A Tale of Two Platforms- Imrandd host collaborative event with the Energy Institute
On the 10th of November, in collaboration with the Energy Institute Aberdeen, Highlands and Islands Branch (EI AHI) Imrandd hosted a special technical breakfast event. The topic was the advantage of an independent data-led approach to asset integrity management.
Hosted by EI AHI’s Vice Chair Dan Byrne at the newly refurbished Aberdeen Science Centre, the event was an online / offline hybrid to accommodate those who had an interest in attending but could not be there on the day.
A Tale of Two Platforms – Adam Lea Bischinger, Integrity Team Lead:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of a lack of integrity data insights.”
The presentations compared two versions of the same platform – in one version, traditional integrity management methodologies were applied in a way that many operators and supply chain partners would recognise, with inspection planning performed onshore, then scheduled for offshore enactment by a single service company.
The other version of the platform introduced Imrandd’s approach, where existing inspection data was checked, verified, structured and cleansed and interpreted using advanced data analysis techniques. This work was carried out independently of the enactment with the aim of understanding and optimising inspection effort.
Both models have advantages and disadvantages;
- When onshore planning and offshore enactment are combined, communication between the onshore and offshore teams improves.
- However, if the two are separated there exists a certain level of impartiality where one team is focused on the engineering and analysis, not driven, or motivated to perform more or less inspection.
Addressing integrity management challenges shared by operators across a constantly changing environment
“Integrity and inspection data can be of varying quality, multi-formatted and sporadically sourced, making it difficult to reliably plan and target inspections”, commented Mark Stone.
Data analytics is not yet universally adopted across operator companies; however, it can play a key role in sorting, cleansing, and trending this data to much better predict outcomes and facilitate improved decision making across an operator’s assets.
In this instance, Imrandd took over the onshore integrity management contract of a major global oil and gas operator with seven assets in the North Sea. The Imrandd team worked with the operator to gather and sort over 18 years’ worth of legacy data. With the support of the Imrandd team, they have optimised their future planning and enactment all the way to CoP in 2030.
Read more on this Integrity Management scope here.
Optimising pipework inspection strategies for a global operator – Mark Stone, Operational Data Team Lead
Mark Stone took the audience on a deep-dive into the data analytics methodologies applied in this case and how Imrandd delivered invaluable insight into the wider behaviour and threats of the assets.
The Data Team worked closely with the operator to develop an inspection strategy built on the existing internal and external corrosion data, using Imrandd’s proprietary analytics software, EXTRACT and EXACT, for data collection, validation and analysis. Our software enables rapid analysis of very large volumes of data. A key capability of the software is to deliver selected metrics and associated graphics. This provides insights into historical inspections achieved as well as corrosion behaviour throughout the different systems. These insights are fundamental to the development of inspection strategies, aimed at ensuring effective risk management whilst minimising non value adding inspection activities.
The output of the analysis achieved a 21% reduction in the output of inspection activities and £4 million cost savings to CoP across the operators’ seven assets.
To read more about this Data Analytics scope, view our case study.
Integrity Management led by Data Analytics – “I remember when you came in to see me and showed me the concept, [I thought] finally, somebody gets it”
The event concluded with a panel discussion led by Innes Auchterlonie, CEO at Imrandd, joined by Jim Saunderson, Mechanical and Pipelines Technical Authority at Apache (based in Aberdeen).
Jim discussed the challenges of moving away from a traditional Integrity Management approach: not just changing behaviours internally at the operator, but also with inspection companies.
He emphasised the areas in which Imrandd’s approach made a difference: Highlighting areas of over inspection, to supporting the development of a robust evidence-based strategy. Trust in the data was key, Jim recognised Imrandd’s approach to data and their analytics capability, as being a critical component in building a case for change.
“Companies are making decisions on this data, so we’ve got to get it [as] accurate as possible.”
He explained that for him the value lay in the understanding that the condition of the systems were reflected within a defined process, rooted by solid evidence.
“It’s not about blind faith in the output, it’s actually a deep understanding of the process”
A key area discussed was the motivation for engineers and operators to understand the analytics and the supporting methodologies. Innes explained that the advances made in Bayesian statics and machine learning, offers renewed opportunities for implementing these methods within the integrity space.
Advances in coding and development of processes mean that innovations such as these are being adopted in the wider industry as they become easier to understand and implement.
“The integrity engineer responsible for [the work] needs to be comfortable with, [and] understand the result and its limitations. So it’s not just taking a result and then saying, okay, well, we’re just going to implement that.”
For more about our approach to asset integrity, or for a demonstration of the technologies that we used to deliver the projects featured in these presentations, you can contact our business development team here, or book a free discovery session using the ‘book a demo’ link below.
Imrandd would like to extend their appreciation to the Aberdeen Science Centre for hosting the event in their excellent conferencing facility, the Energy Institute AHI branch for the support and collaboration, and to everyone who joined us at the event both in-person and online on a cold November morning!
For more information about the Aberdeen Science Centre, the work of the Energy Institute Aberdeen Branch, or to sign up for future Energy Institute events, follow these links:
