Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, and with 15,000 employees from 122 nationalities delivering services in more than 100 countries. Det Norske Veritas (DNV) is an International Association of Classification Societies organization and one of the world’s largest providers of risk management services to the maritime, energy, food and beverage and healthcare industries. In Brazil, DNV has completed a number of projects for oil major Petrobras and is the country’s leading management systems certification body. The company has also been active in Brazil’s shipbuilding industry.
Identifying goals
DNV has been providing Brazilian companies with gap analysis and technical safety studies to align their safety management systems to meet new code requirements. One project was a 300 million triethylene glycol (TEG) facility with 30 pressure vessels that were part of the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units for two Brazilian shipyards. The project involved converting the old vessel hull into a FPSO hull. The P-58 shipyard is in Pernambuco in the northeast, and the P-62 shipyard is at Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. DNV’s task was to provide design review and approval and certification of all equipment according to the facility’s classification requirements.
Overcoming challenges
Two major challenges on this project were meeting the tight project schedules and working on the two facilities simultaneously. Based on DNV’s past successes with Aspect Pressure Vessel, it decided the software was right for this project. Using manufacturer drawings and calculations, DNV modeled the vessels in Aspect Pressure Vessel and then used the solution to analyze the equipment according to the ASME VIII Division 1 code. DNV performed quality system management audits, welding production tests, visual and dimensional inspections and monitored hydrostatic tests. In addition, all technicians attended all specified verification points during the fabrication.
Realizing results
“Aspect Pressure Vessel provided accurate design review data necessary which helped us develop reliable and consistent surveyor and approval reports,” explained Rafael Silva, mechanical engineer at DNV Brazil.
DNV was able to identify mistakes in the manufacturer’s models and issue precise comments to address them. “Because the manufacturer had also used Aspect Pressure Vessel for its calculations, we were able to deliver a more comprehensive analysis,” Silva added.
Aspect Pressure Vessel helped eliminate inconsistencies and avoid delays. “We saw faster design reviews which allowed us to communicate our results to surveyors immediately and follow up with the manufacturer, avoiding costly rework due to vessels being built with designs out of compliance with project codes,” Silva said. Aspect Pressure Vessel allowed DNV to perform an independent and professional analysis of pressure vessel designs while ensuring each met all the necessary technical safety requirements. “Our manufacturer and client were confident with the design approval process and Aspect Pressure Vessel’s efficiency and reliability in providing clear reporting and accurate 3D models for fabrication,” Silva said.
