The Oil & Gas industry is rapidly evolving towards extreme digitalization. Simulations and digital twins are revolutionizing the way we think about the development and deployment of projects, products and services. Indeed, a digital twin is a virtual representation of a real-world physical system or product serving as the indistinguishable digital counterpart for practical purposes, such as system simulation, integration, testing, monitoring, and maintenance.
Digital twins are commonly divided into different types. For the purposes of this study, we will refer to “plant” 3D digital twin, which is intended as the digital copy of a plant or worksite, and used for training, construction, maintenance, HAZOPS, and similar purposes.
In this paper we present a new methodology combining digital twins and remote learning to improve personnel engagement on site induction training and to speed up well site access process in the Oil & Gas industry.
We have designed and realized several well pad areas digital twins of existing Company O&G land rig sites located in Basilicata (Italy) to be used for safety induction and training of personnel and visitors prior to their access to site.
The availability of the simulator on a web-based platform, accessible to personnel and visitors via authentication (login/password) from any location with an Internet connection, allows the Company to improve the induction process, avoiding time-consuming briefings at the time of site access.
The induction process attended via the web-based immersive training simulator allows trainees to virtually walk-through a 3D reproduction of the Drilling & Workover sites. This builds confidence with a realistic scenario of the well pad area and the equipment used, as well as a complete understanding of the mechanisms involved, of the alarm procedures in case of emergency and of all related risks.
The simulator also gives the Company the possibility to monitor the whole training process from its beginning to its completion, and to evaluate the trainees’ final acquired competences.
