AVEVA PDMS with AVEVA Laser Model Interface™ (AVEVA LMI™) and AVEVA E3D. Ariosh had adopted AVEVA PDMS in 2010, having used many different 3D design software tools and finding that none compared to AVEVA products in terms of versatility and efficiency, especially when handling large and complex 3D models. It has more recently also adopted AVEVA E3D, which adds more value with its improved Access Platforms, Stairs & Ladders (SLH) modelling and its built-in capacity to read and work with the full laser dataset.
‘AVEVA PDMS has been our first choice of 3D modelling package,’ explained Yusuf Alege, Technical Manager, Ariosh. ‘Its seamless integration with laser data (thanks to the add-on of AVEVA LMI) is a particular advantage, and many of our clients specify PDMS for their design. Our designers are highly competent in PDMS and preferred working with it over any other 3D package, until we migrated to AVEVA E3D and found it to be even better. AVEVA PDMS and AVEVA E3D, which automatically integrates laser scan data into its system, were critical to the success of this project.’
When AVEVA E3D was released in 2013, Ariosh immediately saw value in its new capabilities, especially those related to laser scanning. As a result it chose to migrate from AVEVA PDMS to AVEVA E3D, a decision made even easier by the two-way database compatibility. All potential installation issues, including clashes, can now be more easily identified and resolved, while fabrication issues are avoided through the ability to automatically produce fabrication drawings directly from the AVEVA E3D design model.
Above: AVEVA E3D BubbleViews™ showing the virtual installation of brownfield modifications (deck extension, pig launcher and piping hookup) on one of the seven production platforms. [Colours: grey – laser model of the as-built platform; other colours – 3D design model]. Images courtesy of Ariosh.
AVEVA World Focus on Oil & Gas 11
‘We started off using AVEVA PDMS on the first two platforms and then, once AVEVA E3D was released, we switched to using AVEVA E3D on the remaining five. We required seamless integration of 3D model and laser data for clarity and consistency, and AVEVA products achieve this for us,’ Yusuf continued. ‘AVEVA E3D’s handling of laser data proved superior to any other package we had used, or even heard of. Our objective in selecting AVEVA E3D was to ensure error-free design and first-time-fit installation. It more than met our expectations. ‘Ariosh and AVEVA worked very well together during the implementation and we were very impressed with the prompt responses of AVEVA’s support team. We were also provided with an AVEVA E3D migration licence that enabled us to toggle effortlessly between AVEVA PDMS and AVEVA E3D,’ Yusuf added. Ariosh’s laser scanning offering is now powered by AVEVA E3D. The Ariosh team’s significant experience with other laser data handling software made it very easy for them to learn AVEVA’s laser scanning solution. While the team took a little while to get used to AVEVA’s laser model interface, the self-explanatory AVEVA laser scan data manual allowed engineers to be operational very quickly.
Outcomes for Ariosh
Ariosh was very impressed with the outcome of the project. ‘AVEVA E3D’s BubbleView™ technology removed the import/ export bottleneck between the 3D design package and the laser data software to obtain a realistic view of laser data within the design model,’ Yusuf said. ‘The BubbleView feature improved our productivity by 20% and the quality of our deliverables was also higher. AVEVA E3D was a game-changer on the project. We recorded a 20% increase in productivity relative to PDMS immediately upon deployment, and we expect still further increases as our designers become fully familiar with the AVEVA E3D interface.’
Ariosh intends to be the partner of choice in West Africa for the delivery of EPCI projects, and underpinning this drive is a commitment to cutting-edge tools. Ariosh has built its work processes around AVEVA E3D, which has significantly increased efficiency in its design verification process and has inspired improvements to the company’s PipeFit™ Assurance work process. Furthermore, the BubbleView feature of AVEVA E3D enables superb synchronisation between 3D model and laser data, which significantly improved the team’s design efficiency.
AVEVA solutions have added significant value to Ariosh’s business processes, through features such as the automation of pipe fabrication drawings. The company is currently evaluating the use of AVEVA Bocad Steel™ for structural steel detailing. Future opportunities
Ariosh has invested in the development of its laser scanning capabilities at an opportune time. First, there is significant demand for laser scanning services in Nigeria due to the hundreds of aging onshore and offshore facilities requiring extensive revamp projects, and which generally lack accurate as-built documentation. Many companies planning revamp projects have little or no reliable as-built information and must rely heavily on laser scanning to create this, and for design verification. Second, the Nigerian government’s ‘Stop Routine Gas Flaring’ campaign is driving demand for laser scanning services as operators seek to phase out gas flaring. Ariosh is well placed to capitalise on its laser scanning capability, with its experience of using AVEVA PDMS and AVEVA E3D, and its track record of success.
After significant problems, the revamp project in Nigeria is classified as a significant success, with Ariosh having been able to complete the previously suspended programme in a timely and cost-effective manner. Ariosh expects to work with this OO, among other clients, on similar projects in the region in the future.
