Advanced Simulations_tcm4-384100 by DNV Columbus

Advanced simulations DNV serving the energy industry

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The energy industry is entering new frontiers applying new designs and technologies, often in extreme environments. These operations carry significant inherent safety and environmental risks which can escalate into major accidents. As such, companies need to quantify those risks in an accurate way in order to avoid major accidents and determine cost-effective risk reduction measures that improve safety and minimise production downtime.

cutting edge technology Standard analytical techniques cannot always adequately capture the impact of novel and different designs, technology and operating environments. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis combined with advanced risk models can provide the high level of accuracy required and better insight into the physics of such complex problems. With our deep technical expertise in advanced simulations and practical experience in technology solutions, DNV is ideally positioned to provide our customers with safe and cost efficient solutions that meet industry best practice.

THE BUSINESS LIFE CYCLE

DNV – assisting companies in the energy industry along the entire life cycle to safeguard and improve business performance PROJECT PROJECT PHASES: PHASES:

STRATEGY

DNV ENERGY DNV ENERGY DELIVERIES: DELIVERIES:

FEASIBILITY & CONCEPT SELECTION

DESIGN

ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT SHE RISK MANAGEMENT ADVANCED SIMULATIONS TECHNOLOGY QUALIFICATION VERIFICATION ASSET RISK MANAGEMENT OFFSHORE CLASSIFICATION

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CONSTRUCTION

INSTALLATION & COMMISSIONING

OPERATION & LIFE EXTENSION

DECOMMISSIONING

Advanced simulations

Advanced simulations, implemented via the integration of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Finite Element (FE) structural analyses and advanced risk models, are routinely used today to determine risks to people and key assets arising from various events such as fires, explosions and toxic releases. DNV’s highly qualified and experienced specialists and engineers provide cutting edge solutions to complex fluid flow and structural problems that allow you to make optimal risk based decisions.

Advanced simulations allow for the modelling of complex geometries and scenarios based on consideration of the relevant flow physics, providing more accurate and detailed information than simplified approaches. The output from the simulations can be viewed using 3D visualisation capabilities which provide engineers and designers with detailed understanding of complex fires, explosions and flow patterns involved, as well as confidence and assurance in the validity of proposed solutions. By applying these advanced simulations from feasibility and concept selection to life extensions, our customers obtain significant benefits in terms of cost effective solutions and meeting regulatory and industry best practice. OUR APPROACH DNV provides bespoke solutions to support our customers. Our approach is based on understanding our customer’s needs and combining our wide area of technical expertise and our extensive practical experience to provide our customers with optimal solutions. DNV is one of the pioneers in the provision of advanced simulation services within the areas of fires and explosions. Our in-house research and development work combined with our active participation in international Joint Industry Projects and forums (Hysafe, FABIG) ensure that we are at the forefront of technological development. For example, following the Piper Alpha disaster, we participated in the research work which led to pivotal changes within the oil and gas industry.

Through extensive research and development work, we have developed state-of-the-art procedures for probabilistic analysis of explosions and fires. DNV scientists and engineers regularly present at major conferences and have articles published widely in internationally recognised journals in the field of advanced simulations. Working with major oil and gas companies globally, we have carried out a large number of projects on various assets including: ► FPSOs ► Jacket platforms ► Gravity based platforms ► Semi submersible platforms ► Drillships and drillrigs ► Onshore plants ► Refineries and petrochemical plants ► LNG plants and terminals ► Process industry plants DNV’s approach differentiates us from our competitors. Our advanced simulations expertise is based on a holistic approach, where the probabilistic loading and response can be systematically evaluated whilst considering a range of project-specific variables, activities, their interdependence, and effects, thus allowing us to confidently make judgments and provide value adding opinions and recommendations with respect to gaps and potential areas for improvement.

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Working with major oil and gas companies globally, we have carried out a large number of projects on various assets.

