2009 power industry › assets › pdf › insightspecialpower.pdf · 2009-06-12 · burns &...

1InsightPower Industry

A publication of Intergraph® Process, Power & Marine

Power IndustryAECLSiemens Power GenerationWestinghouse Electric Co.URS Washington DivisionChinergyBurns & McDonnellPBMRSNC-Lavalin Nuclear

A Special Focus of

2009

2 Insight Insight: Special Focus

Focus on: The PowerIndustry

n �CASE STUDIES n AECL n Westinghouse Electric Co. n URS Washington Division n Chinergy n PBMR n SNC-Lavalin Nuclear n Burns & McDonnell

n �PERSPECTIvES n Siemens Power Generation n Westinghouse Electric Co.

n �vIEWPoINT n Washington Group

International


Intergraph offers powerful engineering design and data management solutions to help the power industry meet its goals, such as reducing the time and cost of design, construction, com-missioning and handover. SmartPlant® Enterprise improves work processes and manages change across all disciplines.

By meeting these goals, plant revenues, profits, dividends and returns will grow faster. Capital investment, spare parts inventory and ongoing de- preciation are reduced, along with operating costs. Revenues flow more quickly. Utilities companies maintain environmental standards and assure that quality and safety are not compromised. They can also meet regulatory redundancy requirements.

The power industry is clearly trending to the use

Intergraph® Benefits the Power Industryof Intergraph software and services solutions. For example, Intergraph solutions have been chosen by the world’s leading nuclear power owners and EPCs, including:

n AECL – Canadan Ansaldo Nuclear – Italyn AtomEnergoProekt – Russian Burns and Roe – USAn Chinergy – Chinan Fluor – USAn Fortum – Finland n GE Nuclear – USAn Hitachi Nuclear Energy – Japann KOPEC – South Korean Larsen & Toubro – Indian MHI Nuclear Energy Systems – Japan/USA

n PBMR – South African Savannah River Site – USAn Shaw AREVA MOX Services – USAn Shaw Group Inc. – USAn SNC-Lavalin Nuclear – Canadan SNERDI – China n SNPTC – Chinan Toshiba-Westinghouse – Japan/USAn URS Washington Division – USAn WorleyParsons Corp. – USA/Australian Wolf Creek Nuclear Generating Station – USA

Please read on to learn how power industry leaders are using Intergraph solutions to design, build, operate and manage their large and complex projects.

Power Generation AlternativesTo improve revenues, shareholder return and performance metrics, utilities companies are looking at ways to enhance the diversity of their power sources. These companies are also developing strategies to manage costs and drive customer satisfaction through affordable power supply pricing and reliability while meeting increasingly stringent environmental requirements.

By achieving a better balance of power sources, companies are less subject to drastic market price swings. Companies are turning to coal, hydroelectric and nuclear power generation to protect against the volatility of natural gas and oil prices.

Government policy, economic conditions and environmental constraints are all favorable for building new power plants. Some utilities companies are taking advantage of this opportunity to evaluate all of their choices for the type of power plant to build, including nuclear.


AECL Takes “CANDU” Approach to New Nuclear TechnologiesAtomic Energy of Canada Limited chooses SmartPlant® Enterprise to complete projects on time, on budgetn By Ron oberth

Case study: ATOMIC ENERGy OF CANADA LIMITED

Many companies are developing new and innova-

tive ways to meet the current and future worldwide

demand for electricity. Atomic Energy of Canada

Limited (AECL) is one of those on the cutting edge,

offering new nuclear technologies to safely and

efficiently meet the growing need for power.

AECL is a full service nuclear technology company

providing services to nuclear utilities around the

world. The company works in partnership with

its customers to provide clean, safe, reliable and

affordable energy solutions. AECL provides on-site

expertise, backed by its nuclear science laborato-

ries, testing capability and engineering facilities.

Service from design to decommissioning AECL is focused on three major lines of busi-

ness: designing and selling new nuclear reactors,

refurbishing older reactors, and providing services

to owners of CANDU reactors that help utilities

increase capacity factors, reduce operation and

maintenance costs and shorten outages.

Another more important area of AECL’s business

is to maintain on behalf of the government of

Canada an ongoing research and development

program – designed to maintain and advance

new nuclear technologies, and improve the

understanding of nuclear materials and other

nuclear processes.

