RM News 2-2008 1

SCANDPOWER

Risk Management News

CONTENTS:

Meet us at ONS - p. 3

Conoco Phillips focuses on Process Safety - pp. 4-5

Nuclear Power Renaissance in the USA - pp. 10-11

New PhDs in Scandpower- pp. 13-15

No. 2 - 2008

Bjørn Inge BakkenCEO

Scandpower Group

RM News 2-2008 2

In demandBe it oil & gas, nuclear energy or renewable energy such as hydro, solar and wind power, the energy market is booming like never before. At the same time, increasing focus is being placed on safe and environmentally friendly development of energy resources.

Scandpower’s services are very much in de-mand in this market. It is a pleasure for me to note that in the first six months of 2008 46 people have chosen to join the Scandpower family. Our staff has grown at all our offices in Norway, Sweden, China and the USA.

The new members of the Scandpower fam-ily represent a mix of nationalities, genders, ages and experience. There are, however, two things they have in common – excel-lence in their field of expertise and a strong desire to contribute to safer development of the energy and trans-port industries.

A new upgraded ver-sion of our RiskSpec-trum software has also been launched this year. The software is now in use at more than 50 % of nuclear power plants world-wide. It is also making rapid inroads into the oil & gas, transport and other industries. A to-tal of eight user-group meetings have been held so far this year in Sweden, the UK, Ger-many, India, South Af-rica, China, Japan and the USA – illustrating the international mar-ket penetration of this unique Risk Manage-ment tool.

We are continuously on the lookout for Risk Management profes-sionals. If the idea of a career at Scandpow-er sounds appealing, please do not hesitate to contact us.

I look forward to meet-ing you during ONS 2008 in Stavanger. We will be at the historic naval ship M314 Alta located in Vågen from 25-28 August. You are welcome to drop by for a chat and a bite to eat.

MAERSK CONTRACTORS NORGE AS and Scandpower are collaborating on a project involving a comprehensive review and up-date of the existing emergency prepared-ness analysis for five drilling rigs: Mærsk Inspirer, Mærsk Innovator, Mærsk Gallant, Mærsk Giant and Mærsk Guardian.

The overall objective of the project is to im-prove the analysis, and the project should be considered part of an ongoing learning proc-ess within the MAERSK organisation. “The com-pany is a learning organisation, and continuous improvement is one of our fundamental val-ues” says HSE Coordinator Irja Viste-Ollestad. The project will establish both general and rig-specific requirements that will be categorised as capacity, response times, availability, reliability or competence. Emergency preparedness analysis (EPA) has a number of important applications. Among oth-ers, the analysis serves as a vital decision-making basis for establishing an efficient and appropriate emergency organisation.

Emergency Preparedness Analysis for five MAERSK drilling rigs

RM News 2-2008 3

Come visit Scandpower on board the M314 Alta!

The M314 Alta is a retired naval vessel built in 1953. It is currently the largest Norwegian wooden ship still sailing. The vessel was in service as a minesweeper for the Norwegian Royal Navy from 1966 to 1996.

The M314 Alta is owned by the Norwegian Armed Forces Museum and is

operated by a group of enthusiastic Navy veterans. Scandpower is proud to be one of the vessel’s sponsors.

During ONS, the vessel will be docked at the quay in Stavanger’s main harbour. Keep an eye out for the “grand old lady”.

Scandpower is hosting an open ship from 3:00 pm between 25-28 August. Refreshments will be served and crew members will be offering guided tours.

Welcome on board!

Scandpower has put together a project team con-sisting of personnel with various backgrounds and extensive experience in operations and risk analy-sis. Employing a multidisciplinary team ensures a cohesive approach and adequate resources to de-liver what is needed.

A number of requirements will have to be met, e.g. official regulations, standards and internal require-ments, and these will shape the work process.

A crucial criterion for success is to identify the de-fined situations of hazard and accident – DSHA. Fairly many of these are generic. However, it is es-sential to have a thorough process for identifying the rig-specific DSHAs – underlining the impor-tance of close cooperation between MAERSK and Scandpower. Scandpower has planned several workshops for the late summer and autumn of 2008 to provide a suitable arena for incorporating MAERSK’s op-erational experience into the analysis. MAERSK personnel with considerable knowledge of the relevant rigs will be invited to these gatherings.

The project is expected to be completed in November 2008.

“”

The company is a learning organisation, and continuous improvement is one of our fundamental values.

