scholarly journals Innovative technologies in training and education for maintenance team of NPPs

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Róbert Soós ◽  
Bence Balogh ◽  
Gergely Dobos ◽  
Szabolcs Szávai ◽  
Judit Dudra
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Financial Loss ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Psychological Pressure ◽  
Temperature Radiation

Many industries, such as nuclear power plants, chemical industry, oil and gas industry have dangerous working environments and hazardous conditions for employees. Maintenance, inspection and decommissioning activities in these safety-critical areas mean a serious risk, downtime is a significant financial loss. The Virtual Reality Training Platform is reflecting on this shortcoming, by providing the possibility for maintenance workers to be trained and prepared for unexpected scenarios, and to learn complex maintenance protocols without being exposed to unnecessary danger, like high temperature, radiation, etc. Employees can have training for equipment maintenance, dismantling of facilities at closed NPP Units. One of the most significant and unique added value of the immersive virtual reality solution is that the operator can experience lifelike emergencies (detonation, shutdown) under psychological pressure, while all of the physiology indicators can be monitored like eye-tracking. Users can work together anywhere in the world. A huge financial outage in industrial production is the preparation and maintenance downtime, which can be significantly reduced by the Virtual Training platform. This method can increase the accuracy, safety, reliability, and accountability of the maintenance and decommissioning procedures, while operational costs can be reduced as well.

Addressing the Challenge of Inspecting Buried Nuclear Piping in Nuclear Power Plants

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Angell ◽  
Sheng-Hui Wang ◽  
Phil Simon ◽  
Hank Kleinfelder ◽  
Kevin Garrity ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Test Site ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Buried Pipe ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
River Site

Similar to many other industries, nuclear power plants (NPPs) have many kilometres of buried pipe that is not readily accessible for direct inspection. Given the nature of the systems, the nuclear industry experiences additional challenges as many services run in the same area, leading to what is described as a “spaghetti bowl” of piping. As a result, the traditional indirect, over the line, inspection practices developed for the oil and gas industry have not always been successfully applied at nuclear power plants. To address this issue, a collaborative Electric Power Research Institute/CANDU Owners Group (EPRI/COG) research project was established with Mears Group Inc. and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) Nuclear Laboratories. In this program, initial testing of four methods was carried out at the Mears Group Inc, test site that had been modified with additional grounding systems to simulate a nuclear power plant. This was followed by testing of the same methods at the AECL Nuclear Laboratories Chalk River site. This paper will discuss the results of those studies and present some of the findings that were made that can help to overcome the challenges faced by Nuclear Power Plants.

Blowout preventer (BOP) risk model to assist critical decisions in offshore drilling

2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Inge Alme ◽  
Angel Casal ◽  
Trygve Leinum ◽  
Helge Flesland
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Risk Model ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Risk Level ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Offshore Drilling ◽  
Drilling Rig

The BOP is a critical safety system of an offshore drilling rig, as shown in the 2010 Macondo accident. A challenge for the oil and gas industry is to decide what to do when the BOP is failing. Pulling the BOP to the surface during operations for inspection and testing is a costly and timely operation. Many of the potential failures are not critical to overall safety as multiple levels of redundancy are often available. Scandpower and Moduspec, both subsidiaries of Lloyd’s Register, have developed a BOP risk model that will assist the industry make the pull or no pull decisions. Scandpower’s proprietary software RiskSpectrum is used for the modelling. This software is used for equivalent decision support in the nuclear power industry, where the risk levels of total nuclear power plants are monitored live by operators in the control rooms. By modelling existing BOPs and their submerged control systems, and using risk monitor software for keeping track on the status of the BOP subsystems and components, the industry is able to define the real-time operational risk level the BOP is operating at. It, therefore, allows the inclusion for sensitivity modelling with possible faulty components factored in the model. The main task of the risk model is to guide and support energy companies and regulators in the decision process when considering whether to pull the BOP for repairs. Moreover, it will help the communication with the regulators, since the basis for the decisions are more traceable and easier to follow for a third party.