CANDU and ACR reactorsAECL’s lead product, and the standard for Canadian

nuclear power reactor designs, is called CANDU, an

acronym for Canada Deuterium Uranium. CANDU

reactors supply about 16 percent of Canada’s elec-

tricity and are an important component of clean air

energy programs on four continents. CANDU is a

unique design that uses natural uranium fuel and a heavy water moderator.

AECL’s CANDU product line includes the 750 MWe class CANDU 6 power reactor and the 1200 MWe class ACR-1000, AECL’s next-generation CANDU power reactor.

The Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR) has several key features. Foremost, it is one of the safest reactors ever designed. It is also a cost-effective solution to the world’s energy needs and it will operate efficiently throughout its life cycle.

One of the unique features of CANDU is its ability to refuel while operating at full power. This is accomplished by two remotely controlled fueling machines positioned at opposite ends of the calandria – one removes the used fuel bundles, while the other inserts new bundles. This


eliminates the need for refueling outages, and gives utilities greater flexibility in outage planning, as well as shorter maintenance outage periods.

Emphasis on safetyAECL made safety a key element when designing the CANDU reactor. The many safety systems of the reactor take into account human error, equip-ment failure and natural risks such as earthquakes. In the event that an accident should occur, CANDU reactors are designed to contain radioactive emis-sions within the reactor containment structure.

Perhaps the most important CANDU safety prin-ciple is “defense in depth.” This safety philosophy involves five main areas: high-quality station equipment; intensive and ongoing nuclear plant operator training; fault detection and correction; independent safety systems; and containment systems. There has never been an accident in a CANDU reactor where a worker has received radiation exposure requiring medical treatment.

Intergraph solutionAECL has used Intergraph modeling tools for the last 20 years and has successfully delivered finished products to clients around the world.

The company had several key requirements when it was recently looking for a 3D solution. The product had to have an open architecture and an integrated database for design, analysis, modeling, licensing, procurement, construction and client turnover. It had to be an integrated software package that could meet the needs of a complete plant life cycle. The company also wanted to see a significant improve-ment in productivity and quality as a benefit of the product.

“We looked at many competitive products, but ultimately chose SmartPlant Enterprise, particu-larly SmartPlant 3D, because no other enterprise system provided us the productivity gains possible with the Intergraph tools,” said Stephen yu, AECL general manager, ACR product development.

yu added that the integrated yet modu-lar approach that Intergraph chose with SmartPlant Enterprise fit AECL’s ACR-1000 product engineering and project delivery strat-egy and the company’s long-term vision in the nuclear market.

By utilizing a common data-centric “foundation,” AECL can manage data centrally – increasing

productivity significantly while decreasing the possibility of errors. It also provides a common database for 3D modeling and P&ID design.

“SmartPlant has allowed AECL to move ahead in utilization of existing in-house tools while imple-menting new tool development by Intergraph,” said yu. “Most important, this allowed us to reuse existing PDS data successfully.”

Ken Petrunik, AECL senior vice president, said, “PDS was instrumental in AECL being on time and on budget for a recent project in China. We were very pleased with our results.”

AECL is moving quickly to also take advantage of SmartPlant Foundation’s advanced data manage-ment techniques to better serve clients.

Worldwide nuclear renaissanceWhile the foundation of AECL’s business is in Canada, it has built reactors around the world. There are currently 20 AECL-constructed nuclear plants in Canada. Two other units have been recently decommissioned after almost 30 years of valuable service.

“The world is in the midst of a ‘nuclear renais-sance,’” said Petrunik. “Governments are seeing an unprecedented demand for electricity to power new economic growth in China, India and many other countries.”

New nuclear generators are being considered in Ontario to help meet the rising power demand. It is estimated it will take three to four years to secure the needed licensing and environmental approvals.

After that, construction takes about six years, so it is expected the first new nuclear plant could start up in Ontario within 10 years.

Beyond Canada, AECL sees great opportunities for growth around the world, particularly in the U.S., United Kingdom, China and South Korea. The future certainly looks bright for nuclear power.

Ron Oberth is director of marketing operations at AECL.

www.aecl.ca

Unique Features of the AECL CANDU Reactor

n On-power refueling

n Simple fuel bundle design

n Low-pressure, low-temperature heavy water moderator separated from the reactor coolant system

n Fully-automated plant control

n Fuel cycle flexibility

n Standardized key components

n Short construction schedule

n 3D CAD model-assisted design

n Two independent, fast-acting safety shutdown systems


Smooth MovesAECL’s SmartPlant Enterprise transition starts with upgrade from PDS® to SmartPlant 3Dn By Wayne Smith

When Atomic Energy of Canada needed an ad-vanced enterprise plant design system to increase engineering productivity and design quality on its Advanced CANDU Reactor program, it knew where to look.

