DP in Ice Environment – Improving Safety and Efficiency of Arctic Operations: An Update

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present an update of various research activities of a multi-year research and development project aiming at developing dynamic positioning (DP) system technologies specifically for ice-rich environments. Since the beginning of the project in 2014, significant progress has been made in various activities that aimed at achieving the primary project objective of improving the safety and efficiency of oil and gas operations in ice infested environments through the enhancement of existing DP system technologies for efficient operations and training of DP operators in simulated realistic ice environments by providing necessary exposure to DP operations in ice. Prototypes of multiple vessel models, ice force models, and other environmental force models have been developed and are being validated. A modularized simulation and validation platform has been developed for the integration, validation, testing of all these prototypes. The research team at the National Research Council's Ocean Coastal and River Engineering (NRC-OCRE) is on the verge of delivering the complete package of the simulation platform to the project lead, the Centre for Marine Simulation (CMS) at the Fisheries and Marine Institute (MI) of Memorial University of Newfoundland, for comprehensive checking and testing of the platform by the project commercial partner Kongsberg Digital Simulation (KDS) Ltd. In this article, an update on various activities regarding the physical model testing, numerical modeling and development of simulation platform is presented. Various modules of the prototype validation platform and their integration are discussed along with their current development status. A brief discussion on various components of the ice force modeling approach, the algorithms and implementation strategies is provided. Finally, the initial results of a number of DP in ice simulation cases and comparison with validation data is presented. A brief outline of the work remaining to be completed for achieving the project objectives, along with the associated limitations are also provided.

DP in ice environments—development of a dynamic positioning in ice validation platform (DPIVP)

“…While several of Metrikin's ice field generation methods are similar to that in DPIVP, the latter contains two alternative methods (Section 3.2.2). With respect to numerical models, the DPIVP also supports several types of ''engines'' that implement different ways to model icestructure interactions (see Section 3.8 and also previous studies of Islam and colleagues 1,3,5,6,8,10,25 ). There are also notable differences in the input and output.…”

“…5,6,9 The ice force model is developed using data from two extensive physical vessel model testing sessions (Vessel I and Vessel II testing) in the NRC-OCRE’s Ice Tank facility in St. John’s. 1,3,38–40 A major limitation in this engine is its inability to move floes in the ice field and hence provide floe updates back to the Simulation Executor. This engine was primarily used during development and testing of the numerical models and is not intended for use in a production system.…”

“…This is done in related publications such as by Islam and colleagues. 1,3,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The details of implementation and execution of the numerical models are hidden from the Simulation Controller. The Simulation Controller communicates with the numerical models through the Simulation Engine interface.…”

“…1 The primary objective was to improve the safety and efficiency of oil and gas operations in ice infested environments by enhancing existing DP system technologies used for operations and training of DP operators in simulated realistic ice environments. [1][2][3] To help achieve this goal, the dynamic positioning in ice validation platform (DPIVP) software was researched, designed, and built. The end result is a software prototype of ''alpha'' quality.…”

“…The end result is a software prototype of ''alpha'' quality. 4 The DPIVP consists of many components, including a novel ice force model to realistically simulate the dynamics of ice-structure interactions for real-time applications, 3,5,6 a vessel model, environment models, a two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) visualization, DP control, and a physics engine (see Section 3 and also previous studies by Islam and colleagues 1,3,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] ). Additional software tie together these components to form a complete software system.…”