Irja Viste-Ollestad.

RM News 2-2008 4

Following the BP Texas City disaster and the Baker report, ConocoPhillips is heightening its focus on process safety in its North Sea organisation. As part of this initiative, a series of process safety courses is being held.Scandpower AS was selected to provide process safety training and education for the ConocoPhillips staff. Top management of ConocoPhillips headed by the Managing Director of ConocoPhillips Norway, Steinar Våge, participated in the first course, which was conducted in May 2008. Some 200 managers and key staff members will take part in the courses planned for 2008.

The courses are tailor-made to meet the special challenges faced by ConocoPhillips. Operating the first oil & gas field on the Norwegian continental shelf – a field that still accounts for around 20 % of Norwegian oil production – the company continually carries out redesigns and modifications of its old installations, also integrating them with new, modern installations. These activities pose a number of safety-related challenges.

Examples and cases from existing ConocoPhillips installations are used in order to engage the audience and to ensure the relevance of the courses.

Specific concerns and issues raised by course participants during case discussions are recorded for follow - up within the organisation.

“Even though organising courses is not a primary focus area of our business, I find it very interesting and challenging,” says Scandpower’s project manager Katrine Harsem Lund. She is the main lecturer at the courses and is supported by several other members of Scandpower’s senior staff.

Steinar Våge, Managing Director of ConocoPhillips Norway, highlights the importance of process safety training, which he says is a key part of the company’s strategy to prevent oil and gas leaks and minimise risk in its operations. He believes that by strengthening understanding of the basic principles of process safety across the organisation, the company will enhance its risk awareness and take better decisions.

Steinar Våge, Managing Director

Våge explains: “In our industry it is vital to ensure the safety of our entire workforce and to prevent occupational injuries. It is equally important to maintain a clear margin of safety at all times and in all our operations against the occurrence of a process safety accident, such as a hydrocarbon fire or an explosion. To achieve this requires a combined effort of design, operation, maintenance and inspection which incorporates enough layers of protection to prevent a major accident. Ultimately, the knowledge and skills of our people will determine the robustness of these layers.”

Våge points out that leaders play a critical role in process safety management. Therefore, he says, “We agreed that the managers and supervisors should attend the training course before anyone else. Our entire leadership team participated in the first course back in May and we all agreed that this was a great way to enhance the awareness and knowledge of process safety risks, principles and standards.”

He is pleased to note that the company has received positive feedback from both onshore and offshore personnel who have attended the training courses.

ConocoPhillips focuses on Process Safety

RM News 2-2008 5

Jan-Arne Johansen, Chief Safety Engineer in the North Sea Business Unit at ConocoPhillips, also emphasises the essential role process safety plays in the company’s effort to achieve zero injuries and incidents. He says, “Safe operations need safe installations, safe working procedures and safe people who are trained, skilled and motivated. Without all of these, safety can be compromised.”

Jan-Arne Johansen, Chief Safety Engineer

He elaborates: “Eliminating oil and gas releases is critical to ensuring safe operations. Results from investigations of hydrocarbon releases show that people’s knowledge and skills have been key contributors in past incidents.”

Therefore, ConocoPhillips decided to develop an in-house training course focusing on the basic principles of process safety, lessons learned and current challenges. The company

turned to Scandpower to develop and deliver the course in collaboration with its own personnel. Scandpower provided senior staff with extensive experience in process safety – and who are also engaging lecturers.

In addition to process safety training, ConocoPhillips is working together with Scandpower to conduct Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) studies of existing installations. Johansen expects that the enhanced process safety knowledge gained through the training courses will have a direct impact on the quality of the HAZOPs.

On a personal note, he says, “Taking part in these training classes together with operations personnel from onshore and offshore has given me

greater insight into the challenges of and opportunities for improving process safety.”

Safe operations need safe installations, safe working procedures and safe people who are trained, skilled and motivated. Without all of these, safety can be compromised.

Jan-Arne Johansen

Main lecturer Katrine Harsem Lund with the class from one of the two-day courses

“”

RM News 2-2008 6

Relcon Scandpower has been contracted to perform a risk analysis of Tor Harbour at the Port of Göteborg in Gothen-burg, Sweden.

Göteborg Oil Harbour is a very im-portant oil harbour in the Nor-dic region, offering facilities for a number of operations, including import of crude oil. Part of Göte-borg Oil Harbour, Tor Harbour is lo-cated at the mouth of Göta älv river.

