NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THE MOORING PROCEDURES OF THE BGL-1 PIPELINE LAUNCHING BARGE

ABSTRACT The objective of this paper is to present the application of a computational tool intended to help the crew of the BGL-1 pipeline launching barge to develop safe mooring procedures. This tool is able to calculate the deformed catenary configuration of all mooring lines, regarding the subsea layout and the local environmental conditions, and taking into account one or more buoys attached to the mooring lines in order to avoid interference and accidents with subsea obstacles. One of the main characteristics of this computational tool is the fact that it is able to incorporate the correct definition of the seabed from bathymetric curves, and to automatically consider the position of the subsea obstacles, and possible interferences between the mooring lines and the obstacles. This is performed through a specialized interface with the SGO (Obstacles Management System) database system. This system, developed by Petrobras, contains frequently updated information about the bathymetry and position of subsea obstacles, gathered by a special vessel equipped with a ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle). Case studies will be presented, in order to illustrate the application of the system to the design of actual mooring procedures

A Roadmap for HEP Software and Computing R&D for the 2020s

Particle physics has an ambitious and broad experimental programme for the coming decades. This programme requires large investments in detector hardware, either to build new facilities and experiments, or to upgrade existing ones. Similarly, it requires commensurate investment in the R&D of software to acquire, manage, process, and analyse the shear amounts of data to be recorded. In planning for the HL-LHC in particular, it is critical that all of the collaborating stakeholders agree on the software goals and priorities, and that the efforts complement each other. In this spirit, this white paper describes the R&D activities required to prepare for this software upgrade.Peer reviewe

IPC2008-64251 SUBSEA PIPELAYING SIMULATION BY THE "SITUA-PETROPIPE" SOFTWARE -A USER FRIENDLY ALTERNATIVE

ABSTRACT Currently, Petrobras (the Brazilian state oil company) performs numerical simulations of pipelaying operations employing commercial software, such as OffPipe Therefore, the objective of this work is to present the development and application of a tailored, in-house noncommercial computational tool in which the modules follow Petrobras users' specifications, in order to overcome the limitations for specific needs and particular scenarios in the simulation of several types of pipeline procedures. Such tool, called SITUA-PetroPipe, presents a friendly interface with the user, for instance allowing the complete customization of the configuration of laybarge and stinger rollers. It also includes novel analysis methods and formulations, including the ability of coupling the structural behavior of the pipe with the hydrodynamic behavior of the vessel motions under environmental conditions. INTRODUCTION Installation of pipelines and flowlines constitute some of the most challenging offshore operations. The technical challenges have spawned significant research and development efforts in a broad range of areas, not only in studies regarding different installation methods, but also in the formulation and implementation of new computational tools required to the numerical simulation. This work addresses this latter issue. The most common installation methods are the S-Lay, JLay, and Reel-Lay methods, schematically shown i

Optimal Design of Submarine Pipelines by a Genetic Algorithm with Embedded On-Bottom Stability Criteria

This work describes a computational tool, based on an evolutionary algorithm, for the synthesis and optimization of submarine pipeline routes considering the incorporation of on-bottom stability criteria (OBS). This comprises a breakthrough in the traditional pipeline design methodology, where the definition of a route and the stability calculations had been performed independently: firstly, the route is defined according to geographical-topographical issues (including manual/visual inspection of seabed bathymetry and obstacles); afterwards, stability is verified, and mitigating procedures (such as ballast weight) are specified. This might require several design spirals until a final configuration is reached, or (most commonly) has led to excessive costs for the mitigation of instability problems. The optimization tool evaluates each candidate route by incorporating, as soft and hard constraints, several criteria usually considered in the manual design (pipeline length, bathymetry data, obstacles); also, with the incorporation of OBS criteria into the objective function, stability becomes an integral part of the optimization process, simultaneously handling minimization of length and cost of mitigating procedures. Case studies representative of actual applications are presented. The results show that OBS criteria significantly influences the best route, indicating that the tool can reduce the design time of a pipeline and minimize installation/operational costs

Large-scale genotyping and phenotyping of a worldwide winter wheat genebank for its use in pre-breeding

Plant genetic resources (PGR) stored at genebanks are humanity's crop diversity savings for the future. Information on PGR contrasted with modern cultivars is key to select PGR parents for pre-breeding. Genotyping-by-sequencing was performed for 7,745 winter wheat PGR samples from the German Federal ex situ genebank at IPK Gatersleben and for 325 modern cultivars. Whole-genome shotgun sequencing was carried out for 446 diverse PGR samples and 322 modern cultivars and lines. In 19 field trials, 7,683 PGR and 232 elite cultivars were characterized for resistance to yellow rust - one of the major threats to wheat worldwide. Yield breeding values of 707 PGR were estimated using hybrid crosses with 36 cultivars - an approach that reduces the lack of agronomic adaptation of PGR and provides better estimates of their contribution to yield breeding. Cross-validations support the interoperability between genomic and phenotypic data. The here presented data are a stepping stone to unlock the functional variation of PGR for European pre-breeding and are the basis for future breeding and research activities