About Ariosh
Headquartered in Houston, United States, Ariosh was incorporated in 1997 with a vision of becoming an EPCI (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation) partner of choice in the West African oil & gas industry. The company has been a pioneer in the use of laser scanning in Nigeria since 2005 and has successfully completed many such projects. It delivered its first construction management project in 2008 and its first EPCI project in 2013. Ariosh’s business remains mostly in brownfield and revamp projects, which contribute 70% of the company’s revenue. The company has grown to over 250 employees, operating out of three offices. Its main customer bases are located in the Gulf of Mexico and in West Africa. To find out more, visit www.ariosh.com.
Yusuf Alege, Technical Manager, Ariosh. Photograph courtesy of Ariosh.
‘Our designers are highly
competent in PDMS and
preferred working with it over
any other 3D package, until we
migrated to AVEVA E3D and
found it to be even better...’
Staying Out
In Front
How Atkins’ migration from AVEVA PDMS
to AVEVA Everything3D has helped to
extend its competitive advantage
Western Australia is an expensive place to do business, so its
industries need to be particularly efficient at adding value if they
are to compete in world markets. Leading engineering design
consultancy, Atkins, has an important regional base in Perth and,
at the AVEVA World Summit 2014 in Berlin, Jim Wright, Design
Team Lead, Atkins, described how the company has increased its
competitive advantage, first by using AVEVA PDMS™, and then by
migrating to AVEVA Everything3D™ (AVEVA E3D™). We caught up
with him after his presentation to learn more.
AVEVA World Focus on Oil & Gas 13
Jim illustrated Atkins’ experience with some interesting project case studies, citing the Abu Tubul gas processing plant in Oman as a turning point in the software the company used. The whole job was supposed to be executed in PDMS, but after the client fast-tracked the project, Atkins decided to extract the information from the 3D model to generate the drawings in AutoCAD, to produce the Bills of Materials and 2D drawings more quickly than using PDMS Draft. However, there was a caveat. ‘The minute you break its link from a model, a drawing becomes useless,’ Jim explained. ‘The data can’t be updated. The problem with the previous software was that as we updated the design drawings, it wasn’t being reflected in the 3D model design. The model and the drawings continued to diverge as successive modifications compounded previous inconsistencies. It took a lot more effort to deliver a satisfactory result and we had to go back to basics to create robust Quality Assurance and Quality Control processes,’ continued Jim. ‘It meant rewriting many of our procedures around PDMS.’
Apache Energy project
Learning from the experiences of the Abu Tubul project, Atkins decided to put PDMS more at the centre of its engineering. The use of AutoCAD was abandoned and drawings were generated directly from PDMS instead. At around the same time, Atkins was awarded the Varanus Island Compression Project (VICP) for Apache Energy. It was a complex greenfield project, but with a lot of brownfield tie-ins and a demanding 14-week design schedule. This highly collaborative, 8,500-man-hour project involved all engineering disciplines, as well as the client, at each step of the design process. Modular design enabled Atkins to run multiple teams in tandem to fast-track the work. As a result, they were able to deliver the completed design in just 13 weeks.
The core communication tool was the 3D PDMS model. ‘Not only did the level of detail and refinement of the model astonish the client,’ Jim said, ‘but our management were very supportive of the value PDMS gave to this process. And because AVEVA had supported us closely throughout, it was also recognised that they were a good partner to work with.’
AVEVA E3D shaves 40% off delivery times
The Abu Tubul project had shown the importance of generating all design deliverables directly from the 3D model, so Jim’s interest was piqued by a demonstration of AVEVA E3D’s Draw module, which enables the rapid generation of 2D deliverables. ‘It looked easy to use,’ he said, ‘so we trialled AVEVA E3D. We found that getting drawings out in this way would reduce the delivery time of structural drawings by 40%. That’s a lot; 40% saves a lot of money, especially if you’re looking at massive projects such as the Apache Energy project.’
In addition to the challenge of creating fast and accurate deliverables, the majority of Atkins’ projects are brownfield ones with difficult access conditions and often inaccurate or incomplete as-built information available. Traditional surveying techniques can be slow and costly. 3D laser scanning offers a much quicker, cheaper and more efficient alternative; large areas can be accurately scanned in a very short time.
Getting the survey data still remains a critical-path activity, but AVEVA E3D’s point cloud integration can dramatically shorten it. ‘Instead of waiting weeks for the information we need, we can get it in two days,’ Jim enthused. ‘BubbleView™ enables you to rapidly check the 3D design model against the scan to detect clashes. It’s very neat. It’s very quick.’
As a result, Atkins had no hesitation in migrating to AVEVA E3D and updating its PDMS-based procedures to take advantage of the new capabilities. ‘AVEVA E3D also reduces the extent of site survey,’ Jim went on. ‘We only have to survey the tie-in points and any identifiable pinch points. Some pinch points you can’t identify until later, but even if we do miss one, AVEVA E3D enables us to take quick and effective corrective action after the fact. We not only gain speed and reduce risk, we also increase design quality, which leads to further cost- and time-savings on site.’