scholarly journals Accelerating geothermal development with a play-based portfolio approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Diederik van Wees ◽  
Hans Veldkamp ◽  
Logan Brunner ◽  
Mark Vrijlandt ◽  
Sander de Jong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
New Information ◽  
Geothermal Potential ◽  
Heat Demand ◽  
Exploration Risk ◽  
Portfolio Approach

Abstract Over the past decade in the Netherlands, most operators have only developed a single doublet. The learning effect from these single events is suboptimal, and operators have only been capable of developing doublets in areas with relatively low exploration risk. This ‘stand-alone’ approach can be significantly improved by a collective approach to derisk regions with similar subsurface characteristics. Such a play-based portfolio approach, which is common in the oil and gas industry, can help to accelerate the development of the geothermal industry through unlocking resource potential in areas marked by high upfront geological risk, effectively helping reduce costs for the development. The basis of the methodology is to deploy new information to the play portfolio by trading off with the risk of the first wells, resulting in a strong geological risk reduction. The added value of the portfolio approach is demonstrated for the Netherlands in this paper through a comparison with a ‘stand-alone’ development. In the stand-alone approach, each new project will be equally risky, and therefore relatively unprofitable. In the case of a portfolio approach, all experience about the play is used optimally for derisking. In case of success, subsequent projects will have a higher chance of being successful, due to the experience gained in previous projects. Even if a project fails, this may help in increasing the probability of success for subsequent projects. For plays that are initially considered too risky for the market to start developing, the value of information (VoI) of a play-based portfolio approach will help by derisking the play to such an extent that it becomes attractive for the market to develop, even at high initial risk. It can be demonstrated for several geothermal plays in the Netherlands that by adopting the portfolio approach, the probability of a play being developed becomes higher, the number of successfully developed projects increases and the average profitability of the project will also be higher. Five more advantages are: (1) continuous improvement by integrated project development, (2) cost reduction through synergy, efficiency and standardisation, (3) optimisation of the surface heat demand and infrastructure, (4) the possibility of structural research and development (R&D) and innovation, and (5) financing advantages. The advantages reinforce each other. A preliminary estimate of the geothermal potential of the Netherlands adopting the portfolio approach is between 90 and 275 Petajoules (PJ). For about 350 doublets being developed, producing about 70 PJ, the value of the advantage of the play-based portfolio approach is €2 billion for the three main plays: Rotliegend, Triassic and Jurassic/Cretaceous. The learning effects of synergy, efficiency and standardisation are expected to be significant.

Using Virtual Reality for Equipment Maintenance in Oil and Gas Industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 1090-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faieza Abdul Aziz ◽  
Majed Alshammar ◽  
Mohd Khairol Anuar Ariffin
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Equipment Maintenance ◽  
Gas Industry

Environment-Assisted Intergranular Cracking

MRS Bulletin ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 36-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.R. Scully
Keyword(s):  
High Purity ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Intergranular Cracking ◽  
Intergranular Stress Corrosion ◽  
Ferrous Alloys ◽  
Primary Coolant

Intergranular separation in polycrys-talline materials involves breaking metallic bonds along grain boundaries in response to stress. The surfaces created in this manner expose the grain facets on either side of the original boundary, as shown in Figure 1. This mode of fracture often occurs at much lower fracture stress and energy than cracking by ductile processes through the interior of grains. The exposure of specific materials to certain environments and stress can promote this low-energy, intergranular mode of separation, even when fracture of the same material in vacuum would occur along a ductile transgranu-lar path. Three types of environment-assisted intergranular cracking can occur in a wide variety of alloy/environment systems: intergranular stress-corrosion cracking (IGSCC), intergranular hydrogen embrittlement, and intergranular liquid-metal embrittlement.Figure 1 shows an example of IGSCC. This type of cracking is a pervasive problem in many technological applications, leading to extensive repairs, loss of service function, and safety concerns. IGSCC occurs in the weld-heat-affected zones of stainless-steel pipes in high-purity primary coolant waters within nuclear power plants, and in nickel-based alloys utilized as heat-exchanger tubing when exposed to the high-purity primary as well as secondary coolant waters in power plants. It is also seen in Al-based alloys used for fuselage skins and structural components in military and commercial aircraft when exposed to humid atmospheric conditions. Ferrous alloys used in the oil and gas industry are also susceptible. For instance, IGSCC of mild steels used in buried gas-transmission pipelines is a widespread international problem, leading to explosions when leaking natural gas ignites.