Demonstrable design consistency and design qual-ity are becoming increasingly important in gaining regulatory licenses and compressing construction schedules for “new-build” nuclear power projects.

“Already being an Intergraph user, and having successfully used PDS to design and build a number of power plants, including two units recently completed in China,” said Liviu Vrancea, manager of engineering and project management tools at AECL, “it was the obvious choice to look at Intergraph to see if they had something that could help us.”

“One of the ways we wanted to improve over what we have done in the past was to look at

the next-generation plant design systems that were available.”

experience countsAECL has a long history with Intergraph, as a very early adopter of PDS®. Working closely with the initial Intergraph PDS development team, AECL helped Intergraph bring PDS to market more than 20 years ago.

“For five straight months, we had a group of about six senior AECL engineers in Huntsville testing the soon-to-be PDS – that is, ‘breaking’ the software – by day, and the Intergraph software development group fixing it at night,” said Vrancea.

“By the time we got to the Intergraph user group meeting in 1987, Intergraph and AECL were able to present a product that had the chance to succeed.”

AECL went on to use PDS through 2007 to bring its plants online on time and on budget.

In 2005, AECL added SmartPlant P&ID for its piping and instrumentation diagrams.

Building on investmentWhen AECL started looking for a more advanced system while retaining some level of compatibil-ity with its legacy 3D design data, SmartPlant 3D from Intergraph was the leading contender. Vrancea said the data-centric architecture of SmartPlant 3D was one of the key factors that led to the decision to upgrade.

“Being able to migrate our operation from PDS to SmartPlant 3D without having to completely throw out everything we have done in the past” added a comfort level and reduced the risks of the transition from PDS to SmartPlant 3D. The transition from designing in PDS to rolling out SmartPlant 3D, including translating the piping catalogs, was achieved during a period of only six months.

Case study: AECL


data qualityVrancea said the enhanced capabilities of SmartPlant 3D are a result of its data-centricity as opposed to file-based systems. “With SmartPlant 3D, everything’s stored in a database,” said Vrancea. “The availability and accessibility of all 3D plant design data in a single database promises an improved integration path for con-necting other applications to SmartPlant 3D, such as equipment specification, material control and project control. The tight integration of all information aspects of the project is a key com-ponent of successful project execution.

“We were looking to go beyond engineering automation and introduce significant project-wide multidisciplinary capabilities to help us manage the configuration of plant data in the dynamic, concurrent design-procurement- construction processes of a modern large capital project, such as a nuclear power plant.”

What is the most important benefit of SmartPlant 3D implementation for AECL?

“It’s definitely configuration management,” Vrancea said. “Because I think when it’s all said and done, it’s about being able to have correct data and having the confidence that you’re de-livering quality information.”

ensuring successIn addition to SmartPlant 3D, AECL also recently chose SmartPlant Foundation as a component of its information management implementation. Vrancea said patience is key in implementing an enterprise solution such as SmartPlant Enterprise, including SmartPlant P&ID, SmartPlant Foundation and SmartPlant 3D.

“Make sure you apply the right level of resources with appropriate skills to learn, and be able to sustain the implementation project and beyond,” said Vrancea. “It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight. The results may come months or even more than a year after the start of the project, but the rewards are worth the effort.

“Intergraph played an important role in AECL’s successful delivery of its new-build CANDU nu-clear power plants.”

Wayne Smith is a contributing editor for Insight based in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.

www.aecl.ca

“ It’s about being able to have correct data and

having the confidence that you’re delivering

quality information.

Liviu Vrancea Manager of Engineering and Project Management Tools, AECL


Using the right engineering methodologies can have a strong, positive impact on the performance of your plant. Combine that with the right technol-ogy tools and your facilities will be profitable for years to come. But to choose the right tools, you must understand the issues driving the industry.

In the past few years, the power industry has seen a strong resurgence around the world. The ques-tion is: what has driven this strong growth?

A major contributor to the development of energy markets has been the trend towards deregulation and liberalization. We expect this will continue, but looking closer we realize that strong global economic development has become the dominant factor in the power industry’s growth. Growing economies around the world, particularly rising energy demand in China and India, have fueled our industry’s growth in areas from fuel exploita-tion to power generation and distribution.