The future
Atkins is in the process of launching its new global design strategy, in which AVEVA technology will play a prominent role. With AVEVA E3D and laser scan data, engineers anywhere in Atkins can undertake extensive and accurate brownfield projects without ever having to set foot in the actual facility. ‘But all of the checking and verification will still be handled through the local Atkins team,’ Jim emphasised, ‘This approach is what Atkins sees as its future; increased efficiency, delivering quality and enabling clients to tackle difficult projects with ease.’ Atkins is currently the only company in Western Australia to use AVEVA E3D; Jim makes no secret of how glad he is of the competitive advantage. ‘AVEVA E3D has enabled Atkins to increase design flexibility and increase accuracy,’ he concluded. ‘I’m honestly really impressed by it.’
About Atkins
Atkins is one of the world’s leading design, engineering and project management consultancies*, employing some 18,000 people across the UK, North America, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Europe. Its breadth and depth of expertise, and its drive to continually ask ‘why’, has enabled the company to plan, design and deliver some of the world’s most complex and time-critical projects.
To find out more, visit www.atkinsglobal.com/energy.
*15th-largest global design firm (Engineering News-Record 2014) and the 3rd-largest multi-disciplinary consultancy in Europe (Svensk Teknik och Design 2013).
‘AVEVA E3D has enabled
Atkins to increase design
flexibility and increase
accuracy. I’m honestly
really impressed by it...’
Jim Wright, Design Team Lead, Atkins, presenting at the AVEVA World Summit 2014 in Berlin.
Towards the Lean Revamp
How AVEVA technology and laser scanning enable IES
Engineering to apply Lean processes on revamp projects
California-based IES Engineering is a dynamic young
company specialising in the design, engineering and
programming of upstream oil & gas facilities and
processes. Strong demand for laser scanning brownfield
projects has enabled IES to invest in developing
specialised expertise in high-value scanning and
as-building services. As a result, not only can it offer cost
savings ranging from 25% to as much as 70% on laser
scanned data, it is also able to apply Lean Construction
methodologies to revamp projects. We met with Randy
Meyer, Mechanical Project Manager at IES, to learn more.
Benefits from AVEVA PDMS and laser scanning
The decision to utilise laser scanning with AVEVA PDMS™ was based both on the value obtained from such a combination and from its ease of implementation and use. AVEVA PDMS’s support for laser scan data means that IES field crews can use high-performance scanners and survey instruments to efficiently capture the numerous pipes, vessels, supports and other plant features, including data needed for terrain models. ‘We made the decision to invest in in-house scanning capabilities predominantly due to our piping and facility design expertise,’ Randy explained. ‘Many survey service providers do not have the level of specialised engineering understanding required.’
The ability to take laser scanned data and move it directly into the PDMS design model saves a significant amount in overall costs and time. ‘Not only have we been able to cut labour hours in half, the amount of material wastage is greatly reduced,’ continued Randy. ‘We believe that if the design can be fabricated in shop instead of on site, this provides great value in the construction phase through reduced costs, fewer man-hours and earlier project start-up.’
Lean Construction in action
The use of 3D laser scanning enables rapid in-process verification at every stage of fabrication and construction, creating a closed control loop in which every participant can actively contribute to the success of the project. This is an important enabler of Lean Construction, which aims to eliminate wastage of any kind. Laser scan data can be imported into the 3D design environment and quickly compared with the design model for every item, even down to individual pipe spools. As IES has proved, this ability to continually check and resolve deviations almost in real time is just as valuable on brownfield projects as it is for new builds.
By overlaying the scans onto the design model, IES can quickly generate accurate deviation reports, enabling the client to assess the nature and extent of any deviations and make informed decisions to reject or accept any non-compliant spools, vessels or structural components.
These deviation reports are very important to IES’s clients; the ability to identify incorrectly fabricated items to avoid on-site rework can save considerable costs. Randy described how IES had recently scanned six filter-vessel skids that had been fabricated in Canada and produced detailed deviation reports to the client’s specification.
Scanning in the fabrication shop creates a baseline for asset integrity. If any fabrications are damaged during transit, installation or start-up, more scans can be captured and
overlaid on the originals to determine the extent of the damage. IES used this capability for a large process facility located in Bakersfield, California, for which the piping was fabricated on the east coast of the US. Laser scanning was used to verify the accuracy of the fabrications before their shipment across the US, saving IES’s client over $2 million.
Layered image depicting, from left, point cloud data, point cloud with 3D model overlay, and point cloud intensity scan. Image courtesy of IES Engineering.
Randy Meyer (left) and client conduct an on-site review of a water plant
vessel installation with reference to the PDMS design model. On-site PDMS design model client review using latest tablet technology. Photographs courtesy of IES Engineering.
