A digital twin for the Adriatic LNG’s Terminal
A digital model of the ships-regasifiers, allowing to “digitally” reproduce everything that happens and can happen on board, thus defining procedures, behavioral codes and even emergency situations response. This is the technological innovation destined to significantly raise the levels of safety and environmental protection, which are already high in this industry, that Bureau Veritas Italia at the request of Adriatic LNG (a company that operates the regasifier operating off the Veneto coast) is developing in recent weeks in partnership with COSMI, an engineering and contracting company and Prime Contractor for Adriatic LNG’s maintenance services, and Akselos, a software house that has developed a patent for finite element analysis on large structures.
The pilot system, called the “digital twin”, is a perfect digital copy of some of the plant’s equipment for probable future development. The model has exactly the same characteristics as the physical asset, and a series of sensors, tools or inspections allow information to be transferred from the physical asset to the digital model in real time, precisely to ensure that the two assets, the physical and the digital, are perfectly identical. At this stage, very sophisticated computational engines come into play, which will allow in-depth diagnostics of the asset to be performed, in real time, so that any event can be predicted well in advance, significantly increasing the level of safety (well beyond that guaranteed by the design codes). Adriatic LNG’s is the first regasifier in Italy (and certainly among the first in the world) to be equipped with this system.
“Advanced technology,” stresses Diego D’Amato, CEO of Bureau Veritas Italia, “is the key to the future: it can provide the answers to improve quality of life, social and regional relations, as well as have positive impacts on environmental protection. Technology is the antithesis of oppositions.”
“Other sectors, such as aerospace engineering, or, in the energy sector, refining plants have made great strides,” D’Amato concludes, “in the use of digital simulators on which to test even extreme risk situations. I believe that the digital twin for regasifiers is destined to mark a milestone in the safe management of these plants, providing territories and communities with the concrete answers they rightly demand.”
Today, regasification plants are considered one of the most effective tools to counter the energy crisis that has deflagrated in the wake of the war in Ukraine; they are able to be deployed anywhere in the world relatively quickly and without excessive infrastructural construction.
About Bureau Veritas
Bureau Veritas, a world leader in Test-Inspection-Certification services for industrial and power generation systems and facilities, has been involved in and supported major regasification projects in Europe, the United States, Latin America, India, and China over the past 5 years.
Moreover, Bureau Veritas is a world leader in the classification of FSRU (Floating Storage Regasification Unit) vessels. Of the 53 FSRUs in operation worldwide, 20 are classified by BV: among them, the FSRU Challenger with its 345 meters in length and 263,000 m3 capacity is the largest unit ever built. Bureau Veritas has developed ad hoc classification rules to enhance the safety of these types of assets, which differ depending on whether they involve storage and regasification (FSRU) or storage only (FSU).
The Bureau Veritas group also has experience in proprietary engineering, participating in the construction of the Cyprus LNG plant, and throughout the supply chain of goods and services for regasification plants.
About Cosmi
Established in 1974 as a construction company, today COSMI provides a range of technical services: from design and feasibility studies to planning and scheduling of activities, including logistics and procurement.
Throughout the years, the Company has developed innovative solutions in the field of industrial installations, specializing in the energy sector and not only: from onshore and offshore industrial plants construction for Oil & Gas to industrial plants for the manufacturing, chemical and petrochemical sectors.
Today COSMI is a supplier of excellence for Italian and international companies that aim to develop innovative, functional and avant-garde projects.
Their priority is getting the very best from the assets they operate: that means maximizing productivity, reducing costs and risks and extending the life.
About Adriatic LNG
Adriatic LNG operates the first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Italy in terms of regasification capacity and volumes of gas sent into the national distribution grid. Located about 15 kilometers off the Veneto coastline, the Adriatic LNG terminal contributes to the diversification of energy supply, ensuring Italy about 10% of national gas consumption.
Adriatic LNG is an Italian company owned by ExxonMobil, QatarEnergy and Snam. Safety and environmental protection, the centrality of People, constant dialogue with stakeholders and institutions represent the foundations of Adriatic LNG’s corporate culture. These values, combined with support for local communities and a commitment to sustainable development, drive the company’s work day after day.
About Akselos
Akselos is the creator of the world’s most advanced engineering simulation technology – physics-based, real-time digital twins. Founded in 2012 and with operations in Europe, the USA, and SouthEast Asia, the company’s products are designed specifically to help design and protect the world’s critical infrastructure.
Using patented algorithms developed through 15 years of research at MIT, Akselos’ technology is bringing a powerful new innovation curve to mechanical engineering, helping the energy sector optimize design and operations to accelerate the energy transition and support sustainability. Akselos was named as a Technology Pioneer in 2020 by the World Economic Forum.
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