Approximately 160 vessels call at Tor Harbour each year, and ap-proximately half of all the crude oil brought into Sweden is discharged there. The unloaded crude oil is des-tined for two refineries in Gothen-

burg, and the finished products are delivered to both the Swedish and foreign markets. Other important customers include storage compa-nies and various petroleum com-panies. In the next couple of years, large-scale reconstruction projects will be carried out at the harbour. The risk analysis was initialised to determine risks related to the activi-ties in Tor Harbour, as the fire extin-guishing systems and supply systems are old and various reconstruction projects have changed the status of the terminal. Project manager at Göteborg Oil Harbour Thomas Öd-lund says, “We needed a general risk-based survey of Tor Harbour to assess whether recent construction projects have affected the systems

required to deal with emergencies related to accidental discharge of crude oil. We also wanted to deter-mine potential risk factors within the old fire extinguishing systems to improve overall emergency prepar-edness at the harbour.”

The risk analysis is being performed in close cooperation with Preem and Shell, which are the owners of the pipelines connected to Tor Harbour and which are dependent on the terminal’s availability for crude oil delivery.

Risk Analysis of important oil harbour

RM News 2-2008 7

Brødr. Sunde is Scandinavia’s main supplier of expanded polystyrene and manufactured expanded polystyrene prod-ucts (Sunpack and Sundolitt). During the past 10 years Scan-dpower has performed risk evaluations of several planned and existing Brødr. Sunde plants. Scandpower recently conducted a risk evaluation of the planned expansions at the plant in Ålesund, Norway.

Brødr. Sunde’s plans for future ex-pansion involve increased storage capacity of styrene and pentane on the quayside, a new polymer plant, increased storage capacity of perox-ide as well as a new steam plant.

In the risk evaluation Scandpower has documented the main risk ele-ments of the planned expansions with focus on third parties, i.e. near-by companies and residential areas. Recommendations for technical and operational measures to keep risk as low as reasonably practicable have been discussed.

Risk evaluations are required per-formed by the authorities. The report is therefore an essential document for Brødr. Sunde in their formal dealings with the authorities. It also forms an important basis for communication with involved third parties and others.

Scandpower has extensive experi-ence of performing risk evaluations and risk analysis of onshore process plants.

The company supports its customers in the following processes:

Authority applicationsNorwegian Directorate for Civil •Protection and Emergency Plan-ning (DSB)Norwegian Pollution Control •Authority (SFT)other public authorities•

Communication with relevant authorities•local government administration•politicians•neighbourhood representatives•the media etc.•

Risk Evaluations for industry leader Brødr. Sunde

RM News 2-2008 8

Launched nearly three years ago, the Valhall Redevelopment Project in Houston is a field development of new production platforms offshore of the coastline of Norway for the operator BP. Mustang Engineering in Houston, Texas, is the main engineering contractor for the topside engineering.

Scandpower Risk Management Inc. has delivered HSE services from the very start. The company has mainly supplied HSE personnel to Mustang Engineering’s project organisation, seconding personnel for more than

BP’s Valhall Project

The Norwegian Railway Inspectorate has approved Scandpower as a Notified Body for Rolling Stock in the railway industry. This certification is valid within the European Union and the EEA as well.

Notified Bodies are authorised to verify compliance with Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) as part of the system to effectively and safely facilitate interoperable railway services within the European Union.

When placing an order for a new sub-system (e.g. rolling stock), an operator (owner) must appoint a Notified Body to verify compliance with all requirements. When these requirements are met, the Notified

SCANDPOWERNot i f i ed Body

Scandpower appointed Notified Body – Rolling Stock

The approval as Notified Body is good proof of our competence and standing within the railway sector in Norway. Be-ing a Notified Body will also help us to expand our international market within this sector.

Bjørn Arnegård, Manager of Scandpower Notified Body

“

”

two years. Scandpower’s offices in Houston and Norway have also carried out several studies.

In addition, Scandpower has supplied personnel to BP’s project team in Houston to follow up the contractor’s HSE activities.

Scandpower’s offices in Houston and Norway have been cooperating closely to find exactly the right employee for the various positions. All personnel have extensive experience from Norwegian offshore projects as well as thorough

Body will issue a Certificate of Verification that the operator can use as a Declaration of Conformity vis-à-vis the relevant railway authority.

