Safety and Risk Management in the New Generation of Digitalized Oil and Gas Operations in Harsh Environment

海上石油和天然气勘探和生产活动已经从浅水发展到深水和恶劣环境中的大型设施（即，极端温度、风、浪和冰条件）。在纽芬兰和拉布拉多海岸的发现（例如，Orphan盆地和Flemish Pass盆地）是偏远和恶劣环境中大型能源前景增长的例子。与这些发展相关的风险很大，例如，技术风险、自然灾害、偏远和过程危害。2010年墨西哥湾油气勘探事故凸显了这些风险。导致石油/天然气释放、火灾和爆炸的事故除了造成经济损失、受伤和死亡外，还会对设备、环境和行业声誉造成损害。这些事故是边境地区油气勘探和生产的主要问题。 数字技术在海上石油和天然气开发生命周期中的最新进展可以帮助提高效率，通信，系统监控，并在许多情况下，最大限度地减少重复和危险任务的人类依赖。然而，它在工程系统中引入了复杂性，并导致对电子系统、数据处理和传输、数据加密以及集成系统的严重依赖。这些系统容易发生故障，容易失效，从而容易产生危险。 该研究计划旨在研究不断变化的危险，并开发一个集成框架，使用新工具来提高安全性并分析数据安全风险。应用于恶劣环境下的海上石油和天然气生产和加工。 该研究计划将有助于i）更好地了解与恶劣环境中工程系统数字化相关的安全和安保风险; ii）更深入地了解不断变化的事故机制（释放、扩散、火灾和爆炸）（北极和亚北极条件）由过程危害、数据故障和环境参数引起;以及iii）数学模型，用于分析在不断变化的操作和环境条件下的安全和数据安全风险。

Offshore oil and gas exploration and production activities have evolved from shallow water to large-scale facilities in deeper water and harsh environments (i.e., extreme temperatures, wind, wave, and ice conditions). Discoveries off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador (e.g., Orphan Basin and Flemish Pass Basin) are examples of the growth in large energy prospects in remote and harsh environments. The risks associated with these developments are significant, e.g., technological risks, natural hazards, remoteness, and process hazards. The 2010 accident in the Gulf of Mexico during hydrocarbon exploration underscored these risks. Accidents resulting in oil/gas release, fires, and explosions cause damage to equipment, the environment, and reputation of the industry in addition to financial losses, injuries, and fatalities. These accidents are major concerns for hydrocarbon exploration and production in frontier areas. The recent advance of digital technologies in the lifecycle of offshore oil and gas development can assist in efficiency, communication, system monitoring, and in many cases, minimize human dependence for repetitive and often dangerous tasks. However, it introduces complexity in engineering systems and results in heavy reliance on electronic systems, data processing and transmission, data encryption, and integrated systems. These are vulnerable to malfunction and susceptible to failure, which is prone to evolving hazards. This research program aims to study the evolving hazards and develop an integrated framework with new tools to improve safety and analyze data security risks. The application is in offshore oil and gas production and processing in harsh environments. This research program will contribute to i) better understanding of safety and security risks associated with digitalization of engineering systems in a harsh environment; ii) more in-depth understanding of evolving accident mechanisms (release, dispersion, fire, and explosion) in cold regions (arctic and subarctic conditions) induced by process hazards, data failure, and environmental parameters; and iii) mathematical models to analyze safety and data security risks in evolving operational and environmental conditions.