Brazilian offshore drilling services provider Ocyan has launched Ocyan Waves program, where start-ups can register and provide their solutions for Ocyan's internal challenges.

Startups should seek innovative solutions to the challenges selected by Ocyan in the space of Intelligent Alarm Management System; Digital Twin of BOP (Subsea Blowout Preventer); Real-time BOP fluid analysis; Self-service in warehouse; Failure Prediction and Top drive Hose Management.

 

 

"The products or services must address issues presented by the company's operations areas. The selected startups will have support for the development of an on-site pilot project and may become suppliers or partners of the company." 

“The launch of the program was maintained, even in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, as Ocyan believes that, in this way, it can contribute to opening up new opportunities for small companies, which even with all their creative capacity, may be affected by the crisis that ravages most countries. As the first phases of the program are performed completely online, even people in isolation can start participating”, explains Rodrigo Lemos, Ocyan's Director of Offshore Production and leader of Ocyan Waves.

"The Ocyan Waves Challenge reaches its second edition in search of creative initiatives that improve the company's operation, bringing greater efficiency and safety to its employees and customers. The program also encourages the startup ecosystem and directly contributes to the creation of a new generation of suppliers in the oil and gas industry in the country," the company said.

According to Ocyan, the program's goal is to combine the company with the creative capacity of startups, generating gains in operational efficiency. 

"We are in the second edition and we have learned a lot from the first. We had 123 startups registered last year and six of them managed to achieve the goals defined in the program and became our suppliers. We can say that Ocyan Waves met the company's concrete demands, with a focus on implementing solutions that increase safety and productivity in operational and support activities”, defines Rodrigo Lemos.

“The Ocyan Waves Challenge is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to carry out a pilot project within the facilities of a large oil and gas company."

Start-Ups to Become Suppliers

At the end of the program, startups will be able to become suppliers or partners of our company, which is in a highly technical and demanding industry, which is oil and gas. It was a success last year and we hope to repeat the same in 2020”, stresses Rodrigo.
 
To be selected, startups need to demonstrate the development of at least one feasible product and tested on a small scale or that is on the market. It is important that entrepreneurs are over 18 years of age and available to attend the meetings in Rio de Janeiro and Macaé, which will only be scheduled in person after the control of the Coronavirus pandemic, Ocyan said.
 

 

See below details on challenges Ocyan is hoping to resolve with the help of start-up solutions:
 
Challenge: Intelligent Alarm Management System

On offshore drilling platforms, there are several supervisory systems that connect different equipment by sensors using automation. The systems are able to emit alarms when some equipment exceeds its minimum or maximum index, warning the operator that something is wrong. However, due to the high number of interconnected equipment and sensors, and consequently the very high number of alarms, the treatment is not the most appropriate. Ocyan seeks a solution that brings meaning and intelligence in the analysis of these alarms, integrated with the existing system, that is able to make correlations between the sequence of alarms and repetitions, understand priorities, generate statistics and other features to support the direction of maintenance and prediction of failures.
 
Challenge: Digital Twin of BOP (Subsea Blowout Preventer)

Today, BOP-related information are stored in different systems, such as manufacturers' manuals, history of alerts / bulletins, maintenance and failures, which makes access to this information dispersed and time-consuming. Ocyan is looking for a solution that integrates all these information in one place, enabling a 3D visualization of the equipment with the representation of its operational and critical information, so that it is accessed in a visual and friendly way through a digital twin of the BOP, which is a copy of the equipment.
 
Challenge: Real-time BOP fluid analysis

Subsea BOP is a set of valves that receives a mixture of fluid and water, essential for its operation. Contamination of this fluid may happen when water, hose or the fluid itself are dirty and overload the filters before the scheduled maintenance time, often halting the operation. To find out if the fluid is contaminated, it is necessary to collect a sample from the hydraulic system, send it to shore and wait days for a return. Ocyan seeks a solution that can measure the integrity and quality of the fluid (contamination), at the outlet of the tank and before reaching the BOP, allowing its monitoring in real-time.
 
Challenge: Failure Prediction and Topdrive Hose Management

Ocyan vessels have a considerable number of hydraulic hoses, whose maintenance control is performed in a spreadsheet and manually. Failure of these hoses may cause fluid leakage, leading to a halt in operation and putting environmental and safety issues at risk. Ocyan is looking for a solution that can predictively inspect the vessel's hoses, giving the operations team information about their integrity and maintenance needs before a failure occurs.
 
Challenge: Self-service in warehouse

The control of materials in a vessel's warehouse is performed with little automation technology, being time-consuming for the responsible manager, who constantly needs to interrupt his tasks to control the entry and exit of materials, not allowing his performance to be strategic for the company. We seek a solution that automates the warehouse so that each person can access the space, in a controlled way, find what they need and carry out the exit of materials without the need for the support of an assistant and that is automatically integrated into the inventory management system.
 
The development of the Challenge program will have four phases: Registration (can be made between March 31 and May 15 through the website www.ocyanwaves.com); Pitch Day (meeting of the entrepreneurs with Ocyan, when those who will proceed to the immersion phase will be chosen); Immersion (when up to eight startups will be chosen with greater adherence to the challenges and with the best proposals presented); and Pilot (the solutions will be developed and evaluated by the Company. Those approved in this final phase will be included in Ocyan's supplier registry).