OUR EXPERTISE Our global in-house expertise in advanced simulations provides our customers with confidence and assurance in our capability to deliver tailored cost effective solutions. We assist our customers to understand and design for risks posed by extreme events throughout the entire lifetime of their assets. Our deep theoretical understanding of the flow physics and structural behaviour combined with our extensive technological knowledge allow us to work closely with our customers to develop practical risk-based solutions. DNV’s global reach with CFD teams based in Oslo, Bergen, London, Rio, Houston and Kuala Lumpur means that we can understand and address our customer’s local requirements. The various teams work collaboratively within a global network to share the latest developments and provide quality assurance to project work worldwide. OUR SOLUTIONS Our services include: ► Probabilistic explosion analysis ► Probabilistic fire analysis ► Integrated probabilistic fire and explosion analysis ► Ventilation studies for hazardous area classification ► Helideck turbulence analysis ► Exhaust gas dispersion ► Fire radiation, smoke and gas dispersion ► Gas detector studies ► Integrated wind chill and ventilation analysis ► H2/LNG/CO2 dispersion analysis ► Structural response analysis ► Accident investigation

We use a range of commercial and in-house software packages that provides the flexibility to tailor our approach. BENEFITS ► Deeper level of detail allows engineers to understand the real physics of the problem and thereby devise optimal solutions. ► Impact of various mitigating measures can be investigated via sensitivity studies. ► Avoids excessive conservatism by modelling the complex physics of the problem thereby lowering design loads which leads to potentially significant savings in material costs.

► Identification of key explosion issues at early stages leads to cost-effective layout management. ► Risk communication via the 3D visualisation capabilities provides confidence and assurance to all stakeholders that the results are based on sound physics. ► Solid foundation for decision making. ► Reduced risk and avoidance of hidden pitfalls. ► Identification of cost-effective mitigation measures and development of optimal solutions.

CASE:

EXPLOSION ANALYSIS FOR AN ONSHORE PLANT

Explosion analyses were carried out for a new onshore plant that will process unstabilised oil extracted from wells in order to produce stabilised oil, sales gas, LPG and by-products for export. The facilities included wellheads, central plant facility and associated utilities, storage area, LPG facility, building/administrative area and a technical building near the process units. The main concern for the client was the loads on the pipe rack and key equipment from an explosion in the process areas.

DNV carried out 3D explosion modelling to determine the maximum credible explosion hazard and associated peak overpressure/ impulse/drag loads on key elements. DNV illustrated the variation of the maximum explosion load within the key congested volume(s) with elevation within the process area (primarily with respect to the pipe rack) and also in the near-field to far-field transition, accounting for the sloping and changing topography just outside the main process equipment areas.

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A total risk based approach At DNV, we assist customers in finding the optimal solution to address their specific needs. More importantly, we combine our services to provide a total risk based approach that encompasses both the fluid flow aspects and the structural response to maximise potential for cost efficient solutions.

A COMPLETE SUITE OF SERVICES ► PROBABILISTIC EXPLOSION ANALYSIS

DNV routinely carries out probabilistic explosion analyses to assist our customers with determining design accidental loads (DAL) on their blast walls and other key structural elements and also to assess the effectiveness of mitigating measures. DNV recommends following the NORSOK Z-013 procedure, which involves a fully transient assessment and 3D FLACS ventilation, gas dispersion and explosion simulations, as well as a probabilistic assessment using DNV’s in-house program “EXPRESS.”

► PROBABILISTIC FIRE ANALYSIS

DNV has developed a state-of-the-art procedure for safe design of process areas against fires. The procedure is probabilistic (ExpressFire) and also utilises detailed Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of fires in the actual geometries as well as detailed dynamic structure heat up and collapse simulations. The procedure is well received by operators in the North Sea and Brazil as the risk is controlled by optimising flare and emergency shutdown systems together with significant savings in the use of Passive Fire Protection (PFP) on structure, process pipes and equipment. The programs PFPro, FAHTS and USFOS are used to perform structural response analyses. The increased detail in this novel procedure ensures that the weak links and risk drivers are identified with much higher confidence than in earlier procedures thereby ensuring that safe and cost optimal solutions are found.