AVEVA World Focus on Oil & Gas 17
IES heavily exploits the capabilities of AVEVA PDMS to save overall time and cost through better quality design. Pipes are regularly modelled to less than 1” (25 mm) and the rebar, anchor bolts, and other components are designed with a similarly high level of detail. IES then updates the 3D PDMS design after the fabrication and scan of the spools, so that the PDMS design model accurately reflects the as-fabricated condition. Such attention to detail pays dividends; for one steam generator project, IES had 800 spools fabricated, of which only four needed to be modified on site.
Such quality and accuracy of 3D data adds value far beyond design and fabrication; it is an important enabler of Lean processes in the on-site construction stages by eliminating clashes and by supporting the efficient sequencing of
demolition and construction tasks. ‘3D data not only offers the ability to create design and fabrication that will bolt up with no issues, it also enables the creation of highly detailed demolition plans, providing the client with more control to define the scope of work on a project,’ Randy explained.
‘Using AVEVA PDMS, we can apply rule sets for demolition drawings, helping us to efficiently create accurate cost estimates. 3D design also enables the client to more fully understand the design concept and to contribute effectively to reviewing it for ease of operation.’
So, not only can the revamp design be created with operations in mind by ensuring the accuracy of as-built information, laser-verified 3D data also supports many other aspects of efficient asset management, minimising downtime and increasing operational safety.
Key differentiators
While many companies provide only data capture and a few also carry out modelling, IES uses the data to add value to all its engineering and design processes. It uses AVEVA PDMS and laser scanning data for piping, civil and structural design and enforces a high level of design accuracy. The technology is also used extensively for data mining and material management. ‘PDMS enables us to extract far more information value from the 3D model than any other software application on the market,’ Randy assured us.
IES takes pride in working closely with its clients to keep them involved throughout the entire design review process. 3D models are sent out daily for review and approval, which cuts down time spent issuing drawings with revisions and keeps projects on schedule. In addition, the point cloud laser scanning application that IES uses is highly interoperable, so that clients have the advantage of also using this application with their own vendors.
3D PDMS model of gas plant corridor in Belridge, California. Image courtesy
of IES Engineering. 3D laser scan of as-built used with PDMS for new design construction support. Image courtesy of IES Engineering.
Grade model generated by mobile scanning using PDMS to design pipeline.
Increasing affordability
Rapidly increasing adoption of laser scanning as an important tool for capital projects is increasing the demand for laser scanning hardware. This is good news for EPCs as vendors compete vigorously to win this new business by increasing hardware capabilities and reducing prices. The result is that laser scanning for large engineering projects is becoming ever more affordable. ‘As an added benefit, the lower costs that we can offer for laser scanning have enabled smaller clients to take advantage of its capabilities,’ Randy concluded.
Vision for the future
Through its focus and commitment to developing its in-house expertise, IES has achieved significant success in the California region and beyond. Today its challenge is to retain its competitive advantage as it expands into wider markets. Part of its plan to meet this challenge includes adopting AVEVA Electrical™ and AVEVA Instrumentation™, enabling IES to offer a more extensive design package. As still a relatively small company, IES appreciates the ease of use of AVEVA solutions, which enables it to quickly train new designers with minimum disruption to ongoing project work.
About IES
Randy Meyer originally worked for a large overseas Owner Operator. Whenever he was back in the US, he was struck by the number of requests that he would get from operators and EPCs for design work on local facility and pipeline projects. Spotting an opportunity, in 2009 Randy decided to capitalise on his 20 years’ experience of using AVEVA PDMS and incorporated TSM in Bakersfield, California. In little over three years, through growing demand for PDMS standardisation and a high level of client satisfaction, Randy grew the company to 28 employees. In 2013, TSM merged with IES Engineering, another local engineering company in Bakersfield and, for simplicity, kept the company name. The company has continued to grow strongly, and now employs over 200 staff and is expanding its customer base throughout California and into other regions. IES currently has two dedicated laser scanning teams who are kept fully occupied on brownfield project work.
The merger of IES and TSM proved to be a ‘match made in heaven’ as their respective skills complement each other perfectly, establishing the expanded business as one of the region’s leading engineering service providers for process and pipeline facilities and positioning it to take advantage of opportunities both across North America and globally. Visit www.ies-engr.com for more information.
‘3D data not only offers the ability to create design and fabrication
that will bolt up with no issues, it also enables the creation of
highly detailed demolition plans, providing the client with more
control to define the scope of work on a project...’
Client (left) and Randy Meyer (right) meet for an on-site design review. Photograph courtesy of IES Engineering.
How Oil Field Development
Engineering is Driving Down
Rework Time
Founded in 2002, Houston-based Oil Field Development Engineering, LLC (OFD) is an enterprising provider of high-quality engineering services. Its expertise includes:
z Concept Development and Selection
z Front End Engineering Design
z Detailed Engineering Design
z Construction and Installation Support
z Operation Support
z Brownfield Modification
These skills, together with a strong team culture, have enabled the business to grow steadily. Today, its 80-strong team can handle every project task and responsibility, including project management, engineering, project controls, design, drafting and procurement. AVEVA software has been a key enabler of this success.
