PRACtically Speaking
PRAC launches first issue of newsletter
Petroleum Research Atlantic Canada (PRAC) introduces its first issue of PRACtically Speaking, a newsletter designed to profile the various research and development (R&D) projects that PRAC funds. Produced every two months, each issue will also keep you informed on news and special events that PRAC is involved with.
RESEARCH PROFILE
Improving safety offshore
Dr. Brian Veitch, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Safety of personnel in offshore operations is the key to success - a priority reflected in PRAC’s continuing strategic focus on offshore safety research.
In PRAC’s first call for proposals in 2001, $50, 000 was granted for research into ?Offshore Evacuation Performance in Extreme Weather?, a project led by Dr. Brian Veitch at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Dr. Antonio Simoes Re at the Institute for Ocean Technology.
Based on advice from industry and regulators, they investigated the performance capabilities of conventional lifeboat evacuation systems in rough weather using scale model experiments. They were assisted by then graduate student Dean Pelley.
With PRAC’s seed funding, Veitch and Simoes Re have since gone on to build a successful research program, securing close to $2 million for investigations of conventional and modified life boat systems, free fall systems, life rafts and slide and chute evacuation systems.
Their work now incorporates engineering performance evaluation and modeling, human factors and survivability assessment and training requirements. The project work draws on the expertise of a multi-disciplinary team to provide one of the most comprehensive knowledge bases concerning marine evacuation systems in the world.
In 2003, PRAC again provided seed funding to a project that was a spin-off from this safety research program. A project team led by Capt. Anthony Patterson at the Centre for Marine Simulation, together with Veitch, Simoes Re and their colleagues, was granted $100, 000 over two years to develop a Prototype Survival Craft Training Simulator.
Due largely to the efforts of Randy Billard, a graduate student who joined the project on day one, and a group of engineering co-op students, the project’s initial goals were met far ahead of schedule and on budget. Additional funding subsequently secured from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's (NSERC) Idea2Innovation program and other sources leading to an expansion and acceleration of the project.
Brian Veitch, Anthony Patterson and Antonio Simoes Re work on their ?Offshore Evacuation Performance in Extreme Weather? project. This was one of the first projects funded by PRAC.
The prototype simulator is currently going through a formal accreditation process and is scheduled to be in use by the fall of 2005.
Pelley moved on and founded Mad Rock Marine Solutions, a company specializing in offshore and marine safety solutions. Their RocLoc hook and release mechanism solves a critical weakness in the lifeboat deployment process and has recently seen its first installation on a lifeboat in Europe.
Billard founded Virtual Marine Technology, a company that provides simulator training solutions for small vessels. Virtual Marine Technology is currently developing part-task simulators and a full mission simulator that will be used for training the crews of fast rescue craft operating along the coasts of British Colombia.
Dr. Veitch is currently developing a small vessel training simulator as part of a NSERC funded project.
NEWS ABOUT PRAC
Message from acting president, Carey Ryan
In April PRAC held its 2005 Annual General Meeting in St. John’s. The meeting focused on PRAC’s plans for 2005 and the direction that the organization should take in the future. It is clear that in spite of the considerable progress that PRAC has made during the past years and it’s planning for the future, the years ahead will be challenging as the region faces reduced exploration activity, particularly offshore Nova Scotia, and uncertainty regarding future developments.
The future success of PRAC will depend on the relevance and value of the research that it funds, as well as the continuing support of its members. This and succeeding newsletters are intended to share the results of the research we support and how it can be applied by Atlantic Canada’s petroleum industry.
PRAC partners with CERI on LNG study and industry courses
PRAC and the Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI) are jointly conducting a major multi-client study to assess the impact of compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports on natural gas developments in Atlantic Canada. The Center for Marine CNG in St. John’s was contracted to conduct part of the work.
The study is examining how various scenarios for continental gas markets and supply will affect the economic viability of current and future natural gas developments and infrastructure expansions, including LNG and CNG, in Atlantic Canada.
In addition to this study, PRAC is organizing a series of petroleum and electric industry courses developed by CERI. They will be held at various times and locations in the fall and full details will be available on our website shortly.
Eminent speaker grant program offered
PRAC has introduced a program to help offset costs associated with hosting internationally recognized speakers in subject areas relevant to Atlantic Canada’s offshore and onshore petroleum industry.
The program is available to universities, colleges, not-for-profit organizations and research institutes located in the Atlantic Provinces.
Grants of up to $2, 000 per speaker are available on a first come, first served basis and will generally cover 50 per cent of eligible costs.
Speakers must be considered by their peers as international experts in a petroleum-related field and whose knowledge will be of benefit to researchers, students, faculty, petroleum industry personnel and government. For full details and an application click here.
Energy R&D database
In May, with funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, PRAC began to collect detailed data on research capabilities in universities, institutions, government and private sector organizations in the province.
This will complement earlier work completed for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to develop a single regional database of researchers and organizations involved in energy R&D. All existing data can be viewed by going to www.energyresearch.ca.
The database will be a valuable tool for helping to ensure that our capabilities are known and used by those who need research and development carried out.
Call Six successful candidates announced
PRAC’s Board of Directors has approved funding for five projects proposed through Call Six which closed in February of this year. These projects are directed toward areas identified by industry as being priority issues for Atlantic Canada.
? Dr. Michael Enachescu (MUN) will study basin architecture and evolution of the Orphan Basin for the purpose of identifying the resource potential in this area offshore Newfoundland.
? Dr. David Keighley (UNB) will study the sedimentological and structural geology of the Maritimes Basin to better identify where exploration success might occur in New Brunswick.
? Mark Shrimpton (Jacques Whitford, St. John’s) will investigate how to make use of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process when evaluating environmental and socio-economic implications of policy, plans and processes.
? Dr. Ian Jordaan (MUN) will study how ice behaves on and impacts structures for the purpose of reducing uncertainties in design load estimation.
A fifth project has been selected and is waiting for formal funding approval from NSERC. These projects represent one, two and three-year studies. PRAC is providing roughly $500, 000 which is leveraging an additional $900, 000 from other sources.
Comments, questions welcomed!
Please contact communications@pr-ac.ca with any questions or comments about this newsletter and visit the rest of PRAC's website for more information.