In the past few years, Scandpower has carried out several third-party verification projects on rolling stock, including projects on the X 40 electric multiple units for SJ (the Swedish passenger train operator) and on the new Bergen Light Rail (Bybanen).

Scandpower is also involved in the development of safety documentation for several ongoing rolling stock deliveries to NSB. This will be included in the application for approval submitted to the Norwegian Railway Inspectorate.

Thus, Scandpower has experience in both development and assessment of safety documentation.

The Notified Body activities in Scandpower will be managed by Bjørn Arnegård. Project teams for performing technical assessments will be established using experts from the Scandpower Group, and from sub-contractors if needed.

knowledge of Norwegian statutory requirements and specifications. This is particularly important given that Norwegian regulations and methods of documenting design differ from those in the USA. The company’s employees have helped the project to meet all HSE requirements on schedule.

Once again Scandpower has contributed to a transfer of Norwegian offshore technological and methodological expertise to companies abroad, this time in the USA.

RM News 2-2008 9

Scandpower at PSAM 9 in Hong Kong

A complete list of papers presented by Scandpower at PSAM 9:

Safety of DP drilling in the South •China SeaInsights from low power and shut-•down human reliability analysis.Ski research project on defence in •depth PSA – assessing defence in depth levels with PSA methods.Consistency of judgement in the us-•age of probabilistic safety goals. Criteria for assessment of results from •Level 2 PSA.Shutdown PSA for Ringhals NP units •3 & 4. Interpretation and risk evaluation of •technical specification conditions. Development of a reliability data •handbook for piping components in Nordic nuclear power plants – Part II Investigations of T-book reliability •data used in probabilistics safety as-sessments: Comparison between sites, reactors and types. Presentation of the MCS-BDD in the •RiskSpectrum package .Living PSA documentation.•

See www.psam9.org

demanding task, but I am sure that the benefits and insights gained will make it worthwhile for all of us,” says Johan Sörman, Vice President of Relcon Scandpower. See the fact box for a complete list of papers. These can be downloaded at the PSAM 9 web site: www.psam9.org

A total of approx. 400 safety special-ists from all over the world partici-pated in the PSAM 9 conference in Hong Kong.

The PSA community will meet again at the PSA 2008 conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. The theme for this conference is “How will PSA meet the challenges dur-ing the nuclear renaissance?” Scandpower will be present with a team from our Houston and Swedish offices.

The major international meeting for the Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) community in 2008 was the PSAM 9 conference in Hong Kong in May. The Scandpower group par-ticipated with no less than eleven technical papers, covering a wide spectrum of research and develop-ment projects from Shutdown HRA, Defence-in-Depth assessment to software and reliability data collec-tion.

Although the PSAM conference is dominated by the nuclear Industry a number of other advanced indus-tries, such as oil & gas, aviation & space, chemical processing, defence and transport industries participate as well. “Finding the time to produce so many papers has proven quite a

More than 40 invited guests joined Scandpower for an evening cruise on the Aqualuna around Hong Kong harbour.

RM News 2-2008 10

In 2007 Scandpower made a strategic decision to develop its nuclear risk and reliability services segment in the USA through its Houston operations. The near-term plan is to have a dedicated staff of 8 to 10 members, from entry-level employees to highly experienced probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) practitioners. The office will also assume responsibility for supporting and expanding the RiskSpectrum user groups in the USA.

There are currently four nuclear power plants operating in the state of Texas. These are 4-loop Westinghouse pressurised water reactors that received their operating licences during the period 1988-1990. There are plans to construct another six reactor units in Texas over the next 10 years. In September 2007 NRG Energy, Inc. and South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company filed a Combined Construction and Operating Licence Application with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) to build and operate two Advanced Boiling Water Reactors at the South Texas Project nuclear power station site. This is the first application for a construction and operating licence in nearly 30 years. Since September 2007 another three licence applications for five new reactor units have been filed with the USNRC. It is expected that during 2008-2009 17 additional

licence applications for 25 new reactors will be submitted.

The activities associated with these new reactor projects, including reactor design certification and licensing, are referred to by many as a “nuclear renaissance”. Given that these new reactor projects proceed as planned there will be a strong demand for engineering, construction and operations personnel – a demand that will persist for the next several decades. This brings with it new requirements for college and university curricula that cater to industry needs for qualified workers. After a seemingly long period of stagnation, what is driving this interest in new reactors in the USA? “It is a combination of several factors, including the projected increase in electricity demand over

the next 20 years, the good safety and generating performance of existing nuclear power plants, and changing public perception of nuclear power as a clean, safe and reliable source of electricity,” says Bengt Lydell, Vice President of Scandpower Risk Management Inc.

