ORBIT+ Pipeline is DNV Software’s new generation software for Pipeline Integrity Management (PIM). It builds on the powerful analysis capabilities of previous Orbit+ Pipeline versions. The tool is designed to cover both offshore and onshore PIM. It is a fully multi-user and webenabled system for pipeline data management, risk assessment, inspection management and aggregated management reporting.
Orbit+ Pipeline is the result of a three-year development project where we set out to meet the market need for a complete PIM software tool. It was designed to be modular and to make integration to legacy system as easy as possible. Furthermore, it was designed to be a scalable multi-user system for both offshore and onshore Pipeline Integrity Management. A key objective of the development project has been to match the powerful implementation of DNV’s offshore standards with equally high quality implementations of ASME and other widely used standards onshore. Moreover, Orbit+ Pipeline supports company-specific standards and best practices through a built-in rule engine and by the template concept for modelling work processes. DNV Software is working closely with DNV Energy and other key players in the pipeline industry to capture and implement industry needs and requirements in Orbit+ Pipeline. Gassco is an example of a key industrial player DNV Software has cooperated closely with. The aim has been to report pipeline integrity management status from Technical Service Providers into Gassco’s Orbit+ Pipeline installation. This has been instrumental in developing the aggregated management reporting. Besides the traffic light views of integrity and alerts, the Gassco co-operation has also given birth to a distributed deployment regime whereby a corporate Orbit+ Pipeline installation may receive aggregated information from independent and autonomous regions.
Key functionalities
The major functional modules of Orbit+ Pipeline include data management, analysis tools and code checks, risk assessments, planning and inspection management. Key support functions include document management, integration interfaces and a project execution environment.
Data Management – Orbit+ Pipeline is based on the PODS data model with an offshore extension to cater for offshore objects like e.g. risers and subsea templates. The database is enveloped by a security system and role-based access restrictions on pipelines and groups of pipelines ensuring integrity of information. A specifically powerful capability in Orbit+ Pipeline is the dynamic segmentation of pipelines associated with varying profiles such as location classes, pipeline sections and other specific user definition. The dynamic segmentation function is essential to the effectiveness and flexibility of the system.
Analysis Tools and Code Checks – Orbit+ Pipeline includes a pressure containment function for analysis of pipelines’ ability to withstand bursting due to pressure conditions along the pipeline. The pressure
containment also includes a calculator for simulating design and operational parameters. The Metal Loss function include multiple code checks for MAOP and ERF as well as probabilistic calculations for the projected metal loss condition based on various input profiles for predicted corrosion level.Risk Assessments – Orbit+ Pipeline supports the qualitative risk assessment methodology and provides selected quantitative risk assessment functions to qualify and document interpretations on the PoF scoring and resulting risk levels. Threats, CoF and PoF can be based on various segmentation principles, such as pipeline sections, location and safety class, entire pipeline and also refined, adjusted by the pipeline engineer. The resulting risk will be displayed along the pipeline for each projected year. The risk assessment for components and critical areas (hotspots) can be performed in both overview and detailed mode. It allows the engineer to define what applicable failure modes and risk conditions that may apply. Orbit+ Pipeline supports company-specific threats and failure mode configurations.
Long Term Inspection Planning and Management – the inspection planning module provides the engineer with functions to define inspections targeted for the entire pipeline or some selected sections. The long-term inspection plan is calculated from a combination of the risk assessment results and the prescribed inspection intervals. Orbit+ Pipeline includes an inspection results browser for overview and in-depth investigation of inspection results and also interface mechanisms to in-house inspection management systems.
The next releases
DNV Software is, in close co-operation with DNV Energy, running separate offshore and onshore development tracks for Orbit+ Pipeline.
In the offshore domain the next releases will, in addition to further enhancing the capsbilities for integrity management of offshore trunk lines, focus on supporting integrity management of in-field pipeline systems including risers, flexible pipes and subsea templates. A key focus will be to support qualitative risk assessments for in-field systems together with indepth data management and analysis capabilities.
In the onshore domain the next releases will focus on enhancing the ASME B31 implementations and to support the direct assessment work process. DNV has been instrumental in the development of the direct assessment methodology. Probabilistic projection of likelihood for rupture and cracking based on several corrosion development models will also be included.
The major general functionality under development is the project and tasks environment providing a template system to define and execute company best practices. DNV Software’s aim is to keep this as a truly state-of-the-art software meeting the needs of our clients committed to sound Pipeline Integrity Management.
