TMCnet News

Making 3D an Oil & Gas Backbone [ArabianOilandGas.com]
[January 19, 2014]

Making 3D an Oil & Gas Backbone [ArabianOilandGas.com]


(ArabianOilandGas.com Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dassault Systemes provides a 3D modeling platform that provides data about an asset from inception to decommissioning, making collaboration, safety and maintenance much easier Dassault Systemes specialises in 3D modeling of big projects, including those in the Oil & Gas industry, from the inception and design phase through to decommissioning.



"If you look to the full chain or the full lifecycle of building an offshore rig, for example, it starts with an EPC, defining the asset, then building it and then delivering it to the owner/operator. This is where we can bring value in each stage of the whole chain. By providing solutions to design in 3D, we build the entire asset on the computer," said Hichem Ben Cheikh, senior client executive, MENA at Dassault Systemes.

One of the major benefits of 3D design, is that is crosses borders and nationalities, providing all players in a project with something that they can all understand and work with across language barriers, the Dassault modeling system also provides a complete package with all asset data, making project hand-over much easier.


"We can design and simulate the whole asset during the design, building and construction phase, then later on when this asset is ready and it has to be handed over to the owner/operator this is when the problems usually come.

The hand over is usually a huge pile of documents, for an asset like a rig, you can imagine how messy it can be. By having a platform where you have all the data the 3D data plus the other data that you need and handing over the asset with this platform which we call the 'single source of the truth', it is much easier for the owner/operator to understand what has to be done and what he is getting," said Cheikh.

The owner operator has processes to maintain and operate after the hand over and all these processes have to be simulated before they are handed over. With Dassault's modeling platform all these simulations can be done, allowing the operator to maintain and run the asset very effectively.

Article continues on next page ...

[[page-break]] Decommissioning and maintenance Another stage of the chain is the decommissioning where every single process has to be planned, and has to be prepared before it is physically done. Dassault's platform provides the ability to simulate the decommissioning process to allow the process to be completed efficiently and safely.

"We deliver the tools to design, to get the parts, simulate when things go wrong to plan appropriately, and then when they modify parts they can add that into the simulation, and then in case of decommissioning they know how to decommission the rig effectively utilising the modeling software.

It is basically an end to end system from design to decommission. At any stage of the lifecycle of this platform or extraction factory we can simulate any process. We digitise all the data, we can have the 3D data of any part or any assembly, and we can also simulate the processes," said Olivier Leteurtre, managing director, EuroWest, Dassault Systemes.

Utilising the Dassault Systemes platform users can also input the lifecycle of a part so that the operator knows when any part is reaching the end of its lifecycle.

"Companies can also capitalise on the data that is important for the part usage or maintenance. You can add information in this same platform around where the part is, who supplied it, when it was installed, when it has to be replaced and this information can be used by the owner operator, the suppliers etc," said Leteurtre.

The platform provided by Dassault allows company suppliers to be added to the platform to allow them to receive alerts on when a part needs replacement, for example.

Dassault is currently working with key players in the energy industry in the Middle East, some of whom like to simple manage their assets using Dassault solutions, while others want even more from the system.

"Some customers also like to simulate processes and to organise their planning. Some others like to just use some pieces from our solution in order to study, simulate, use our product to analyse stress on parts and see how long that part can be used.

There are so many different types of projects we have. The main projects are in the most well-known companies in the region, and are around asset management, while they are at the early stage s, while they are being constructed, or during the operation phase," said Olivier Leteurtre.

Compatibility The Dassault platform is completely compatible with other 3D modeling solutions on the market, meaning that companies do not have to replace their systems or re-enter all their data in to a new system.

"If a company decides to keep using our competitors systems, we can connect the information or data from the competitor and connect it into a platform where there is a lot of other data coming from other systems. The fact that you can bring in new systems and connect them to other systems in place in order to improve your processes and accelerate them," said Leteurtre.

Dassault's modeling platform responds to different types of standards, including the most famous in energy, which is the ISO15926.

"The problem that many energy companies face is not whether they have the data, but what they do with the data and if you look at the Dassault platform, it is the backbone we provide for all community, suppliers etc that are involved in the project.

They need information about the project, the timeline, the price, information about certification and compliance and this is where we bring a lot of value, by connecting the dots of all these. Organisation are often working in silos, so if we plug them into that platform backbone we can give a lot of value in usage of that data," said Leteurtre.

(c) 2014 ITP Business Publishing Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]