Five different near-term advanced nuclear power plant designs are being considered for commercial use in the USA. Longer-term advanced nuclear power plant designs are also under consideration, including the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor, a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor for which a US design certification is expected to be sought during 2010. Results and insights from over 30 years of probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) of operating nuclear power plants have been

Nuclear Power Renaissance in the USA

South Texas Nuclear Generating station - the first nuclear power plant in Texas

RM News 2-2008 11

utilised in conceptualising and realising these new reactor designs. PSA also forms an important aspect of the aforementioned design certification process.

While much public and professional interest currently is directed towards the proposed new reactor projects, it is also important to remember that there are 104 commercial nuclear power plants currently in operation in the USA, and the share of total power generation from nuclear power is about 20 %. Of these operating plants, 42 reactor units have been in operation for 30 years or longer. For all the plants, the original 40-year operating licence term is being extended to 60 years through a formal licence renewal process. This process has been ongoing since the late 1990s. The option to operate a nuclear power plant beyond its initial licence term of 40 years is an important factor in financial decisions and long-term planning for capital improvement. Examples of capital improvements include extended power uprate projects, which involve significant

modifications to major balance-of-plant equipment such as the high-pressure turbines, condensate pumps and motors, main generators, and/or transformers.

The design and construction phase of the existing US nuclear power plants was largely completed by 1985. Preservation of knowledge and experience is therefore a vital consideration for the continued operation of existing plants as well as for the new reactor projects. Most organisations now have programmes in place to ensure that the knowledge and experience gained by senior-level engineers with 30 or more years of dedicated, professional service is being retained within the organisation and transferred to a new generation of nuclear engineering professionals. The entire US industry is actively recruiting young engineers. Since there is a shortage of engineers, the industry is also seeking out partnerships with foreign counterparts.

The growth of Scandpower’s nuclear services in the USA is strongly sup-

Relcon Scandpower will be present with a number of papers and will also distribute a special edition of Risk-Spectrum magazine.

How will PSA meet the challenges during the nuclear renaissance? This is the theme for this years PSA meet-ing in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, 7- 11 September.

P S A 2 0 0 8K n o x w i l l e ,T e n n e s s e e

Jerzy Grynblat, President of Relcon Scandpower

ported by the rest of the organisation, and President of Relcon Scandpower, Jerzy Grynblat, is enthusiastic about the development:

“The growth of our Houston office enables us to offer better support to our overseas customers and is an important contribution to our effort to fulfil our international ambitions within the nuclear industry.”

RM News 2-2008 12

The Software PackagesRiskSpectrum® is the product family name of one of the most advanced risk and reliability analysis software in the world. It includes tools for fault tree and event tree analysis, documentation, risk monitoring and failure mode and effect analysis. RiskSpectrum is developed, maintained and sup-ported by Relcon Scandpower AB, Sweden.

RiskSpectrum PSA, Relcon Scandpower’s top-of-the-line product, is licenced for use at half of the world’s nuclear power plants.

The user group consists of companies and organi-sations in different industries:

Nuclear industry•

Oil & Gas industry•

Defence industry•

Aviation and space industry •

Chemical and process industries•

Transportation industry (cars and trains)•

RiskSpectrumFMEA

C-BDD

RSAT

MCS-Editor

RSAT

C-BDD

MCS-Editor

RiskSpectrumFTA/PSA

RSAT

C-BDD

MCS-Editor

RiskSpectrumDoc

C-BDD

RSAT

MCS-Editor

RSAT

C-BDD

MCS-Editor

RSAT

C-BDD

MCS-Editor

RiskSpectrumRiskWatcher

RiskSpectrum PSA includes a full set of functions for both fault tree and event tree analysis, and integration of the two methods.

RiskSpectrum FTA is a very advanced product for fault tree analysis. It is the right choice for anyone who needs powerful fault tree software, but does not need the full-scope PSA features offered by RiskSpectrum PSA.

RiskSpectrum RiskWatcher is used for monitor-ing online risk, simulating possible scenarios and planning outages in nuclear power plants, taking into account the effects on risk. It is optimised to work with PSA models created using RiskSpec-trum PSA.

