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Shell, Modec test data analytics for FPSO safety
An oil major and an owner of floating production systems will apply AI and data analytics to identify degraded safety barriers and gas leaks
Shell and Modec have joined forces with a Brazilian state university and digital services provider to use data analysis to improve safety on floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels.
They will work with State University of Campinas (Unicamp) and Shape Digital to develop new methodologies for monitoring operational risks using artificial intelligence (AI), and plan to enhance Shape Digital’s Shape Reef, a tool for operational process safety, to identify the degradation of safety barriers in offshore production facilities.
Potential issues with systems, procedures and equipment designed to prevent, control or mitigate operational risks will be identified.
Over the course of 36 months, these partners will implement, test and improve risk estimation approaches using data for two challenges: degraded safety barriers and gas leaks.
“Safety is non negotiable. Investing in technology and innovation to improve risk management in offshore units is a central part of our operational excellence strategy,” said Shell Brazil director of technology and innovation Olivier Wambersie.
“Partnerships like this allow us to anticipate failures, reduce uncertainties and increase the protection of people and the environment. This is how we move forward responsibly and ensure increasingly safe operations.”
Japanese group Modec will provide operational expertise from its FPSOs in Brazil to support the development of this data-driven tool.
“The initiative reinforces our commitment to continuous innovation and the adoption of technologies that strengthen people’s safety and the operation of offshore units,” said Modec Brazil technical management manager Leonardo Santoro.
“We will provide the relevant technical data and all the intellectual capital needed to drive solutions that contribute to safer and more efficient operations.”
Technology under development in this agreement originated from a previous project carried out by Unicamp to develop computer programs and AI to support leak detection. Under this 36-month project, Unicamp will, under the co-ordination of Professor Sávio Viana, combine computational fluid dynamics and real-field data to investigate and apply new AI models. This will help Shape Reef, which is applied on offshore units in Brazil, Mexico and Africa, with its capacity to identify and support risk mitigation.
“We are going to develop and test new methods for managing safety barriers on offshore units, making the tool even more robust,” said Shape Digital chief executive Felipe Baldissera.
Modec is working for Shell to provide an FPSO for the Gato do Mato deepwater gas-condensate project in Brazil, which will be the 19th FPSO Modec will supply for the Brazilian oil and gas industry.
Shell has also used a Modec FPSO to produce and store oil from the Bijupirá and Salema fields in the Campos Basin, offshore Brazil.
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