Choosing AVEVA PDMS
Recognising the need for powerful, industry-standard engineering design tools, OFD implemented AVEVA PDMS™ almost from the outset. From experience at previous companies, OFD’s founder and President, Mr Jay Chen and the OFD team knew that PDMS would save time and energy in training staff, as the tool is used by all disciplines for design and drawing generation.
Since the purchase of its first seat of PDMS, OFD has had an outstanding relationship with AVEVA. AVEVA has provided training and support to OFD on several projects, has assisted with customised programming to help OFD meet specific client requirements and continues to assist OFD whenever the need arises.
Early success
In 2003, OFD delivered its first PDMS project: a check model for a Launcher/Receiver Skid. PDMS enabled the design team to work out space issues in 3D to create a clash-free design that required no rework in fabrication and which was delivered on schedule for a problem-free installation.
Since then, the OFD team have used AVEVA PDMS on a wide variety of projects, including the preliminary concept for the Texas Offshore Port System (TOPS), a Tank Farm and Distribution system for TEPPCO, Helix Producer I FPU, the Castor Gas Storage Facility, and a number of multi-leg platform jackets for water depths ranging from 200 feet to over 1,150 feet.
Meeting the challenge
The Castor Gas Storage Facility, an offshore gas storage facility off the coast of Spain, was a particularly noteworthy project, for which OFD was the Engineering & Procurement (E&P) contractor. It comprised a 7,000- ton main platform and associated wellhead platform. The facility is used to store natural gas purchased during low-demand periods, for sale and delivery during high-demand periods.
As E&P contractor, OFD partnered with fabrication contractor Kiewit Offshore Services to execute the project. The platform is very large; its engineering design included over 3,200 isometrics and around the same number of individual pipe supports. OFD was in continuous direct communication with Kiewit Offshore Services, sending over review models, isometrics and pipe support drawings to Kiewit Offshore Services for fabrication.
‘OFD has found that
the most significant
savings from the use
of PDMS are made
during fabrication and
construction, where the
highest proportion of a
project’s cost is typically
incurred. Rework during
the fabrication and
construction phase of
a project is generally
estimated to cost
ten times more than
during the initial design
phase...’
The Castor Gas Storage Facility, an offshore gas storage facility off the coast of Spain. Photograph courtesy of OFD.
AVEVA World Focus on Oil & Gas 21
AVEVA played a key role in establishing this efficient process, working with OFD to develop a database interrogation system which fed the required design drawings and information direct to Kiewit Offshore Services. This ensured that the fabricator had a complete materials database and could review the 3D model in real time to verify that drawings were clash-free. This proved of considerable value, enabling them to adhere closely to the construction schedule.
Successful collaboration on this project led to OFD and Kiewit Offshore Services partnering on the Helix Producer 1 project, which was of significant importance during the clean-up of the Macondo oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Also designed in PDMS, the main production unit of this facility was used to process some of the oil and flare off gas during the clean-up.
Today, OFD has several service contracts with Owner Operators to modify, update and maintain the PDMS models of their various assets. These 3D models and associated databases are contract deliverables that are handed over to the client at the end of each project.
Benefits from AVEVA PDMS
As an agile E&P service contractor with a philosophy of running ‘Lean and Mean’ OFD has gained considerable value from integrating AVEVA PDMS into its operations.
PDMS is OFD’s preferred 3D design environment as it enables rapid project start-up and the implementation is very straightforward. It enables OFD to quickly assess alternative design options to ensure that they provide clients with an optimum design, accurate and fully detailed to meet their requirements. The ability for all design disciplines to work interactively on a common project model not only supports OFD’s strong teamwork culture, but also enables it to deliver consistent, high-quality end results.
The use of review models provides many further practical benefits. They enable OFD’s clients to be engaged early in the project design process and to have their comments easily and quickly incorporated into the evolving design. The engineering team use review models to answer questions that may arise about the design and construction, or in discussion with vendors.
The project management, engineering and design teams can also see the true current status of the design, instead of having to rely on drawings that could be out of date. This leads to efficient communication within the entire project team. The construction phases also benefit. Most fabrication and construction drawings are produced direct from the PDMS model, ensuring their accuracy. Materials information from the PDMS databases enables the fabricators to track material requirements and helps them to schedule project construction. OFD exports review models from PDMS and provides them on a continual basis to the fabrication and construction contractors, who use them to clarify details that could be misinterpreted on a drawing, avoiding the risk of errors and costly rework.
OFD has found that the most significant savings from the use of PDMS are made during fabrication and construction, where the highest proportion of a project’s cost is typically incurred. Rework during the fabrication and construction phase of a project is generally estimated to cost ten times more than during the initial design phase. This is because inaccurate or incomplete detailed information can result in re-fabrication, delays to the project schedule and increased materials costs through scrap and wastage. The accuracy of the information produced from the PDMS design model enables fabrication and construction to proceed confidently, with little or no rework due to design errors or clashes, leading to a truly lean construction project.