RiskSpectrum FMEA is software for Failure Mode and Effect Analysis. It is used for analysing, docu-menting and quality assuring the input to fault tree models.

RiskSpectrum Doc is software for managing docu-mentation related to risk and reliability analyses created using RiskSpectrum FTA and PSA. It is de-signed for managing FTA or PSA documentation already in place, but can also replace an existing documentation system.

RiskSpectrum Analysis Tools (RSAT) is a fault tree and event tree solution engine and is included in RiskSpectrum PSA, FTA and RiskWatcher pack-ages.

RiskSpectrum MCS Editor is a separate 32-bit ap-plication used for editing Minimal Cutsets (MCS) generated using RSAT.

RiskSpectrum software packages

See also www.riskspectrum.com

RM News 2-2008 13

Do you sometimes feel the HAZID table format is a bit boring? Does it really encourage involvement and commitment on the part of the participants? Have you ever had the need to summarise the possible ways an incident may occur in a sim-ple, straightforward manner? If so, maybe you should try using graphi-cal visualisation techniques.

For her doctoral dissertation Ida Hogganvik worked on a graphical language for use in hazard iden-tification. Her diagrams make it possible to specify barriers and weaknesses in a manner similar to well-known techniques such as fault trees and event trees. During hazard identification the participants work together to specify complete chains of events, starting with the initiat-ing event, going on to intermedi-ate scenarios, and ending in one or more unwanted incidents. Potential consequences for humans, equip-ment or other assets may also be de-scribed. Within this chain of events, the goal is to specify system weak-nesses and barriers to help to iden-tify where risk-reducing measures should be implemented.

The method was developed in a four-year research project at SINTEF Information and Communication Technology (2003-2007) and tested in seven major industrial field tri-als at Hydro, FLO/IKT, Statnett, DNV and NetCom. The graphical symbols and diagrams have been carefully designed in cooperation with indus-trial psychologists to suit all kinds of users. The participants reported in-creased commitment to the task and better communication within the group. The method was also praised as an accurate documentation tech-nique that is particularly well-suited for presentation of results.

Further information is available at:w w w. d u o . u i o . n o / p u b l / i n f o r -mat ikk / 20 07/6 8556 / DUO_ 662 _Hogganvik_17x24.pdf

Graphics for use in hazard identifications

Ida Hogganvik holds a Master of Technology degree in Computer Sci-ence from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 2003. Her PhD was carried out at SINTEF ICT/University of Oslo, focusing on graphical modeling techniques that support the safety analysis process. Ida joined Scandpower in December 2006 and is now a senior consultant in the market area of Transport, In-dustry and Energy at our Kjeller of-fice. During her time in Scandpower Ida has mainly worked with safety analyses within the railway sector and has gained special expertise in signalling systems.

“New PhD

at Scandpower”

RM News 2-2008 14

Carl Sunde finished his PhD in the department of Nuclear Engineering at Chalmers University of Technol-ogy in Sweden in 2007. His doctoral thesis – “Noise diagnostics of sta-tionary and non-stationary reactor processes” – explored the research area of neutron noise diagnostics.

Noise diagnostics is a method which can be used to monitor a nuclear re-actor online in order to ensure that everything is working properly. If the system starts to deteriorate it will be detected and the reactor can be shut down. Offline noise diag-nostics may also be utilised to ana-lyse the behaviour of the reactor so that information about components which require maintenance or unex-pected reactor physical phenomena can be obtained.

The focus of Sunde’s thesis was to develop offline methods for both stationary and non-stationary reac-tor processes using advanced mathe-matical tools and models, and to ap-ply these methods to measurements from nuclear power plants (NPP). A significant amount of his thesis work involved analysing measurements from the four units at the NPP Ring-hals. Sunde was awarded a number of prizes at international confer-ences for his thesis, including Sig-vard Eklund’s Prize for 2007 issued by the Swedish Centre for Nuclear Technology for the best PhD thesis at a Swedish university in subjects related to nuclear technology.

Noise diagnostics of stationary and non-stationary reactor processes

Carl Sunde holds a MSc in Engi-neering Physics and a PhD in Reactor Physics attained at Chalmers Univer-sity of Technology. His PhD thesis was undertaken within the research area of neutron noise diagnostics. Carl joined Relcon Scandpower in Gothenburg in June 2007. Since then he has been working with probabil-istic safety analyses (PSA) and updat-ing of the Risk Spectrum model for Ringhals 1. He has also been involved in the compilation of the PSAR for SKB’s final repository for spent nu-clear fuel.