We are not just seeing a measurable increase in orders for new power plants. Our business lines are growing out of the growing needs for modernization, upgrading and lifetime extension of existing power plants. What we are seeing as well is an increasing awareness that the way we generate energy must be driven by a need for environmentally sound energy generation.

Increase in demand drives cost and employmentAs growth continues, we will expect an additional employment and capacity increase – not only in-house but also through global collaboration and partnering. But with these positive developments, the overall growth has led to an increase in material prices for steel, copper, titanium and other major materials used in the power industry. We are also seeing a shortage in availability of delivery slots for raw materials and pre-manufactured parts.

So the next factor to consider becomes “what kinds of power generation are going to dominate industry growth in the next few decades?” To determine that, we look at the “megatrends” that will shape the future.

Demographic changes will call for investments to secure reliable and sufficient energy/electricity supply, clean water and food; e.g., energy produc-tion will need to double by 2030 to satisfy the demands of the growing world population. At the same time, the demand for fresh water will grow by 50 percent – creating increased energy demand for facilities like desalination plants. On the other hand, the growing imbalance between energy producers and consumers will foster the international trade of energy. Already, the United States and Western Europe can only satisfy their need for natural gas by importing it from Asia and the Middle East.

With vast resources currently economically avail-able, fossil fuels will be the main resource for energy generation through the next decades. High-efficiency technologies with advanced emis-sion control systems will dominate; including 60 percent efficiency combined cycle applications,

ultra-supercritical steam and integrated gasifica-tion combined cycle (IGCC) plants. Beyond fossil, we will see increases in hydropower, biomass applications and wind power, and to a smaller extent in solar energy generation.

The booming wind business is already a major contributor to a number of power generation companies. Wind turbines are already exceeding unit capacities of 3MW, and with their improved economics, becoming soon independent from subsidies. This development will be the base for future growth, and the boom will continue over the next 5-10 years, with an annual increase of up to 30 percent.

While there are signs of resurgence of nuclear power generation around the globe with the potential of future growth, nuclear will stay third among the types of power generation. The focus for the nuclear business will be upgrading and life-time extension or replacements in Europe, Japan, the United States and additions in Asia.

Nuclear vs. fossil growthTotal annual growth of power generation is pro-jected at about three percent, with fossil power generation dominating at least into 2020 (65 per-cent of total generation). Increases in fuel prices or more stringent environmental requirements could affect that percentage. The nuclear share will likely stay at a 5 percent level through 2020, although it could increase to 10 percent.

For power company operators, we are looking in one of two directions. First, for the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), alternative energy or other companies providing equipment, services and solutions for power generation, the major challenge is their capability to handle large-scale projects. For those projects, it will be essential to manage the technology/design for the individual components and systems as well as the

Siemens Uses Technology to ImprovePlant Performancen By Frank Schnabel

PersPeCtIVe: SIEMENS POWER GENERATION


full integration of the plant, including plant layout, system engineering, electrical and instrumentation and control (I&C), core mechanical equipment and balance of plant (BOP) and civil.

The second view is the view on the operator of a power plant/grid. The demand seems to be clear: reliable, efficient and clean power genera-tion. However, the increasing share of renewable power leads to additional requirements, such as operational flexibility. With wind, for example, an increasing share of wind power means the amount of back-up power for times of low or no wind is increasing considerably. Operation of wind power and other power plants needs to be aligned to availability of the energy source, wind and the actual power demand.

Solutions for efficient and economic operation under these boundaries, including forecasting of operational requirements, are becoming more cru-cial in the future. These will require an even closer collaboration of the supplier of the power plant and the operator of the plant grid.

New tools to meet demandNew technological tools can assist in meeting new demand. Today, we already see limits in the availability of qualified engineers, purchasers and site management staff. Improved utilization of our resources by improved knowledge and resource management will help to comply with the growth anticipated and other changes in the power industry.

n In our complex world, with its varying techni-cal and financial requirements and changing markets, the need for global collaboration, knowledge and resource management is extremely important.

n Advanced engineering tools based on an object-oriented structure and cross-discipline integra-tion are the key to efficiently handling the design and the subsequent change process.

n Consistent data management is essential for the quality of engineering, purchasing, manufactur-ing, construction and commissioning.