► INTEGRATED PROBABILISTIC FIRE AND EXPLOSION ANALYSIS

DNV provides customers with integrated fire and explosion analysis using DNV ExpressFire software. Fires and explosions often have conflicting mitigating measures. By weighting the different risks from the same tool, we can help you make the right decisions about the configuration of decks and walls as well as optimisation of flare and emergency shutdown systems.

► VENTILATION STUDIES FOR HAZARDOUS AREA CLASSIFICATION

For process areas which are potentially poorly ventilated, an analysis to find the natural ventilation conditions is recommended. DNV provides customers with this analysis to show compliance with the requirements for ventilation conditions as well as give advice on how to improve the ventilation, if needed. Detailed CFD simulations are used for this study together with a probabilistic assessment using the DNV program ACH.f.

► HELIDECK TURBULENCE ANALYSIS

When the helideck is surrounded by large structures which can create shear layers and highly turbulent wind flows, an analysis to determine the impact of these conditions is recommended. The aim of the analysis is to compare turbulence levels and downdrafts with requirements and give recommendations for improvements and restrictions for operations, if needed.

CASE:

INTEGRATED FIRE AND EXPLOSION ANALYSIS ON PLATFORM

The effect of modifications arising from new wells and process equipment on fire and explosion risks needed to be assessed. A complete state-of-the-art fire and explosion risk analysis for all process modules in the platform was performed. The fire and explosion risk model was developed to reflect the changes to the process and geometry. The computer programs FLACS, KFX and ExpressFire were used for the consequence and risk assessment. This ensured that new knowledge about fires and explosions was utilised. The fire and explosion risk drivers were found together with effects of alternative mitigating measures.

The study highlighted areas where it was beneficial to protect against fires with optimal PFP protection and also allowed for the reduction of both fire and explosion risks by addressing natural ventilation in critical areas.

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A COMPLETE SUITE OF SERVICES continued ► EXHAUST GAS DISPERSION

To locate exhaust stacks on offshore installations can be challenging due to limited space and complex wind flow patterns. CFD is used to analyse releases from exhaust stacks and investigate concentration levels at working areas, air intakes, crane cabins, helicopter deck, etc. Concentration levels and temperatures at different target areas are compared with requirements and the resulting wind flow patterns are examined to give clues as to how to improve the exhaust pipe design and location.

► RADIATION, SMOKE AND GAS ANALYSIS

Fire analyses are offered with the CFD tool KFX in order to provide advice as to how to best protect against fire impact on critical areas such as escape routes, bridges, muster stations, etc. Leak and subsequent dispersion of flammable gases are simulated with FLACS or KFX providing solutions as to where to best locate air intakes and other critical ignition sources and the routing of escape routes. These analyses can form a part of the overall Quantitative Risk Analyses (QRA) as well.

► GAS DETECTOR STUDIES

DNV offers analyses to optimise the number and location of flammable gas detectors in process areas. The DNV developed program GDOZ utilises a probabilistic approach to decide on the best gas detector location. CFD tools are used to obtain the gas dispersion for potential gas leaks in the area, and results are used as input to GDOZ to obtain a detailed map of where it is most likely that gas is detected earliest. The solution is then used to recommend optimal locations for the placement of gas detectors.

► INTEGRATED WIND CHILL AND VENTILATION ANALYSIS

These analyses provide the optimal wind protection arrangement for both acceptable workers comfort and the lowest possible fire and explosion risk. The analyses are also performed with the same risk tools as our other services providing a consistent approach to all analyses. The program WCI.f is used for the wind chill analysis, and the fire and explosion assessment is performed with KFX, FLACS and ExpressFire.

► H2/LNG/CO2 DISPERSION ANALYSIS

DNV is pioneering the way of modelling dispersion from novel substances such as CO2, LNG and Hydrogen. The modelling techniques, ranging from empirical correlations to CFD simulations, are frequently validated against available measurements in order to provide our customers with reliable solutions. DNV is also actively participating in research projects and international JIPs (EU project HYSAFE) where the development and validation of prediction models is performed in order to provide our customers with reliable results.

