Technology from Europe
NORWAY / CASE STUDY

Software integration standard reduces commissioning delays, operational downtime

DAVID N. CARD, Det Norske Veritas

The Borgland Dolphin is on track to be issued the first ISDS class certification.

Offshore rigs and drillships are increasingly dependent on complex controls and automation. However, industry practices have been slow to adapt to this software-intensive environment. Delays in commissioning and operational downtime due to software and integration problems are commonplace. For example, modern drillships frequently experience delays of seven months or more in commissioning. After vessels become operational, problems continue to emerge. Often these problems cannot be fixed by staff normally onboard, leading to delays in bringing critical systems back online while the necessary expertise is located. Preventing defects from being installed in the first place is the most cost-effective solution to these problems.

Det Norske Veritas has developed a new optional offshore rule, Offshore Standard D-203, for integrated software-dependent systems (ISDS), to help ensure the delivery of systems with greater operational reliability. The ISDS rule focuses on two critical aspects of newbuilds: software quality and systems integration. Software often has not been fully tested by suppliers prior to installation at the yard. Even if each individual software component works as designed, problems may occur because messages, handshakes and parameters are not consistently implemented across systems.

ISDS concepts. Other industries such as aerospace, automotive and medicine have responded to the software and system quality challenge by adopting models of generally accepted good practices. One of the best-established of these models is the Capability Maturity Model–Integration (CMMI), from the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

In 2008, DNV published Recommended Practice D-201 for ISDS, based on the CMMI and similar models. One of the innovations of ISDS is that it assigns responsibility for each practice to one or more roles: owner, operator, system integrator, suppliers and independent verifier. Participants in an ISDS workshop that DNV conducted in 2010 for Petrobras and its automation suppliers agreed that this allocation of activities to roles would help to systematize quality expectations and responsibilities within a project team.

Another important feature of ISDS is that it requires the designation of a system integrator. This can be the shipbuilder, the major automation supplier or a specialized contractor. ISDS defines the activities to be performed by the system integrator, which focus on managing requirements and interfaces among the rig systems.

The ISDS-required practices for suppliers focus on ensuring that software quality is built into vendors’ products through systematic reviews, inspections and testing. All of these requirements are generally accepted good practices in software engineering.

After using the recommended practice (RP) on more than 10 projects, DNV evolved the ISDS approach into the new offshore standard (OS D-203) in 2010, at the request of rig owners. Packaging as an OS makes it easy for rig owners to apply ISDS to contracts as part of the classification structure used in the industry. As the independent verifier, DNV conducts process audits and follows up to ensure that the system integrator and suppliers implement required practices on the owner’s project.

Early adopters. Seadrill and Dolphin Drilling have been early adopters of the ISDS approach. DNV conducted a pilot project of the RP version with Seadrill in 2009, resulting in several improvements to newbuild and operations practices.

Currently, DNV is engaged with Dolphin Drilling in an effort that should lead to the issuance of the first ISDS class certificate within the next couple of months. The preventive maintenance, HVAC and blackout prevention systems of the Borgland Dolphin semisubmersible are being upgraded in accordance with the ISDS rule.

As part of the classification process, DNV conducted comprehensive process assessments of the Dolphin Drilling, system integrator and supplier processes to determine if they conform to the requirements of OS D-203. Action plans were developed to address the findings of the assessments. DNV reviewed and approved the action plans, then verified that the agreed-upon processes were applied to the software development and systems integration work performed on the upgrade project. This approach identified many problems earlier than they otherwise would have been, and gave all project team members insight into the status and quality of the software upgrades long before commissioning began.

The voyage ahead. The oil and gas industry’s dependence on software, control systems and automation will continue to increase, just as it has for other industries. For example, the trend toward integrated operations requires larger, more complex and more diverse systems. The idea of integrated operations is to move more operational personnel onshore and to integrate the various specialties, such as by putting geophysical data analysts in close contact with drillers. The intended efficiencies can only be realized with dependable software and communications. The ISDS approach will help to ensure a successful outcome of these challenging projects.

DAVID N. CARD is the Technical Director of Software and Systems Reliability for Det Norske Veritas USA. Prior to joining DNV in 2005, he worked in the aerospace industry. /
david.card@dnv.com