Kongsberg put in charge of life cycle simulator project at Equinor’s North Sea gas field

Norwegian state-owned energy giant Equinor has handed out a two-year life cycle simulator project to Kongsberg Digital, a compatriot digital solutions provider, for a gas field in the North Sea off the coast of Norway, in a bid to enhance operational efficiency, improve training programs, and ensure the highest level of fidelity in simulator-based engineering.

With an estimated worth exceeding NOK 25 million (nearly $2.4 million), the deal with Equinor entails rebuilding the Sleipner life cycle simulators using Kongsberg Digital’s K-Spice and LedaFlow simulation technologies. According to Kongsberg Digital, this project is expected to “significantly” increase the simulation capabilities of the Sleipner area in the North Sea.

Shane McArdle, Chief Executive Officer of Kongsberg Digital, commented: “We are honored to be collaborating with Equinor on the Sleipner life cycle simulator project. Our commitment to this project underscores our dedication to providing comprehensive, trustworthy, and reliable 1st principle digital solutions to the energy sector.”

Three simulators – engineering study simulator (ESS), engineering test simulator (ETS), and operator training simulator (OTS) – will be developed using K-Spice and LedaFlow simulation technologies to provide the multidisciplinary operation and engineering teams with a complete life cycle simulator engineering and training tool environment.

Furthermore, these simulators will model the processes of all wells, pipelines, and offshore production facilities for three different assets of the Sleipner installations, which include the processing, drilling, and living quarter platform (Sleipner A), the unmanned production platform (Sleipner B), and the processing and CO2 removal platform (Sleipner T).

In addition, the project will encompass modeling the power grid using K-Spice Grid. The Sleipner life cycle simulator project is slated to begin in 1Q 2024, with an estimated completion by the end of 2025. The project is anticipated to develop a dynamic simulator model incorporating topside process simulation models using K-Spice and multiphase flow models of production wells and flowlines using LedaFlow software.

The Sleipner area encompasses three gas and condensate fields – Sleipner Øst, Gungne, and Sleipner Vest – and processes hydrocarbons from the tie-in fields: Sigyn, Volve, Gudrun and gas from Gina Krog.

“We are confident that the Sleipner asset will greatly benefit from the enhanced operational efficiency, troubleshooting analysis and training opportunities our technologies offer,” added McArdle.

This deal with Equinor comes months after Kongsberg Digital revealed agreements with Shell and Chevron to digitalize the oil majors’ global assets with digital twin technology.