Silvertech, GE Fanuc on board BP Fields of the Future

Echternach, Luxembourg – Engineering services company ICS Triplex Silvertech has developed a control and safety system for a BP Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel operating in the Schiehallion oil field west of the Shetland. The project, which was completed within the planned six-month timeframe, was part of a BP initiative looking at ‘best practice’ solutions within their “Fields of the Future” project.

Silvertech’s system, which employs HMI/SCADA software from GE Fanuc’s Proficy production and automation software suite, is designed to enable operators to test existing and new systems in parallel to smooth the transition to new infrastructure.

BP had carried out an obsolescence study and capacity review which included the Schiehallion field. This identified a need to develop a new ‘life of field’ strategy for control and safety and replace UNIX-based legacy monitoring and control systems were nearing the end of their supportable life.

In response, Silvertech designed an integrated control and safety system, using as much as possible of the original installed hardware infrastructure. As well as ensuring an uninterrupted transition to the new infrastructure, the system had to be robust and easy to transfer while running live.

Redundant pairs of GE Fanuc 90-70 PLCs located throughout the FPSO were installed to handle the process control and process shutdown (CPS) I/O, while two other 90-70s control HVAC systems for the fore and aft of the FPSO.

A separate pair of 90-70s handles the fire and gas (F&G) systems, while a hard-wired Silvertech system handles the emergency shut-down (ESD). These PLCs on the FPSO act as the interface for all the I/O for the topsides process control and safety systems.

The CPS, F&G and ESD systems are all integrated within the new HMI/SCADA system. The development was based on Silvertech’s standard approach to systems which require redundancy to fulfil the safety and high integrity control demands.