About OFD
As a service organisation, OFD must be flexible and responsive to its clients’ diverse needs. AVEVA PDMS has enabled it to continually meet and exceed those needs and expectations, delivering engineering design of world-class quality, on time and in a cost-effective way.
OFD’s business model of partnering with high-quality fabrication contractors has proved particularly successful for all parties. Of significant importance is this agile team’s ability to deliver projects that are both innovative and practical, with high quality and safety as a priority. By continuing to employ the best resources and tools, OFD aims to achieve its goal of being the first-choice E&P services provider for both onshore and offshore oil & gas projects, upstream as well as midstream.
‘Since the purchase of its first seat of PDMS, OFD has had an
outstanding relationship with AVEVA. AVEVA has provided training
and support to OFD on several projects, has assisted with customised
programming to help OFD meet specific client requirements and
Offshore Asset
Management
How AMEC gains the
AVEVA advantage
in the North Sea
Lying in one of the most challenging
operating environments, harvesting
the North Sea oil & gas fields has
driven engineering development in
both the construction and operation
of production facilities. Managing
the huge quantities of disparate
information required to safely and
efficiently operate these complex
facilities is a considerable challenge
that can only be met using powerful
Information Management technology,
in the form of an Enterprise Asset
Management system (EAM,
also sometimes referred to as
a Computerised Maintenance
Management or CMM system).
The Dunlin A platform. Photo courtesy of AMEC.
AVEVA World Focus on Oil & Gas 23
In 2008, AMEC, one of the world’s leading engineering, project management and consultancy companies, with more than 40 years of experience working in the North Sea, was awarded the role of duty holder for Fairfield Energy’s Dunlin A platform. At the same time, they selected AVEVA WorkMate™ as an EAM solution to support their operations. AVEVA WorkMate is unique, having been specifically created for managing the maintenance, operational, and HSE data associated with offshore facilities. To learn more about AMEC’s practical experiences in using the technology, we visited their Aberdeen headquarters and spoke with several of their senior operations professionals.
Material benefits
Just as battles are won more by logistics than by tactics, so too does asset operation depend primarily on sustaining the efficient supply of a wide range of materials. Integrated materials management capabilities are therefore essential for operating the Dunlin platform. AVEVA WorkMate enables AMEC to order materials from anywhere in the world and to track their delivery from source, through AMEC’s Aberdeen depot to their final disposition on the platform itself. This powerful supply management system provides AMEC with complete visibility of where goods are at any time, and when they are due at any location. Potential delays can be identified early and corrected before they become a problem. Where delays cannot be recovered, this clear visibility of the entire supply chain enables AMEC to take informed action to reduce any impact on operations.
Maintenance
Continual maintenance and repair is a necessary element of operations but shutdowns are costly. Planning and preparing for an optimised planned shutdown is a highly complex process; as many tasks as possible must be carefully coordinated to minimise its duration and the resulting loss of revenue. AVEVA WorkMate is designed to ease this process, integrating with other systems to ensure sufficient and reliable information is used to plan and prepare for each shutdown. It also enables the advanced planning and preparation of tasks that can take advantage of any unplanned downtime.
AMEC’s Shutdown Coordinator, Jim Barber, explained:
‘WorkMate is absolutely critical for a well-planned and prepared shutdown. In years gone by we used spreadsheets, which worked, but WorkMate is so much more effective. Planning and preparation has moved into a new era. The benefits from using WorkMate are quite important as we have everything in one place. We have the task details and the resources and the maths behind that, that actually tells us the duration of the shutdown in terms of planning. We can export these Task and Work Order details straight from WorkMate across to P6 for planning; that’s absolutely perfect in terms of scheduling.’ Planning maintenance effectively and executing it on schedule is vital also because of the requirement for materials. Not only is materials provisioning to remote offshore locations time consuming and costly, there is also very limited storage space on site. Efficient task coordination must be accompanied by equally efficient scheduling of materials deliveries.
‘WorkMate is absolutely
critical for a well-planned
and prepared shutdown.
In years gone by we used
spreadsheets, which
worked, but WorkMate is
so much more effective.
Planning and preparation
has moved into a new era...’
Shaune Burdon, Maintenance Team Lead at AMEC, explained: ‘WorkMate is very important to maintenance planning on Dunlin. When we are planning maintenance, we need to know that we are executing work at the right time, when we have equipment outages, to avoid impacting production. We need to make sure we have the right people in place at the right time and that the work is ready to execute. WorkMate’s very good at that. I’ve got all the information I need at my fingertips to be sure that the jobs work together, and that the right materials are in place ready for people with the right qualifications and skills for each particular job. Without an integrated CMM system such as WorkMate the work would be a lot slower.’ Safety and compliance
Risk management is a fact of life in the oil & gas industry and made all the more essential for the increased risks inherent in maintenance work. AVEVA WorkMate is designed to help manage such risks effectively and maximise operational safety by enabling team managers to monitor the status of all pending and in-progress work and to maximise their teams’ productivity.
