Subsea Blowout Preventer (BOP): Design, Reliability, Testing, Deployment, and Operation and Maintenance Challenges

Subsea blowout preventer (BOP) is a safety-related instrumented system that is used in underwater oil drilling to prevent the well to blowout. As oil and gas exploration moves into deeper waters and harsher environments, the setbacks related to reliable functioning of the BOP system and its subsystems remain a major concern for researchers and practitioners. This study aims to systematically review the current state-of-the-art and present a detailed description about some of the recently developed methodologies for through-life management of the BOP system. Challenges associated with the system design, reliability analysis, testing, deployment as well as operability and maintainability are explored, and then the areas requiring further research and development will be identified. A total of 82 documents published since 1980's are critically reviewed and classified according to two proposed frameworks. The first framework categorises the literature based on the depth of water in which the BOP systems operate, with a sub-categorization based on the Macondo disaster. The second framework categorises the literature based on the techniques applied for the reliability analysis of BOP systems, including Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), Reliability Block Diagram (RBD), Petri Net (PN), Markov modelling, Bayesian Network (BN), Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS), etc. Our review analysis reveals that the reliability analysis and testing of BOP has received the most attention in the literature, whereas the design, deployment, and operation and maintenance (O&M) of BOPs received the least

User-Oriented Methodology and Techniques of Decision Analysis and Support

This volume contains 26 papers selected from Workshop presentations. The book is divided into two sections; the first is devoted to the methodology of decision analysis and support and related theoretical developments, and the second reports on the development of tools -- algorithms, software packages -- for decision support as well as on their applications. Several major contributions on constructing user interfaces, on organizing intelligent DSS, on modifying theory and tools in response to user needs -- are included in this volume

Expanding the Horizons of Manufacturing: Towards Wide Integration, Smart Systems and Tools

This research topic aims at enterprise-wide modeling and optimization (EWMO) through the development and application of integrated modeling, simulation and optimization methodologies, and computer-aided tools for reliable and sustainable improvement opportunities within the entire manufacturing network (raw materials, production plants, distribution, retailers, and customers) and its components. This integrated approach incorporates information from the local primary control and supervisory modules into the scheduling/planning formulation. That makes it possible to dynamically react to incidents that occur in the network components at the appropriate decision-making level, requiring fewer resources, emitting less waste, and allowing for better responsiveness in changing market requirements and operational variations, reducing cost, waste, energy consumption and environmental impact, and increasing the benefits. More recently, the exploitation of new technology integration, such as through semantic models in formal knowledge models, allows for the capture and utilization of domain knowledge, human knowledge, and expert knowledge toward comprehensive intelligent management. Otherwise, the development of advanced technologies and tools, such as cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things, the Industrial Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, etc., have captured the attention of manufacturing enterprises toward intelligent manufacturing systems

Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World

The contributions cover a wide range of methodologies and application areas for safety and reliability that contribute to safe societies in a changing world. These methodologies and applications include: - foundations of risk and reliability assessment and management - mathematical methods in reliability and safety - risk assessment - risk management - system reliability - uncertainty analysis - digitalization and big data - prognostics and system health management - occupational safety - accident and incident modeling - maintenance modeling and applications - simulation for safety and reliability analysis - dynamic risk and barrier management - organizational factors and safety culture - human factors and human reliability - resilience engineering - structural reliability - natural hazards - security - economic analysis in risk managemen