Innovative Fire & Gas Detection & Control

The oil & gas industry is characterized by very high capital and operational costs of facilities: new projects, such as oil or gas processing plants, refineries, LNG plants involve investments frequently running into billions of euros. Operational costs are also very significant: the cost of chartering ships is tens of thousands of euros per day. The exploitation of opportunities for cost reduction and increased revenues can yield large dividends and increase margins. In order to assess the holistic performance of their asset portfolio, which is strongly affected by interdependence among assets, oil & gas companies need to use simulation modelling to analyze complex systems in order to improve the quality of decision making: by using simulation to conduct a series of ‘what-if’ analyses, they can ascertain how improvements can be made and benefits realized. Indeed, combinations of changes may prove to be synergistic and may lead to bigger returns, as well as the outcome of combinations of changes, which is sometimes counterintuitive, could prove disastrous if implemented. Simulation enables proposals to be fully validated and decisions to be consciously made with the support of a proven methodology. In short, the main benefit coming from the application of simulation techniques is the possibility to best-estimate the risk associated with major business decisions, reducing unnecessary conservatism. The paper provides an overview of the possible applications of simulation methodologies, a relatively simple example of which is shortly described, namely the Porto Empedocle LNG terminal carried out to support the terminal basic design. The model developed represents the logistic chain from the overseas loading terminals to the gas delivery to the network. The results of the simulation have been used by the Project holders to verify acceptability of the solutions developed and to optimize the terminal design