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th
February 2014
Dear RAM analyst,
The purpose of this letter is to provide useful information in regard to activities related to DNV GL
Softwares RAM products: Maros and Taro. The year 2014 kicks-off with exciting news related to the
new DNV GL group and for the RAM Product, with the imminent release of Maros 9 and Taro 5.
In this status note, you will find information on:
DNV GL merge: Optagon and potential synergies.
Flow network of Maros 9
DNV GL Software blog

New DNV GL group
DNV and GL have merged to become one company. The new entity is called DNV GL Group and started
operations on the 1
st
January 2014. DNV GL is now the worlds leading ship classification society and
risk advisory group in the oil and gas, renewable energy and power sectors, and in the global top
three within management system certification.
The new group also introduces a world leading software-house to the market. With over 700
employees and revenue of approximately US$100 million, DNV GL Software offers solutions to
support a variety of business critical activities including design and engineering, risk assessment,
asset integrity and optimization, QHSE, and ship management.
Legacy GL group brings a well-established suite of tools focussed on asset integrity, flow network
modelling, and other oil and gas, utilities and power related tools. A lot of synergies with legacy DNV
products are being identified and opportunities of further development will greatly benefit our end-
users. A few integration projects are being kicked-off to find the best way of integrating different
technologies.
Regarding RAM products, legacy GLs Optagon software tool for RAM becomes part of DNV GL group.
Optagon incorporates the extensive knowledge our colleagues in legacy GL had related to RAM
studies, especially during the operational stage. Historically, Optagon has been comprehensively used
to model gas assets and, for this reason, it has a range of features related to the gas industry
demurrage, product transportation modelling and an optimiser.
An integration process has been started and, with time, the best of Maros, Taro and Optagon tools will
be integrated into the Maros and Taro common simulation engine and will be available to DNV GL
clients.
Flow network in Maros 9
The most important and thought provoking step in Maros has always been to formulate a logic flow
network which will reflect the system connection and its interdependencies.
A logic flow network can be considered to be a high-level reliability block diagram (RBD) and intends
to replicate the process flow being modelled for a specific system. This network is built by connecting
units focusing on the production aspects of the system such as flow rates and product mass balances.
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In Maros 9, the concept of flow network modelling remains the same. However, the interface and the
features have been improved considerably.
In order to explain the changes in the flow modelling in Maros 9, consider the example below:
A typical oil production system used in this example is a simple process a stream of oil, gas and
water are extracted from 3 wells feeding the platform and the processing. The processing facility then
separates the three products into three different streams: oil, gas and water, which then feeds into
three separate systems: the oil export system, the compression system and the water production
system respectively. All systems must be operational to keep producing oil, the primary product.
In Maros 8, the flow network configuration for the abovementioned scenario would be modelled as
described in Figure 1:

Maros 9 introduces a new flow network modelling capability which allows the user to see the actual
separation of streams, in this case, oil, gas and water, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Same example as Figure 1 but now using the new flow modelling in Maros 9
Figure 1: Example of oil production network in Maros 8
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In order to calculate the production efficiency of the oil stream, Maros traces the impact of events in
the gas and water streams to the oil production. This is the approach taken:
If the water related system fails, the production of water will be stopped (Step 1) and since
there is no way for the water produced by the separators to flow the entire unit will be
stopped (Step 2), as illustrated by Figure 3.

Figure 3 - Scenario of water production failure
If the compression system fails, the production of gas will be stopped (Step 1) and there is no
way for the gas produced by the separators to flow. The entire unit will also be stopped (Step
2), as illustrated by Figure 4.

Figure 4 - Gas production failure
Step 1
Step 2
Unit down
Step 1 Step 2
Unit down
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The exception to these scenarios is where a Flare is modelled, i.e. if the compression system
fails, the production of gas will be stopped and the gas coming from the separators can be
flared (Step 1) as illustrated by Figure 5.

This is exactly how Maros 9 works. The new flow modelling produces a more intuitive interface
aiming at replicating the actual process.






