DB Progetti provides designers, engineers and manufacturers a wide range of products for the oil & gas sector, such as quick opening closures (QACs), Pipeline Inspection Gauge (PIG) launchers and receivers, pig signalers (intrusive type), various filtration solutions and more. Their products are entirely engineered and manufactured in their factory in Italy.
Identifying goals
The company was working on a project for the oil and gas industry in the Middle East where they had to design and construct skids for launching receiving pigs, which are used to clean oil and gas pipelines. The project’s goal, being based in Italy, with final installation happening in the Middle East, was to use 3D design technology to create an optimum design that would avoid construction problems, thereby reducing the time involved in this phase of the project and producing a finished installation that satisfied the client’s requirements. Six personnel were engaged in this EPC project, including a sales manager, a project manager, three technical and one project engineer.
DB Progetti determined it needed an easy-to-use solution that would allow them to develop quickly and easily make changes to the 3D model received from the client. They also wanted a convenient way to share design models with other team members so everyone could collaborate and work together efficiently on projects without having multiple different versions of the design.
Overcoming challenges
The skid design consisted of both equipment and pig launch and receiver lines. The biggest challenge faced by DB Progetti was building the equipment and its piping based on the skid’s footprint and performing all necessary mechanical calculations. The company obtained a 3D model from their client, then had to insert their piping and structures into this. With Forte 3DWorx Design Suite, they could create a 3D equipment and piping model that was accurate and precise, supporting their mechanical calculations.
Realizing results
In the past, DB Progetti had regularly used Octave’s Aspect Pressure Vessel for stress analysis. They added Forte 3DWorx Design Suite to meet the needs of their growing business. Forte 3DWorx integration with BricsCAD also proved helpful due to its easy-to-use features, making sense for the company to continue increasing its use of Octave’s solutions.
Forte 3DWorx provided a comprehensive set of modeling tools for different disciplines, allowing users to create highly detailed models in less time due to its ease of use and time-saving modification tools that allow changes to be made to models without having to delete and re-enter geometry.
Based on the client-supplied 3D model, DB Progetti created a single model with all relevant information integrated into one cohesive skid unit using this software. This enabled them to quickly make changes throughout the project lifecycle as the design evolved. Due to the bi-directional integration between the products, they modeled the equipment using Equipment in Forte 3DWorx, imported it into Aspect Pressure Vessel to perform stress analysis, then updated the 3D design model afterward by re-importing the vessel with the changes proposed by Aspect Pressure Vessel’s design assistance capabilities. This ensured the final design included an accurate as-analyzed representation of the pressure vessel.
To add more value, the technical team at DB Progetti leveraged Octave-provided training in the Forte 3DWorx Design Suite. The team was already using Aspect Pressure Vessel solution, but this training helped them learn more about the software, its features and integration between the products. In less than three weeks, they were ready for production.
Eventually, a 20 percent time saving was directly linked to cost-saving. Collaboration among the technical team also improved because they learned to use the software together and how to get the most from it.
Moving forward
Octave’s solutions have helped DB Progetti engineer the project and successfully proceed with the construction process while saving time and cost.
“Octave’s solutions allow you to work at all levels of complexity, and this will help your company save a lot of time and money overall,” added Mr. Baldiraghi.
