Training system for BP's Quad 204 North Sea FPSO

A €5.11 million (US$7 million) contract to provide its DeltaV™ Operator Training Solution (OTS) for BP’s Quad 204 North Sea FPSO replacement project has been awarded to Emerson. Training provided through the OTS will help BP personnel achieve safe, efficient operations and take full advantage of the integrated control and safety system (ICSS) that Emerson is providing under a separate contract.

“The OTS will provide a high fidelity dynamic simulation of the Quad 204 facilities,” said Carl Slatter, Quad 204 Project OMS Manager at BP. “It offers a safe environment for operators and others to learn the best ways to deal with situations they may face in actual operations.”

Emerson will install a fully operational training replica of the Quad 204 Project in Aberdeen, BP’s regional production centre, with the longer term aim of relocating it to the BP Upstream Learning Centre at Sunbury (GB). The OTS will include a virtualised DeltaV digital automation system for process control and DeltaV SIS™ for process and emergency shutdown and for fire and gas detection. High fidelity modelling of the topsides process and of an Olga subsea process will be provided by engineering contractor KBR and integrated into the virtual ICSS using SEEDS (Standard Entities for the Engineering of Dynamic Simulators) to ensure consistent implementation.

By providing an engineered, hands-on, process-specific learning environment, the DeltaV OTS will expose operators to what they will experience in their actual control room so they can gain experience in an off-line, non-intrusive environment. Personnel will learn both DeltaV operating concepts and the actual process, preparing operators to effectively handle abnormal situations and process upsets, as well as providing decision support.

“Operator training is an important part of any large project, especially offshore installations where onsite training is difficult to schedule and could delay the start of production,” said Larry Irving, vice president for oil and gas at Emerson Process Management. “The dynamic simulation provided by Emerson’s OTS makes training more realistic – ultimately helping BP to achieve safer and more efficient operation of the Quad 204 facilities.”

Pic: BP

The North Sea Quad 204 project will access the remaining hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Schiehallion and Loyal fields, which are located approximately 175 kilometres west of Shetland.  As part of this project Emerson Process Management has been awarded a $21 million USD contract to provide integrated control and safety systems for the new BP FPSO. The new vessel, which will replace the existing Schiehallion FPSO, will be 270 metres long by 52 metres wide and able to process and export up to 130,000 barrels a day of oil, and store in excess of 1 million barrels. Investment in this new facility will enable production to be extended out to 2035 and possibly beyond.