If I had a crystal ball, over the next decade I would recommend engineering tool solutions that sup-port a semi-automated/automated design based on statutory requirements and company-specific design rules, codes and guidelines. That would

minimize the amount of engineering hours for routine or less sophisticated work in the area of basic and detailed design, including generation of lists and drawings and support for generation of assembly instructions. The SmartPlant Enterprise from Intergraph will make it possible to enter into a more reliable and efficient engineering solution.

technology overcomes operational challengesAdvances in technology can help overcome many operational challenges. Technology can assist dur-ing pre-testing of equipment, such as simulation of the I&C system and commissioning.

For those activities, we are relatively late in the whole construction schedule, with only a few weeks to do the testing and commissioning. It is crucial to have the design completed and the documentation prepared, and necessary changes must be engineered, released and implemented into the systems and properly documented. Advanced data and document handling backed by a consistent database can make this possible.

Individual tools should be integrated, in particular for the electrical and I&C tools, because most final adjustments are made at this point to get full com-pliance with the operational requirements. In the future, remote testing and commissioning will play a bigger role, allowing more efficient use of the commissioning experts by eliminating travel time/cost while sharing the knowledge over a larger number of projects.

This year, Siemens Power Generation (Siemens PG) will roll out next-generation engineering tools which will be based on the latest tool develop-ments available. The new tools will include a Web-based interface to ease communication with our suppliers. Direct data exchange will become the prevailing communication method. SmartPlant from Intergraph will be the tool for the solution business within Siemens PG.

technology makes global workshare possibleGlobal workshare is essential for the power indus-try. Today in Siemens PG, we have focused our plant engineering in four major locations: Germany, Austria, the United States and India. Within this internal network, projects are allocated depending on type and load factor at the individual locations. The engineering offices in Germany, Austria and

the United States are responsible for the con-

ceptual design and the system engineering, the

procurement engineering, supplier management

and direct interfacing with the site. In India, most

in-house basic and detail design is performed,

including 3D design of the whole plant.

With this work split, we need a tool that sup-

ports communication and data exchange. The

next-generation engineering tools rolled out

this year will perfectly support the exchange of

system design data from our engineering offices

in Germany, Austria and the United States to our

Indian office. For example, the piping designer

will be able to directly take major design input as

material classes from the P&ID.

A second example for improvement from the new

tool suite will be a closer linkage to the site. During

construction and commissioning, it is always

necessary to make final adjustments onsite. With

integration of the site, necessary changes can be

initiated and tracked directly from the site and

then rechecked and released by the responsible

back offices.

Intergraph and Siemens are long-term partners,

particularly in the solution business within Siemens

PG. We have relied on the proven software solu-

tions of Intergraph since the late 1990s, and cur-

rently have an alliance agreement for the develop-

ment, testing and roll-out of the next generation of

engineering tools, the SmartPlant Enterprise. With

the introduction of the SmartPlant Enterprise, we

expect a measurable improvement in the efficiency

of our engineering, with savings up to 10-20 per-

cent, depending on the individual application.

Improved integration and advanced data exchange

will allow us to achieve higher quality levels in the

whole engineering process, but also throughout

purchasing, construction and commissioning. In

addition, closer integration of our suppliers will be

achieved. In general, document-based data han-

dling will change to a data-based one. The object-

oriented structure of the SmartPlant Enterprise will

support this effectively.

Frank Schnabel is vice president of plant engineering at Siemens Power Generation in

Erlangen, Germany.

www.siemens.com


The worldwide demand for electricity is growing

at an exponential rate. Over the next decade, it’s

projected by some sources to increase by 2.6 per-

cent per year, from 14,275 billion kilowatt-hours

in 2002 to 21,400 billion kilowatt-hours in 2015.

According to the Uranium Information Centre, Ltd.

in Melbourne, Australia, the demand for primary

energy in East Asia will grow by 5 percent between

now and 2010, while the need for electricity will

increase 7 to 8 percent annually.

In China alone, power generation requirements

are expected by some to almost double from

1994 to 2010, with much of the need being

met by nuclear power generation. According to

China’s State Electricity Regulatory Commission,

more than 120 GW of generating capacity is

currently under construction, but it is likely to

take until next year for generating capacity to

catch up with demand in most areas. Despite this

growth in capacity, blackouts and power rationing

have become a major issue in many provinces,

particularly during the peak summer demand for

air conditioning.