1.1.1.1 More products
Maros 9 can now handle 4 products for its first release. The definition of the products is done through
the Simulator Parameters dialog:


Keeping track of products
Maros 9 also introduces the capability to keep track of different products running through the system.
Using the same example aforementioned but instead of producing only one stream of gas, the field can
produce High Pressure (HP) gas and Low Pressure (LP) gas. So the flow network comprises of simple
separation process, separating out streams of oil, HP gas, LP gas and water which are extracted from 3
wells feeding the processing facility which has two stages of separation. After separating the different
ranges of gas, HP gas and LP gas, these streams are then re-converged into one gas export node.
In order to connect units in Maros 9, the user has to click on the Connection tool button - just like
in Maros 8. The connection must always be performed from downstream units (right part) to the
upstream (left part) units as shown in Figure 6:

Figure 6: Typical oil separation system with Low-pressure and High-pressure profiles
Step 1
Unit down
Figure 5 - Gas compression failure with flaring as bypass
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In Maros 9, the analyst has to select the product to which that connection refers to. In the example
above, the stream produced by the wells is an unseparated stream meaning that it is composed of oil,
water, HP Gas and LP Gas. For instance, the unseparated streams coming from the wells will feed into
the first stage of separation. At this processing unit, the HP gas and Water streams are separated,
leaving an unseparated stream comprising of LP gas and Oil as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7: flow network showing the actual separation of water and HP gas
When the user tries to connect the oil export system to the second stage of separation, Figure 7, there
are two streams available as both the HP gas and Water has been separated at the first stage of
separation.
Invitation to join the Advanced RAM Yammer Group
Some of you are already aware that DNV GL has introduced an online user group for Maros and Taro
users for those who have SLA . The group is called the Advanced RAM User Community and it is
hosted on Yammer, the corporate social networking site.
This year we are planning to develop the group further, to build a great resource for exchanging tips
and ideas on how to use Maros andTaro as well as for just sharing experience and expertise in the
field of RAM analysis.
Please take a moment to view the group page and join.
DNV GL Software blog
DNV GL has recently launched a blog which aims at discussing challenges and market observations
relevant to software for managing risk and improving asset performance. Topics are discussed across
a wide range of industries, including the maritime, energy, oil and gas and process industries. The
blog contains two domain areas. The Risk & Reliability blogs focus on process safety and risk analysis
as well as production optimisation. The Design & Engineering blog focusses on engineering of ships
and offshore structures.
Please subscribe in order to get the latest blog posts.
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Recent blog posts include:
Optimising maintenance resources
Maintenance strategy is one of the main pillars for sustaining production availability in an oil
rig or refinery. In my experience, when developing a RAM (reliability, availability,
maintainability) study, the reliability of the system and its components plays a
crucial Continue reading
Performance prediction for Utility plants
Oil and gas facilities around the world experience a large number of power interruptions,
ranging from small shortages to complete power failures leading to lower productivity, higher
maintenance costs and unsafe operating conditions for equipment. Therefore, power supply
plays a Continue reading
Integration keyword for success
As the oil and gas industry (and technology) moves forward, traditional performance
prediction techniques are unable to cope with the degree of complexity encountered these
days. Nevertheless, they offer a strong base to new techniques and methods. Modern plants
tend Continue reading
Do you know your boundaries?
In any project (or even for the simplest mathematical equation), the appropriate definition of
boundaries is vital to achieve accurate and meaningful results. Let us try to understand the
concept personally, I like to use broad definitions like the Continue reading
Maximising production for mature assets
Oil and gas production fields are facing natural decrease in production due to maturation of
wells and ageing of production facilities. Obviously, asset owners are seeking more effective
methods for managing their existing assets and future developments, increasing performance
and Continue reading
Quantifying the benefits of a Condition monitoring
Deviating from our typical oil and gas examples, let us discuss the benefits of condition
monitoring (CM) in the mining industry as well see, we can derive the same benefits when
applying RAM analysis as we saw with oil Continue reading
Getting deep in maintenance
Demand for energy is pushing the oil and gas industry to produce in remote and harsh
environments. This is supported by new technologies. For example, processes are now being
moved from topsides of platforms to the seabed with subsea processing Continue reading
Logistics operations: do you know what to expect?
The Petroleum industry is divided into three major operations: Upstream, Midstream and
Downstream. There are many definitions for these operations but I believe the ones below are
generally accepted. The Upstream operation, also known as the Exploration and Production
(E&P) sector, Continue reading
Going green with RAM analysis
The world is facing a new reality when it comes to sustainability. All major oil and gas
companies around the world are being pushed to operate their facilities, upstream, midstream
or downstream, with the minimum amount of waste and hazardous Continue reading
Risk analysis versus RAM analysis
Asset management is a science that requires balance. The art of running an asset at its full
capacity, with minimum downtime, but in a safe manner is probably one of the biggest
challenges in the oil and gas industry nowadays. Continue reading
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The opportunity to obtain your feedback about the services provided by DNV GL Software is
invaluable, so please take this chance to provide your feedback in regard to our RAM services, such as:
Support
Training
Administrative actions
Licensing Process and Renewal

Once again we would like to thank you for your continued support of the DNV GL Software Process
Safety, Risk and Reliability product suite and we look forward to continuing to assist you.
All the best,

Victor Borges
RAM Product Manager
DNV GL Software