Siemens has developed Topsides 4.0, a solution aimed to facilitate offshore production transition to a fully digital operation.
Siemens said on Tuesday that the solution was designed to reduce project cycle time, minimize unplanned downtime, and reduce offshore manning for operations and asset monitoring.
According to the company, the Topsides 4.0 offers a holistic digital roadmap to transform offshore oil and gas production.
The solution begins during the conceptual and design phase of an offshore project and enables digital project management and manufacturing, virtual testing and commissioning, and finally, delivers an intelligent digital twin of the topsides facility.
The digital twin comprises a virtual replica of the facility, the process, and the automation system and how they interact, and can assist in reducing life cycle costs through performance analytics and asset optimization in a virtual environment.
Judy Marks , CEO Siemens USA and of the Dresser-Rand business, said: “Digitalization is not a passing trend, but rather a foundational value-add technology in the oil and gas industry. Companies should not view digitalization as an IT initiative, but rather a business transformation initiative implemented via operational technology and enabled by IT.”
Marks also added: “For offshore vessels to reap the full benefits of digitalization, we must combine our customer’s domain expertise with Siemens’ knowledge of products, automation and data analytics. Getting to the point where oil and gas companies feel comfortable sharing data in a secure but open ecosystem will be critical as we jointly reinvent the oil and gas industry of today and tomorrow.”
The components comprising the Topsides 4.0 digital solution have been used before. For example, Siemens delivered digital performance analytics for Aker BP’s Ivar Aasen offshore project off the Norwegian coast that enables Aker BP to reduce the platform’s physical manpower and optimize equipment maintenance schedules.
Since the project was successful, Aker BP and Siemens created a long-term strategic partnership last spring to continue delivering digital lifecycle automation and performance analytics for Aker BP’s future field development projects.