► STRUCTURAL RESPONSE ANALYSIS

DNV offers both simplified and detailed structural analysis based on our customers requirements. Simplified structural response analyses can be performed according to DNV-RP-C204 for explosion loads or Eurocode 3 for fire. Refined analysis of structural response to fire is performed with FAHTS/USFOS. Refined analysis of structural response to explosions can be performed by USFOS or by ABAQUS depending on the structural design.

► INCIDENT INVESTIGATION

In the unfortunate event of a fire and/or explosion, it is often important to carry out the investigation as early as possible after the incident in order to obtain valuable clues as to its origin. DNV’s team of experts offer to perform accident investigations at short notice worldwide. Simulation programs are also applied in order to determine the immediate cause of the accident and possible preventive actions.

Flexibility through tools DNV uses a range of commercial and in-house software packages that provides the flexibility to tailor our approach to meet our customers needs.

COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE ► FLACS (FLAME ACCELERATION SIMULATOR)

FLACS is a commercially available software which is recognised within the industry as the leading software for explosion analysis. FLACS is developed by Gexcon and is an advanced CFD tool for the modelling of ventilation, gas dispersion and vapour cloud explosions in complex process areas. DNV uses FLACS in combination with the in-house tool EXPRESS to deliver probabilistic explosion analyses as well as ventilation studies, wind chill analyses for work environment, gas detector optimisation, helideck, gas and exhaust dispersion studies.

► KFX (KAMELEON FIREEX)

KFX is one of the most advanced CFD tool for process plant fire simulations, gas dispersion and flare simulations and is becoming an industry standard. DNV uses KFX for the Passive Fire Protection (PFP) optimisation analyses, fire Design Accidental Load (DAL) analyses, ship smoke spread analyses, dispersion analyses for release and air intake location optimisation.

► FAHTS/USFOS

FAHTS is a specialised tool for structural response analyses. It has an interface to the CFD tool Kameleon Fire Ex. FAHTS prepares temperature data for structural response analysis with USFOS. USFOS is a specialised tool for ultimate resistance evaluation of typical offshore structures providing: ► Models for entire physical member: Column buckling, local buckling, denting, and membrane action is detected even for only one finite element per physical member. ► Models for Accidental Loads: Boat impact, explosion, earthquake, fire, dropped objects, etc.

► ANSYS CFX

CFX is a versatile CFD tool with capability for unstructured meshing which makes it better suited to coping with complex terrain effects for dispersion studies, fires in tunnels, and multi and single phase flow in complex geometries. DNV recommends applying CFX for LNG and CO2 dispersion studies as well as for flow assurance.

► ABAQUS

ABAQUS/Standard is a general tool for linear and nonlinear Finite Element analyses. It employs solution technology ideal for static and low-speed dynamic events. It gives implicit solutions for a range of contact and nonlinear material options for static, dynamics, thermal, and multiphysics analyses. ABAQUS/Explicit can be used for high-speed, nonlinear, transient response and multiphysics applications. This is appropriate for many applications such as drop test, collision studies, crushing and manufacturing processes.

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IN-HOUSE SOFTWARE ► EXPRESS

EXPRESS is a code for calculation of explosion risk in process platforms/plants. It is a well established code within DNV to deliver probabilistic explosion analyses following the NORSOK Z-013 Annex G procedure. The EXPRESS program includes consequence models for a transient general gas leak, leak rate calculations, ventilation, gas dispersion modelling, gas detection, ignition, as well as explosion pressure models. The ventilation, gas dispersion and explosion consequence models are directly linked to the results from the FLACS CFD simulations providing detailed information of the actual design at hand. This allows the program to investigate effects of design changes providing hands-on decision basis for the safety design team. Due to its general consequence model and the inclusion of explosion mitigation efforts in the models, EXPRESS is ideal to determine the most effective explosion mitigation strategy.

