DNV GL has established a joint industry project (JIP) to develop a risk-based maintenance methodology with the aim to deliver more effective and cost-efficient blowout preventers (BOP) maintenance.
The maintenance of BOPs has significant financial, logistical and safety implications for drilling operators and rig owners. Several BOP manufacturers, operators, rig owners and shelf state regulators have already joined the JIP, and others may still come on board.
BOPs have traditionally been subject to time-based maintenance, which can create critical challenges, such as unstructured maintenance management, reduced reliability and equipment overhauls, which consequently may lead to increased operational downtime.
DNV GL says a risk-based maintenance approach aims to mitigate these issues.
“Benefits include increased safety and operability by improving BOP performance, the introduction of lifecycle design input and increased maintainability. Ultimately, this should deliver optimal maintenance planning, thereby reducing costs,” says Rui Quadrado, DNV GL project manager.
Current regulation proposes the use of alternatives to time-based maintenance. The Petroleum Safety Authority of Norway, in particular, has focused on the drilling operators’ maintenance functions, and this has increased industry understanding of risk-based maintenance.
DNV GL says the JIP is looking into this knowledge and will provide a recommended practice or international standard, in which effective maintenance tasks will be identified and a cost-benefit analysis of these tasks will be evaluated.
In May, DNV GL announced it acquired Marine Cybernetics at Houston’s Offshore Technology Conference. Notable for introducing Hardware-In-Loop testing to the industry, Trondheim’s Marine Cybernetics was established in 2002 as a spin-off from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
Image from DNV GL of BOP maintenance
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