Further information is available at:www.swedishnuclear.se/publica-tions/FullThesisCarlSunde_final.pdf

The Sigvard Eklund’s prize ceremony in 2007. Carl Sunde is second from left.

“New

PhD

at Sc

andpower

”

RM News 2-2008 15

In 2007 Alexandre Brigadeau ob-tained his PhD at the Norwegian University of Technology and Science (NTNU) for his dissertation “Mod-eling and numerical investigation of high pressure gas-liquid separation”. The members of the jury were Pro-fessor J.A.M. Kuipers from the Uni-versity of Twente, the Netherlands, Dr C. B. Jenssen from the Statoil Research Centre in Trondheim, Nor-way, and Professor T. Ytrehus from NTNU.

The efficiency of a separating device in operation can hardly be predicted quantitatively. Present models are almost entirely based on empirical correlations and usually fail when extrapolated to high-pressure situa-tions. In addition, the experimental study of the flow occurring in high-pressure separation devices is diffi-cult, and constructing a high-pres-sure facility is expensive and requires very strict security norms. Computa-

tional Fluid Dynamics is therefore a key investigation tool.

Brigadeau’s thesis work aimed to de-velop new models for a quantitative prediction of the efficiency of sepa-ration devices, especially in high-pressure conditions.

At high pressure, dramatic changes were observed. The predicted ef-ficiency of a generic vane-pack de-mister dropped from 99.7 % for an air/water flow at atmospheric pres-sure to 0 % for a natural gas/con-densate flow at 92 bars. This is illus-trated in Figure 1.

The results emphasised the impor-tance of droplet reentrainment from the liquid film on the walls for high-pressure gas-liquid separation. This was the first time that reentrain-ment had been calculated quanti-tatively in a 3D geometry outside of the nuclear industry.

Modeling and numerical investigation of high pressure gas-liquid separation

Flow direction ->

Alexandre Brigadeau gradu-ated from the National Institute of Technology of Grenoble as a me-chanical engineer specialising in flu-id mechanics (2001). He carried out his PhD at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, focusing on high pressure liquid-gas separa-tion. Alexandre joined Scandpower in January 2006 and is currently sen-ior consultant in the market area of Oil and Gas at the Sandvika office. Most of his experience is in compu-tational fluid dynamics, especially in the field of multiphase flows and multiphase turbulence, but he has also performed a number of risk and safety analyses.

Further information is available at:www.diva-portal.org/ntnu/theses/abstract.xsql?dbid=1756

Figure 1: Droplet fraction in a vane-pack demister. Initial droplet fraction: 10-4

Natural gas/condensate at 92bars

“New PhD

at Scandpower”

Air/water flow at atmospheric pressure

Retur: Scandpower AS P.O.Box 3, NO-2027 Kjeller

Any time - Anywhere - Under all conditions - Unconditionally

Scandpower ASBergen, Norway ohj@scandpower.comTel: +47 55 30 05 55

Relcon Scandpower ABStockholm, Sweden jgr@relconscandpower.com Tel: +46 (0)8 445 21 00

Scandpower Risk Management China Inc.haibo.chen@scandpower.com.cn Beijing, P.R. China Tel: +86 10 6467 2860

Stavanger, Norway joh@scandpower.com Tel: +47 51 91 71 70

Gothenburg, Sweden lha@relconscandpower.com Tel: +46 (0)31 335 03 30

Scandpower Risk Management Inc.hjn@scandpower.com Houston, USA Tel: +1 713 654 1900

Trondheim, Norway ifo@scandpower.com Tel: +47 73 54 63 60

Malmö, Sweden les@relconscandpower.com Tel: +46 (0)40 93 76 45

Scandpower Risk Management jrh@scandpower.comDubai , UAE Tel: +97 14 426 4855

Sandvika, Norway tly@scandpower.com Tel: +47 92 24 71 00

Uppsala, Sweden mca@relconscandpower.com Tel: +46 (0)18 69 54 18

www.scandpower.com www.riskspectrum.com

Scandpower AS(Headquarters)

P.O. Box 3NO-2027 Kjeller Norway

bib@scandpower.com Tel: +47 64 84 44 00