► EXPRESSFIRE

ExpressFire is a tool which is integrated with EXPRESS for the calculation of fire risks to oil and gas platforms/plants. It uses the same consequence models for everything from the release to ignition as EXPRESS, and adds on a new model for fires. The fire model is also linked to results from KFX fire simulations. The main advantage using ExpressFire is to obtain realistic Dimensioning Accidental Loads (DAL) fire loads where the effects of mitigating measures on safety design (firewalls, blowdown, Emergency Shut Down (ESD)) are included. The optimal protection can be found by first designing a good blowdown system and installing PFP only on the pipes and structures where it is needed.

► PFPRO

PFPro is a tool used for optimisation of Passive Fire Protection on process pipes. The DAL fire load from ExpressFire or other sources is used as input together with the characteristics of the pipes and inside fluid and flow conditions. A solution is first found where the flare and ESD systems are fully utilised in order to reduce the need for PFP on pipes. The amount of PFP needed on pipes is further minimised by the dynamic response analysis in PFPro ensuring that only pipes which can collapse in a DAL fire will have PFP applied.

► THOREXPRESSLITE

ThorExpressLite is a simplified tool to find DAL explosion pressures and optimise the design against explosions and select mitigating measures in the concept phases of a development. The code is similar to Express but does not use CFD results to obtain the consequences. The explosion results are replaced with DNV’s experience based explosion prediction tool (Thor) and a database of results from ventilation and dispersion simulations in typical offshore modules.

► ACH

Air Changes per Hour (ACH.f) is a tool for the calculation of the probability distribution of the ventilation rate in a module. It uses results from ventilation simulations from FLACS to give the ACH rate for different wind directions and speeds. The combination with the wind rose gives the overall yearly probability distribution of the ventilation rate.

► WCI

Wind Chill Index (WCI.f) is a tool for the calculation of contour plots in a working area showing the percentage of time with conditions above and below acceptable limits. The code uses detailed results from FLACS CFD calculations of the wind field inside the area for all wind directions. The CFD wind field data is combined with wind and temperature statistics in order to find the local probability distribution of wind cooling effect on humans.

► GDOZ

Gas Detector OptimiZation (GDOZ.f) is a tool for finding the probability of having flammable gas in a detailed contour plot overlaying the process area. It uses a large number of gas dispersion simulations from FLACS integrated with the wind rose to determine the more and the less likely areas where flammable gas can be present. These results are subsequently used in an assessment to decide where the gas detectors should be optimally located.

DNV locations DNV serves the energy industry from more than 40 primary locations worldwide. In addition, we draw on DNVÂ´s entire worldwide network of 300 offices in 100 countries.

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DNV ENERGY MAIN OFFICES:

Aberdeen Cromarty House 67-72 Regent Quay Aberdeen AB11 5AR United Kingdom Tel: +44 1224 335000 Abu Dhabi Plot No. 252/Area W47 23rd Street Al Mushrif Area Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 2 447 5915 Antwerp Duboisstraat 39 b1 2060 Antwerp Belgium Tel: +32 3 206 65 40 Beijing Room B2107 Hanwei Plaza No.7 Guanghua Road Chaoyang District Beijing 100004 China Tel: +86 10 6561 7076 Bergen Johan Berentsensvei 109-111 P.O.Box 7400 NO-5020 Bergen Norway Tel: +47 55 94 36 00 Buenos Aires Carlos Pellegrini 1023, 4th floor C1009ABU Cdad. Aut. de Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina Tel: +54 11 4021 4200

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DNV Veritasveien 1 NO-1322 Høvik, Norway Tel: +47 67 57 99 00 Fax: +47 67 57 99 11 www.dnv.com/energy

07-2009. Design: Coor Graphic Services 0906-043. Front cover: Steve Cole/Photodisc/Getty Images; DNV, p2 Andrey Volodin/iStockphoto, p7 DNV, Øyvind Hagen/StatoilHydro, p8 Dag Myrestrand/StatoilHydro, p10 Creatas/JupiterImages, p13 DNV