scholarly journals Assessment of air pollution control technologies to reduce SOx emission from thermal oxidizer for oil and gas industry

2021 ◽  
Vol 1195 (1) ◽  
pp. 012046
Author(s):  
N H B Haji Nawawi ◽  
M N Jaafar
Keyword(s):  
Flue Gas ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Technical Solution ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Process Technology ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Emission Limit ◽  
Emission Limits

Abstract Many countries have put in place, various legislations that govern air emission limits/pollutants from the industries. The common pollutants being monitored are Sulphur Oxides (SOx), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), particulate matters and dioxins. In Malaysia, the regulatory requirement aims to regulate emissions of air pollutants from industrial activities including oil and gas, power plants, waste fuel plants and asphalt mixing plants. One of the emission limits under Clean Air Regulation (CAR2014) is emission level for SOx should be less than 600 mg/m3 (reference condition at 3 % of O2, 273 K, 101.3 kPa) whereby sum of SO2 and SO3 expressed as SOx. Excessive SOx emission can affect both health and the environment. Aligning with the regulation requirement, Group Technical Solution (GTS) under PETRONAS has embarked on assessment of technology solutions to meet the emission limit on SOx emission limit for thermal oxidizers which cover new and existing facilities. This paper describes on the work methodology and approach adopted during the assessment. The objective of the assessment is to determine the suitable process technology to reduce SOx emission in order to achieve the desired emission limit for flue gas at outlet stream of thermal oxidizer. Thorough evaluation was carried out based on proposal submission from various technology providers and Vendors. The selection criteria was developed and established. For existing thermal oxidizers, the assessment is more complex taking into consideration the nature of brownfield project and to ensure the proposed modification has minor impact to operability and maintainability of existing facilities. This study has successfully enabled identification of feasible process technologies such as Caustic Scrubber, Seawater Flue Gas Desulfurization and Ammonia based Desulfurization to meet the desired emission limit at thermal oxidizer outlet for Oil and Gas Industry and supporting environmental protection. The selected technology is varies based on plant/project specific requirement. Among main considerations are the by-product management, consumable and utility consumption as well as compatibility of the technology with existing plant on shutdown requirement.

scholarly journals Current state of the ecosystem of the reservoir cooler (on the example of the Surgut Power Station)

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 113-118
Author(s):  
Elena Aleksandrovna Shornikova ◽  
Gleb Mikhaylovich Kukurichkin
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Water Area ◽  
Ecological Condition ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Water Object ◽  
Microbiological Methods ◽  
Self Cleaning

Rapid development of an oil and gas industry in the north of Western Siberia in the middle of the 20th century has demanded a significant amount of the electric power. This strategic task was carried out step by step in the neighborhood of Surgut (the largest oil and gas industry center on the Middle Priobye). Two gas-fired power stations have been consistently constructed. The integrated reservoir cooler has been built on the river Chernaya for cooling of circulating water in the system of reverse water supply of power plants. The article presents the assessment of consequences of flooding at construction of the Surgut reservoir. The total area of the water area of a reservoir is 2211 hectares, including 50% of forest, 20% of meadow, 5% of peat bog communities were under flooding. The authors of the paper develop the basic ecological map of the reservoir and neighborhood with the indication of natural and technogenic objects. Moreover they give the results of two years' monitoring of microbial community structure in the coastal zone of the reservoir cooler. They find it is important to provide the assessment of intensity of self-cleaning processes of the water object and analyze the sources of anthropogenic load on the water object. The microbiological methods which important to use for bio indication of an ecological condition of the Surgut reservoir have allowed to estimate the trophic status, to reveal ecologically unsuccessful sites of the water area, and to define intensity of self-cleaning processes in the water body.

