July 2011| HYDROCARBONENGINEERING | 31

In English, the word ‘silo’ has its etymological roots in its identically spelt Spanish equivalent, which translates as ‘cave’ or ‘dark place’. In the world of business, the term ‘silo’ has come to

mean a wall or separation between business units, divisions or departments, with each operating in its separate compartment with little or no interaction with other areas of the organisation. Operating in a silo is a group syndrome that is often accepted as the normal situation.

The development of silos in business may have been in part due to the industrial revolution in the latter part of the 19th century. Prior to that time, a worker or team of workers built manufactured products one at a time until completion, at which point the workers started on the next product. Henry Ford changed that with his assembly line. This seemingly simple move to dividing the tasks and labour revolutionised the world of manufacturing by introducing mass production. The assembly line brought great efficiencies to the manufacturing process, with each employee assigned to a specific

GARY CARSON, EQUAMARK, USA, DISCUSSES COLLABORATION AND INTEGRATION IN THE NEW WORLD OF COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN, EXAMINING THE WAYS IN WHICH IT HAS BENEFITTED COMPANIES OPERATING IN THE DOWNSTREAM SECTOR.

PUTTING2&2TOGETHER

32 | HYDROCARBONENGINEERING | July 2011

task. This served to reduce the cost of production, while increasing the production volume. Mass production made many more products affordable to the general public for the first time.

Some companies structure their entire organisation in this manner. Each department or functional area does its task with minimal or no involvement with other departments, except when absolutely necessary. Based on the success of the assembly line and its division of labour, it makes logical sense to apply this model to an entire organisation in order to improve efficiencies throughout.

The problem with this is not necessarily the concept of separation, but the occurrence which often accompanies it: the autonomous operation of different departments, with little or no interaction between them. This can end up isolating areas of knowledge from one another, increasing duplication of efforts and slowing down the organisation’s ability to respond to opportunities and threats. Operating in this manner can end up damaging the company’s relationships with its customers and with other stakeholders, as well as restricting potential for growth in existing and new areas.

A silo workplace can feel comfortable for employees, as being blocked off from the other departments can allow the individual to develop a false sense of safety and a clear area of jurisdiction, without having to be aware of what is occurring elsewhere. Viewing a workplace or an operation in this manner is often highly reductive to the overall aims of the organisation. For this reason, silo tendencies must be overcome.

When it comes to engineering and design, many companies continue to operate in silos, with the engineers and designers each doing separate tasks and rarely collaborating unless absolutely necessary. Until recently, this separation of engineers and designers was due to a lack of tools that allow or encourage collaboration and integration of processes. Now, tools exist that not only allow, but actively encourage collaboration and integration between engineers.

Integrating CAD with engineering analysisOne case which exemplifies the benefits of integration and collaboration is a Petrolinvest project for the Novi Sad oil refinery in Serbia, which involved the addition of a light gasoline isomerisation plant. The refinery experienced significant destruction during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and underwent extensive reconstruction.

The new facility was commissioned to produce high octane components for unleaded gasoline, which are essential to

reducing emissions of benzene and aromatics into the environment. Before this project, Petroinvest had worked primarily in 2D CAD. This meant the company had to first produce isometric drawings before they could produce bills of material, with no guarantee of accuracy. After seeing the advantages of 3D modelling and cross discipline integration, Petrolinvest adopted a collaborative approach for the first time. They chose CADWorx Plant Professional to produce a composite model of the octane production facility made up of 13 separate 3D models, and used the CADWorx Equipment module for equipment drawings. The models were passed into Intergraph CAESAR II for flexibility analysis of the project’s process lines, addressing all areas in need of attention.

By choosing intelligent 3D modelling that collaborates with engineering analysis, Petrolinvest were able to achieve considerable improvements in accuracy with reduced design times, before the completion of the project within a three month timeframe.

Reducing man hoursLeveraging collaboration between design and engineering, Mech-Tech saw significant savings in time and expenses on a project for Spanish company HPD Process Engineering. This involved the production of black liquor, a carbon neutral biomass based energy byproduct used to augment energy requirements while producing no net increase in carbon dioxide.

Mech-Tech selected CADWorx Plant for designing piping and producing isometric drawings, bills of material, as well as drawings for nozzles, tanks, vessels, and other elements. For engineering flexibility analysis, CAESAR II was selected due to its bidirectional, interface free links with CADWorx.

