Designing Security Policies for Complex SCADA Systems Protection

The management and protection of these SCADA systems must constantly evolve towards integrated decision making and policy driven by cyber security requirements. The current research stream in this domain aims, accordingly, to foster the smartness of the field equipment which exist through the generic concept of SCADA management and operation. Those components are governed by policies which depend on the components roles, as well as on the evolution of the crisis which also confer to the latter the latitude to react based on their own perception of the crisis evolution. Their latitude is calculated based on the component smartness and is strongly determined by, and depending on, the cyber safety of the component environment. Existing work related to crisis management tends to consider that components evolve and are organized in systems but as far as we know, no systemic solution exists which integrates all of the above requirements. This paper proposes an innovative version of ArchiMate® for the SCADA components modelling purpose to enrich their collaborations and, more particularly, the description of their behavior endorsed in the cyber-policy. Our work has been illustrated in the frame of a critical infrastructure in the field of petroleum supply and storage networks

Designing Security Policies for Complex SCADA Systems Protection

The management and protection of these SCADA systems must constantly evolve towards integrated decision making and policy driven by cyber security requirements. The current research stream in this domain aims, accordingly, to foster the smartness of the field equipment which exist through the generic concept of SCADA management and operation. Those components are governed by policies which depend on the components roles, as well as on the evolution of the crisis which also confer to the latter the latitude to react based on their own perception of the crisis evolution. Their latitude is calculated based on the component smartness and is strongly determined by, and depending on, the cyber safety of the component environment. Existing work related to crisis management tends to consider that components evolve and are organized in systems but as far as we know, no systemic solution exists which integrates all of the above requirements. This paper proposes an innovative version of ArchiMate® for the SCADA components modelling purpose to enrich their collaborations and, more particularly, the description of their behavior endorsed in the cyber-policy. Our work has been illustrated in the frame of a critical infrastructure in the field of petroleum supply and storage networks

SOLUTION TO A PIPELINE SCHEDULING PROBLEM BY USING A MIXED INTEGER LINEAR PROGRAMMING MODEL

Pipelines are efficient ways of conveying huge amounts of refined petroluem products to distant points. Different products are pumped successively, in the pipelines without a need of a separator between them. Pipelines should be chosen very carefully based on the pumping sequences, volumes to be conveyed, covering the constraints involved by cutting operational costs and focusing on market demands. The real life problem considered in this study consists of a unidirectional pipe distribution system used for pumping petroleum products between the sources and distribution centers.  . Problem was stated as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model and solved by using GAMS software thorough actual data. As a result of the study, an optimal pumping schedule for pipeline operations at a certain period of time was achieved

Performance measurement in the natural gas industry: a case study of Ghana's natural gas supply chain

The main purpose of this research is to develop a performance measurement model for the entire supply chain that includes balanced set of performance measures. The conceptual model was validated empirically in case companies through semi-structured interviews and content analysis of documents. Performance measures are important to companies in the natural gas supply chain to assess performance against set objectives in order to identify loopholes in performance. This is important in order to remain competitive. The research found that both financial and non-financial performance measures are employed by companies to measure performance. The results also indicate that six performance criteria of the conceptual model are vital to the natural gas supply chain. In addition, all identified measures under each of criteria impact on performance of the supply chain with customer service and financial criteria considered as most important. The empirical data collected from the natural gas supply chain in Ghana was relatively small however, additional information was obtained from company data and relevant magazines. Also, getting through to specific target participant was a challenge due to busy work schedule but, in case companies where it proved impossible, other staff who were also involved in supply chain were interviewed instead. This research provides a useful source of information on performance measures for practitioners in the natural gas industry who wish to measure performance of their supply chain. It also provides areas from which further and additional research can be carried out. This research provides performance measures for the natural gas supply chain of Ghana. Typically, performance measures have been evaluated in discrete manufacturing supply chain, petroleum industry supply chain and oil industry supply chain. This research expanded on ideas from these studies and applied them in the natural gas industry

A mixed integer linear programming model for the optimal operation of a network of gas oil separation plants

Inspired from a real case study of a Saudi oil company, this work addresses the optimal operation of a regional network of gas oil separation plants (GOSPs) in Arabian Gulf Coast Area to ultimately achieve higher savings in operating expenditures (OPEX) than those achieved by adopting single-surface facility optimisation. An originally tailored and integrated mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is proposed to optimise the crude transfer through swing pipelines and equipment utilisation in each GOSP, to minimise the operating costs of a network of GOSPs. The developed model is applied to an existing network of GOSPs in the Ghawar field, Saudi Arabia, by considering 12 different monthly production scenarios developed from real production rates. Compared to rule-based current practice, an average 12.8% cost saving is realised by the developed model

Strategic and Tactical Crude Oil Supply Chain: Mathematical Programming Models

Crude oil industry very fast became a strategic industry. Then, optimization of the Crude Oil Supply Chain (COSC) models has created new challenges. This fact motivated me to study the COSC mathematical programming models. We start with a systematic literature review to identify promising avenues. Afterwards, we elaborate three concert models to fill identified gaps in the COSC context, which are (i) joint venture formation, (ii) integrated upstream, and (iii) environmentally conscious design