‘As Maintenance Team Leader on Dunlin I have to monitor all on-going work,’ Shaune explained. ‘Using WorkMate I can find out which tasks are over-running and are a threat to the work not being completed on time. I can make sure that all safety-critical work is closed out on time, that we fulfil our HSE responsibilities, and that the integrity of the platform is maintained.’
In 2010 AMEC commissioned an independent review of their maintenance strategy for electrical equipment in potentially explosive atmospheres – their EX strategy. EX strategy is a critical safety issue that is subject to regulatory control, so a robust and well-executed EX strategy is essential. The review recommended that AMEC adopt a risk-based assessment methodology, which could also be supported by WorkMate. Grace Baxter, Maintenance Manager at AMEC, explained: ‘We would no longer need to use spreadsheets; we could use WorkMate to produce reports and we could manage the data within WorkMate. That reduces the potential for errors outside of WorkMate and means that we have more accurate reporting and better coverage. By using WorkMate to manage the data more efficiently we have been able to make a considerable reduction in our offshore man-hours commitment to the EX strategy, along with reducing the clerical effort onshore.’ Conclusion
AMEC has long been a leading user of AVEVA technology, gaining valuable business benefits from it and providing equally valuable real-world feedback to AVEVA on practical issues concerning its use. We are particularly grateful to the operations team at their Aberdeen headquarters for sharing their experiences of different aspects of their use of AVEVA WorkMate, and their continuing support in its future development.
AVEVA WorkMate is a modular, integrated EAM solution that supports every type of maintenance strategy, whether planned, condition- or reliability-based. Its integrated Work Management and Safe Job Analysis functions help operators to take full advantage of both planned and unplanned downtime through the automatic allocation and efficient coordination of planned and pending work.
AVEVA WorkMate is a feature-rich solution that supports effective control of work through integrated management of Work Permits, preparing isolation plans and tag-out and lock-out procedures. Plotting of scheduled activities on a plan of the asset enables rapid identification of task clashes and rescheduling requirements. WorkMate increases productivity and quality on a wide range of routine asset management tasks through such features as the use of templates, information sharing and electronic processing of Safe Job Analyses and Work Orders.
As AMEC’s experience demonstrates, AVEVA WorkMate is an effective Enterprise Asset Management solution, proven on some of the world’s most challenging facilities.
About AVEVA WorkMate
The Dunlin A platform. Photo courtesy of AMEC.
AMEC has been a user of AVEVA software for more than 25 years. Over that time the number of products in daily use has grown steadily, to the point where, today, the company has an extensive portfolio of AVEVA software deployed from 27 offices worldwide, with many hundreds of trained users. AVEVA products are used from offices spread across Australasia, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, CIS, and North and South America, for a wide range of both greenfield and brownfield projects across industries such as oil & gas, minerals and metals, power and nuclear.
Integrated Engineering & Design (IE&D)
AVEVA products have, for many years, been a key enabler for AMEC’s strategy of Integrated Engineering & Design. The company has recently taken another major step forward in this overall integration by adopting the new AVEVA Engineering™ and AVEVA Electrical™ products into a much enhanced Integrated Engineering & Design environment and deploying them on a new oil & gas project.
AVEVA visited Colin Fairweather, one of the key drivers behind this latest initiative, at AMEC’s Aberdeen offices in the UK to learn more about their approach to Integrated Engineering & Design and the way the new products fit into their business strategy. Colin is the Head of Applied Technology for the AMEC Europe region.
Integrated Engineering & Design
Reaches New Levels at AMEC
AMEC is a focused supplier of consultancy, engineering and project
management services to its customers in the world’s oil & gas,
minerals and metals, clean energy, environment and infrastructure
markets. The company designs, delivers and maintains strategic assets
for its customers, offering services which extend from environmental
and Front-End Engineering Design before the start of a project, all the
way through to decommissioning at the end of an asset’s life.
AMEC Aberdeen is a focus for brownfield engineering in the oil & gas sector North Sea. Images courtesy of AMEC.
AVEVA World Focus on Oil & Gas 27
Why integrate engineering and design?
Colin explained that the fundamental business driver for Integrated Engineering & Design is to be able, ultimately, to execute a value-added project for AMEC’s clients, achieving higher quality, reduced schedule and lower costs, resulting in improved competitiveness, and winning more work as a result. AMEC views technology as a key facilitator to improving their overall engineering delivery.
The AMEC approach is often described as ‘data-driven
engineering’. This means that the focus is primarily on the data and the corresponding workflows. Data flows through the process in a managed way. The flow needs to be electronic, and, where possible, automated, but the control aspect is critical. Engineers can’t have data changing ‘under their feet’ in an uncontrolled manner. Everyone needs to understand the status of the information they are working with, and the location of the master source of any particular data set. Managing the data integrity correctly means that document production becomes a by-product of the database.