Using these collaborative tools, Mech-Tech was able to complete the project in 16 weeks while reducing engineering man hours by 50%.

Improving accuracy and speedInstituto Mexicano Del Petroleo (IMP) experienced the benefits of design and engineering collaboration on a US$ 100 million project for PEMEX at Dos Bocas, Tabasco State, Mexico. This complex project involved converting oil storage tanks to a gun barrel arrangement and adding a symmetrical ring portion to connect the tanks with eight inlets. Additional challenges included dealing with temperatures of up to 575 ˚F, as well as a very tight project schedule. IMP had to produce field surveys, piping specifications and layouts, along with a comprehensive 3D plant model for the storage tanks and their refill and discharge systems.

After considering all options, they chose CADWorx Plant Professional for the design and modelling and CAESAR II Pipe Stress Analysis software. This allowed them to build an intelligent 3D model solely from the available 2D data, before extracting isometric drawings automatically, direct from the model. They were able to produce plans, sections, isometrics and detailed views and extract accurate bills of materials automatically. 80 piping drawings and 690 isometric drawings were produced in a three month timeframe. The construction costs were accurate and the benefits of easy model reviews and modification were felt throughout the process.

Fast deliverablesPhaser Technologies C.A. utilised integrated applications on a project for Teikoku Oil Company, a Japanese oil and natural gas firm, part of INPEX Corporation, in 2006. Phaser Technologies

Figure 1. The software allows designers and engineers to share information, thus increasing productivity.

was selected to perform process, layout, instrumentation and control improvements for the 2.3 km2 Copa Macoya Gas Plant in Venezuela. The plant gathers and dehydrates natural gas for distribution and sale, using ultrasonic and chromatographic devices to measure gas flow and quality. The complex also employs a glycol dehydration system to remove moisture from the gas and the resulting dehydrated gas is distributed for consumer use via pipelines.

The biggest challenge for Phaser Technologies was a tight one week deadline to complete the design for the plant upgrade. Phaser opted for the CADWorx Plant Design Suite. Within a week, they were able to produce the intelligent 3D model from the 2D plans, multiple design views, bills of material and fabrication isometric drawings.

Fast turnaround Wardrop Engineering saw the impact of collaborative solutions on client relationships on a US$ 5.5 million project in British Columbia, Canada, which involved the molecular recognition technology (MRT) process. The piping requirements demanded fabrication prior to installation in the field, a process requiring extreme accuracy.

By choosing a collaborative solution that allowed information sharing between designers and engineers, Wardrop developed, reviewed and issued over 100 piping isometrics within five working days. This was achieved by leveraging CADWorx Plan for design, interfacing with CAESAR II for stress analysis. Two dimensional drawings were developed from the 3D model in one day, a task that would otherwise have required a week, thus representing a 70% reduction in time overall for this task. This ensured that project time was spent productively by solving any issues, which then allowed the production of an accurate material estimate with precise details on each piece of material.

ConclusionEscaping from silos through the integration of processes and collaboration among organisational disciplines can pay substantial dividends. In engineering and design, a number of companies that have moved toward a collaborative environment are experiencing significant benefits in their levels of efficiencies. This includes faster completion times, more accurate deliverables, as well as the elimination of redundancies and rework. Savings in time and expenses ranging from 25% - 75% have been documented in a number of cases. Escaping the silo mindset through integration and collaboration can therefore be viewed as one method to achieve accuracy, efficiency and competitiveness in the contemporary hydrocarbon processing environment.

Figure 2. Allowing the ability stakeholders to review 3D models at each stage with CADWorx Design Review reportedly saved 60% in time and expenses on one project.

HOUSTON, TEXAS

SEPT19-212011

Reasons you should attend:Increase your productivity by learning new skills

Meet and learn from CADWorx®, CAESAR II® and PV Elite® users

Spend time with Intergraph development and support teams

See proven collaboration between engineering and design

Network with peers who share your challenges and goals

Immediately apply knowledge gained on your return to work

Provide your input into future product development

R E G I S T E R T O D A Y !www.cau2011.com

Intergraph, the Intergraph logo, CADWorx, CAESAR II and PV Elite are registered trademarks of Intergraph Corporation. ©2011 Intergraph Corporation. 5/11

CADWorxCAESAR IIPV Elite

Powering ProductivityThrough Integration

121B1_4c HE_55x270_JUN11.indd 1 5/16/11 10:31 AM