Digitisation will cut energy sector costs globally

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Oil Industry ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Added Value ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
World Economic

Significance While many industries have been transformed by the development of such new digital technologies as data analytics and artificial intelligence, the oil and gas industry has been a laggard. That is starting to change as the industry looks to new technologies to help it become more efficient and productive. The oil price downturn, which has put a premium on cost cutting, has accelerated the move to take up new technologies. The opportunity is significant, with a World Economic Forum report (pdf) from earlier this year claiming that the industry could generate 1 trillion dollars in added value over the next decade by embracing digitisation. Impacts Local communities in oil-producing regions face disruption as digitisation reduces employment and puts a premium on high-tech skills. The oil industry will be a significant new market for tech firms working on artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation. Embracing new technologies could help the oil industry attract younger workers, a key challenge as a wave of older talent retires.

Considerations Regarding Environmental Aspects of Risk Management in the Oil and Gas Industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 213-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mădălina Albu
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Management System ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Majority Population ◽  
System Risk

The current global industry depends to a large extent on oil, gas and products. Hydrocarbons form of oil and its derivatives have become the main source of energy for the majority population. Crude oil, through its many uses is very important because it is cleaner than coal and cheaper and easier to transport than natural gas. Sometimes it called "black gold" and provides nearly half of the energy used in the world. Without it, would block transportation and large industrial equipment or thermal power plants could not operate.All activities of an organization involve risks and risk management is the process of substantiating the decision, taking into account the effects of uncertainty on objectives materialize and the establishment of measures and actions needed. To have the expected effectiveness within the organization, risk management must become an integral part of the administration, politics and culture of the organization. Environmental risk management differs significantly from other types of risk management due to the fact that its particular characteristics reflecting the complexity of the environmentEnvironmental risk management is an integral part of the overall management system. Establishing detailed integration or interaction management system risk management system or environmental management systems implemented by the organization must not lead to increase resources needed for this process.Safety and environmental issues top the agenda remains in the oil and gas companies when it comes to risk management. Oil and natural gas, both extraction and transport, has a range of important risks both to workers from these activities by accidents at work are exposed to people from neighboring villages (major accident) and for the environment.This paper presents theoretical and practical considerations regarding the implementation of the concept of risk management in their activity in the oil and gas industry and emphasizes the aspects of the environmental risks of oil industry. In the first part of the paper theoretical considerations are made on risk management and risk management standard. In the second part also presents practical aspects of how risk management is implemented in the oil and gas industry.

De-escalation strategies for kleptocracy in Nigeria’s oil sector

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 821-834
Author(s):  
Vasudev Das
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Results

Purpose The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore strategies for the de-escalation of kleptocracy in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. Design/methodology/approach The author used a qualitative case study to facilitate the generation of data from eight research participants in semi-structured open-ended interviews. Findings The themes that emerged from analysis of interview transcriptions were high self-control, traditional African oath of office, whistleblowing, stiffer penalties for corrupt officials, education and training, self-regulation and sonic therapeutic intervention. Research limitations/implications Interviewees might withhold information regarding their insights on strategies for de-escalating kleptocracy. That was beyond my control. Practical implications The study results provided leaders with insightful comprehension of anti-kleptocracy policy in the oil and gas industry. Therefore, leaders would benefit and advance their decision-making process on the development and implementation of an anti-kleptocracy strategy to revamp the financial value of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. Social implications The results of the study have the potential to contribute to positive social change by enlightening government leaders and anti-corruption agencies on strategies to de-escalate kleptocracy in the oil and gas industry. Originality/value The study’s uniqueness enabled filling the gap in financial crime literature as well as an added value to the applied management and decision sciences domain.

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