The key to success with IE&D
There are many keys to achieving success with IE&D. Good quality tools that offer flexible integration, a good supplier, one that you trust to work with as a partner, and a good
understanding of how you can improve your work processes are all vitally important, but these alone aren’t enough. It’s essential to plan well and to pay significant attention to the ‘people aspects’, making sure that everyone fully understands and embraces the concepts.
What persuaded AMEC to take this latest step on their IE&D journey?
‘We are always looking at new ways of improving how things are done,’ explained Colin. ‘We have a strong relationship with AVEVA and we had been involved with both the new AVEVA Engineering and AVEVA Electrical products well before they were officially released. So we knew what was coming and could see the potential they offered for us to take another significant step forward.’
‘Taking new tools onto
a key project always
involves risks, but they
were risks we had taken
before. We had plenty of
experience in managing
these risks, and a strong
and very supportive
relationship with AVEVA...’
Issue P&ID Equipment tags Tray isometrics Layouts, Trace Heating, Cable Routing Instrument and F&G layouts Instrument MTO Equipment tags Equipment tags Block diagrams Single line diagrams Interconnect diagrams Trace heating ISOS Label engraving and mounting details
Block diagrams Label details Fabrication diagrams Cause & effects F&G layouts Instrument layouts
PFDs/UFDs Schematics
Escape route & hazardous area dwgs Shared Wiring Manager Legend Add process conditions to all lines Add process
data for all equipment Add process data for all instruments Add mechanical
data for all equipment
Hosting area for all P&ID data Develop P&ID
adding all tagged items, equipment, packages, nozzles, line from connections, line to connections, in line components, off sheet connectors
Drawing, Line nos, Line from, Line to, Valves, Instruments, SP Items, TPS, Equipment, Packages, Off sheet connectors Compare/update line data equipment tags Create equipment, line from and to connections, add all in line components route lines, route cables, route tray, add steel Clash check, Datacon check, Laser model interface, Multi discipline supports
Add all equipment, cables Add all equipment,
cables Develop all pipe specifications ABMS Procurement Module Design collaboration 3rd party distribution Design reviews Hazop/HAZID animations construction sequences AVEVA
REVIEW SHARE REVIEWAVEVA
AUTOCAD PARAGON AVEVA Engineering AVEVA Schematic Model Manager AVEVA P&ID AVEVA 3D SCHEMATIC INTEGRATOR AVEVA PDMS AVEVA INSTRUMENTS AVEVA ELECTRICAL AVEVA VPRM
All P&ID data referenced Upload P&ID data via XML transfer Generate piping isometric From Piping Process Data Process data Vendor Data Data sheets Data sheets Data
sheets Line list Equipmentlist scheduleValve schedulesSP & TP Alarm & Tripschedules
Vendor data
Process line conditions
Transfer pipe spec Cable lengths Cables & equip no’s
Pipe MTO Pipe support MTO Piping
Isometric Pipe supportdetails
Pipe &
ISO data Supportsdata Pipe spec data
Piping MTO
From AVEVA Eng
From AVEVA Eng
Equipment No. Equipment / Package No. Line No. Valve No. Instrument No. SP No. TP No. TP No. Equipment No. Cable No. Cable No. All other electrical tagged items
All other instrument tagged items
Generate Review and Review Share models
ABMS Document Management Module
Equipment / Package No. Line No. Valve No. Instrument No. SP No.
Process
data sheets Mechanicaldata sheets Process Instdata sheets Processline list Equipmentlist scheduleValve schedulesSP & TP Alarm & Tripschedules
ABMS
Jobcard Module Procurement ModuleABMS
ABMS Procurement Module ABMS Procurement Module ABMS Procurement Module ABMS Document Management Module
ABMS Document Management Module
ABMS MAS TE R T AG R EG ISTE R ABMS Document Management Module ABMS Document Management Module ABMS Document Management Module ABMS
Tracker Module Tracker ModuleABMS
Generate pipe supports ABMS Procurement Module Electrical Instruments Process Tech Safety ABMS Document Management Module ABMS Document Management Module ABMS Procurement Module Structural MTO Structural
drawings InstrumentMTO
Tray cables misc bulk MTO
Generate structural layouts Generate instrument & F&G drawings Autodraft elec instrument & F&G layouts Generate electrical drawings Generate tray isometric ABMS Jobcard Module Data sheet / schedules
Datasheets Cable schedules I/O schedules Loop diagrams JB term diagrams Pneumatic hook-ups Panel terminations Manual transfer Electronic data transfer
File transfer AMEC Brownfield Management Suite Deliverable transfer To AVEVA Inst To AVEVA Elec Tag No. Loops
Integrated Engineering and Business Management Suite – as
implemented for AMEC Brownfield Projects. Graphic courtesy of AMEC.
Colin Fairweather, Head of Applied Technology, AMEC Europe. Photograph taken during a visit to AVEVA’s Houston office.
