Petrobras to use digital twin monitoring for FPSO

Petrobras has contracted classification society ABS to project manage and test digital twin software for real-time condition monitoring on board one of its FPSOs.

Swiss engineering firm Akselos will deploy its Akselos Structural Performance Management software for a year-long evaluation in its monitoring of one of the four FPSO units in the Cessão Onerosa oil field.

Akselos launched its latest Structural Performance Management (SPM) for FPSO 4.0 software in September 2024. The software is aimed at ensuring uninterrupted operations and extending the asset life of FPSOs and reducing operational expenditures on repairs through optimised inspections and maintenance planning.

Askelos uses a structural, digital twin of the entire FPSO, allowing operators to continuously monitor the unit’s health, identify stress hotspots, and run "what if" scenarios to mitigate risks to the FPSO’s structural integrity.

Askleos’ software integrates operational data (inspection data, metocean data and tank fills and unloading etc) to provide continuous and on demand fatigue assessments, which the provider claims can help reduce the risk of unplanned downtime.

The software is also compliant with class society standards and helps operators maintain regulatory compliance with near real-time insights, ensuring safer operations in extreme offshore conditions.

“Through our expertise in Structural Performance Management, we are able to offer simulations of the Petrobras FPSO with unprecedented speed, scalability and accuracy,” said Akselos CEO Thomas Leurent.

“We have the unique capability to simulate the structural integrity of the entire FPSO in real-time and at high fidelity. In this way, the asset life can be extended as safely as possible,” he said.   

ABS has said it believes condition monitoring is key to helping prolong the extension and use of older assets.

“The key is to maintain safety” said ABS Vice President for Global Offshore Matthew Tremblay, “The life extension evaluation process takes place to verify that the unit will be able to operate in conformance with existing safety standards beyond its design life. Incorporating real-time operational data from Akselos will provide even more information to improve our analysis for Petrobras.”