DNV Software’s users around the world frequently participate in regional user meetings. 2005 was no exception, with seven successful user meetings held in October alone. The continued support for such meetings illustrates the importance of providing this forum.
These meetings allow us to provide updates to users on the current status and strategic direction of our products and
solutions. They also provide a valuable insight into the latest technologies and features in our software for the marine, offshore and process industries, helping attendees to become more proficient users through the discussions and presentations included.
Our objective is to show the industry our strong commitment to providing you with the best tools, adding quality and productivity to your daily work as well as enabling us to receive feedback on status and plans.
We would like to thank all attendees for their continued support for these events. We hope they have helped the growing DNV Software user community worldwide to network with each other, and we are looking forward to seeing you again at the 2006 meetings.
Sesam and Nauticus user meetings
Shanghai, China
About 80 participants attended the meeting in Shanghai on 18 October. The meeting had four different tracks; Nauticus Hull for Common Structural Rules, Nauticus Early Design and IntelliShip for integrated ship design, Sesam for offshore design and strength assessment, and Nauticus Machinery for Shaft Alignment and Torsional Vibration Calculations.
In the common session, DNV Software presented Best Engineering Practice and Brix Workflow Manager, showing the results from the cooperation with DSME and DSEC. Our colleagues from Intergraph, DNV Software’s strategic partner, were in attendance to present the IntelliShip system, showing how it can be used to streamline and accelerate the entire marine design process.
Busan, Korea
Following the success in Shanghai, we held yet another successful user meeting in Busan for Region Korea and Japan on 20 October. The meeting attracted about 40 participants, mainly from the Korean shipbuilding industry.
The agenda included a number of plenary sessions focusing on Best Engineering Practice and Brix Workflow Manager using the results from the cooperation with DSME and DSEC with representatives from the clients in the audience. These were followed by an overview on the status and plans for our Sesam, Nauticus and Risk Management product suites.
The parallel sessions focused on more detailed technical or industry-specific topics, and covered presentations of Nauticus Hull for Common Structural Rules, Sesam for offshore design and strength assessment, and Nauticus Machinery for Shaft Alignment and Torsional Vibration Calculations.
Houston, Texas
The annual meeting in Houston for Sesam users took place on 25 October. The focus was on integration of Sesam and hydrostatic analysis, and on the designers’ need for efficient reporting.
The most recent version of DeepC, including fatigue, was presented to our US users in an open course earlier in the autumn; feedback was very positive. This was also the conclusion of Lihua Wang from DNV Technology Services Houston, after his presentation on fatigue calculations of risers in DeepC. Marine installations are often complex in nature, and it can be a challenge to understand the physics behind such operations.
The new graphical tool Simvis (to visualise results from Simo), presented by Frode Meling of Marintek, is an excellent
example of how graphics and animation can be used to illustrate the marine operational processes, enabling useful and constructive ‘what if’ analysis to be carried out before performing high-risk operations.
Brix Explorer, the state-of-the-art replacement for the Sesam Manager, was demonstrated showing an example case involving several analysis states and how to merge the results prior to a final results processing and code checking. Applying the principles of Best Engineering Practice as a framework, the examples showing hydrostatic analysis and model reporting were well received by the engineering community in Houston.
Risk Management user meetings
The first-ever integrated DNV Software risk management user meetings proved to be a valuable experience for all.
Paris and Houston
The Paris and Houston meetings in October attracted 75 users of Phast, Safeti and Neptune. This was the first time a joint meeting was held for users of all three product groups. The wider focus of these meetings allowed a broader variety of presentations to be included, covering topics such as Introduction to Onshore Risk and Offshore Consequence Modelling, all receiving positive feedback. During the afternoon session in Paris, parallel streams focused on modelling and product application. This more traditional conference format was well received, and we plan to extend this in 2006.
An external client presentation was given at each location. Dirk Roosendans of Total Petrochemicals gave a presentation in Paris, describing how quantitative risk analysis can be used with risk-based inspection. Randy Hawkins of Risk, Reliability, and Safety Engineering gave a presentation in Houston on how to best model relief valve and vent emissions using Phast. We would like to extend our thanks to both for their informative and popular presentations.
DNV Consulting attended both meetings, presenting their recent joint industry project which reviewed the use of Phast for LNG spills. The presentation compared results from DNV Consulting’s work with three other published papers, confirming the ability of Phast to accurately model LNG spills.
The meetings encouraged much discussion on subjects such as how to best establish leak frequency data and an opportunity for clients to give their thoughts regarding the direction in which our products should be developed. The Paris and Houston meetings prompted more than 50 suggestions on a wide range of topics. These included modelling enhancements, improved toxic modelling, more complex pool geometry and atmospheric conditions used for dispersion calculations. We would especially like to extend our appreciation to Rohm and Haas for hosting the Houston meeting and for their continued support of the DNV Software risk products.
Mexico City, Mexico
The meeting for Phast users in Mexico attracted almost 60 attendees. The meeting was held jointly in English and Spanish, enabling Spanish-speaking attendees to learn about the latest product developments. Jorge Ortiz, DNV Software’s agent in Mexico, organised the meeting and provided translations.
Continuing the theme of ‘managing risk’, this meeting included a number of product application presentations, such as how to model LNG or simulate releases from offshore platforms using Phast. Discussions on related software and their application to Phast users included sessions on Leak, used for leak frequency calculation, and Phast$, used to calculate the financial cost of unplanned releases.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
This was the first-ever Risk Management user meeting held in Brazil, attracting 22 users. The meeting was held jointly in English and Portuguese, enabling presentations by English-speaking staff, whilst local clients could comfortably raise questions and hold discussions in Portuguese. Mariana Bardy of DNV Principia gave two presentations, the first describing the use of QRA in Brazil using experience from a recent study for the Camaçari Complex in Bahia. The second presentation provided an overview of how best to model LNG using Phast, describing in detail recent work by DNV Consulting in this area.
Orbit Onshore user meeting
Antwerp, Belgium
The Orbit Onshore meeting was held on 6 December near Antwerp in Belgium, and was attended by 22 users.
Information was presented on the new features and enhancements in the latest release of Orbit Onshore, including an in-depth session on the new pressure relief valve module. Users were also able to learn about Orbit+ Inspection Databank System and the development of an interface with inspection software, which will provide them with a complete inspection management programme.
Many users were kind enough to share some of their experiences using Orbit Onshore in implementing RBI. René Goderie of Dow Chemical demonstrated how he uses RBI to address the specific inspection needs of a new plant. Xavier Arnault explained how Total Petrochemicals is implementing RBI and inspection management systems across its operations.
DNV’s Orbit users are very active in the RBI market, and work closely with companies in optimising their inspection activities. There were several presentations demonstrating the practical knowledge and experience gained through these collaborations. Abdul Sattar, of DNV Technology Services in Kuwait, gave a presentation on a major RBI and inspection management implementation project in the Middle East. Peter Galle, of DNV Consulting in Belgium, and Fernand-Jacques Guillou, of Lyondell, discussed the French regulatory requirements, the UIC/UFIP guidance and Orbit Onshore. John Hanks, of DNV Technology Services in Norway, and Martin Kyhlén, of Preemraff Lysekil, demonstrated the use of Orbit Onshore in a large refinery in Scandinavia.
All presentations provided valuable insight into the practicalities of using Orbit Onshore and RBI implementation at the plant level and the needs for integration of these analyses with other inspection and maintenance management programmes. The open discussions gave good insight into the various legislative environments and the levels of acceptance by regulators of flexible inspection intervals in different countries.
The future developments session was a great opportunity for us to get information on important issues in RBI and regulations that may affect the software.