In the United States, there is a strong concern

about the country’s reliance on foreign oil and the

rising costs of other fuel sources. Nuclear power

generation is emerging as the safe, clean and

cost-effective alternative to more traditional fuel

sources, and Westinghouse Electric Company is

continuing to take a leading role in the industry.

The company is focused on delivering improved

performance, reliability and efficiency with exist-

ing and new nuclear energy plants worldwide by

providing fuel, services, technology, plant design

and equipment for the commercial nuclear elec-

tric power industry. In addition, Westinghouse is

working with the U.S. government to reduce the

capital costs of new plants so they can be more

competitive in the energy marketplace.

The company’s technology is the basis for nearly

half of the world’s operating commercial nuclear

power plants, and almost 60 percent of those in the

U.S. Westinghouse’s newest Nuclear Regulatory

Commission design-certified plant offering, the

AP1000, was designed using Intergraph products.

The AP1000 is a pressurized water reactor (PWR)

with innovative, passive safety features and a

much simplified design intended to reduce the

reactor’s material and construction costs while

improving operational safety.

PDS, along with MicroStation, was used to do

plant 3D modeling. Two-dimensional drawings

are extracted from the 3D model, while ISOGEN®

is used to create the isometric drawings. Initially,

PDS 2D was used for the P&IDs for the AP600,

predecessor to the AP1000. They were converted

to SmartPlant P&ID while revising them for the

AP1000. SmartPlant Explorer, a companion

product, is used to review intelligent P&IDs. The

A Resurgence in Commercial Nuclear PowerWestinghouse Electric Co. helps deliver electricity more cleanly, economically and safelyn By Jill ClellandThis article originally appeared in Insight Issue 16, 2006.

PersPeCtIVe: WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CO.


SmartPlant Review suite has been used exten-sively to review the plant in an integrated fashion, and also for constructability. The benefits of 3D visualization don’t have to end with engineering and construction of a plant. The 3D models and data generated by visualization tools can be used as part of training, operations and maintenance, realizing both cost- and time-saving benefits.

The AP1000 provides a high degree of public safety and licensing certainty. It draws upon more than 40 years of experience in light water reactor components and technology, so no demonstration plant is required. While clearly advanced in its application of passive safety features, the AP1000 is still based on the very same Westinghouse PWR technology that has accumulated thousands of reactor-years of successful operation internation-ally since the first PWR went online in Shippingport, Pennsylvania U.S. in 1957.

The AP1000’s predecessor, the AP600, was designed with input from more than 30 engi-neering organizations from around the world. The AP1000 also had international collaborators. Previously, the collaboration was performed at each organization, and integrated into Westinghouse’s controlling model by manual integration. Since that time, Intergraph products have become more capable of workshare and collaboration. They enable Westinghouse to perform detailed design work around the world, and the modular design of the plants allows suppliers to work globally and have all the pieces fit together when joined at the plant site.

Certainly the time is right for the U.S. to renew its focus on nuclear power generation. In fact, a number of utilities have submitted applications to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in preparation for building a plant. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 focuses on lowering the country’s foreign and fossil fuel dependence, with many significant incentives intended to grow the U.S. nuclear industry.

More and more political, business and environmental leaders are speaking out on the advantages of nuclear power as the cleaner, cheaper, and yes, safer power generation alternative. In an article published April 14, 2006 in The Washington Post, Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore says, “Nuclear energy may just be the energy source that

can save our planet from another possible disaster: catastrophic climate change.” He continues, “More than 600 coal-fired electric plants in the United States produce 36 percent of U.S. emissions – or nearly 10 percent of global emissions – of CO2, the primary greenhouse gas responsible for climate change. Nuclear energy is the only large-scale, cost-effective energy source that can reduce these emissions while continuing to satisfy a growing demand for power. And these days it can do so safely.”

In 2001, the nuclear energy industry announced its goal of preserving the existing percentage of America’s emission-free electricity, while at the same time adding new electricity generation. Vision 2020 specifies having enough new nuclear power plants either under order, under construc-tion or already built to provide 50,000 MW of additional electricity-generating capacity to the U.S. power grid by 2020.

Vision 2020 also calls for the addition of another 10,000 MW capacity of nuclear power by modify-ing existing plants with more efficient equipment and more accurate instrumentation so they can produce more electricity, and by operating current plants more efficiently so there is less time when the reactor is not producing full power. Together with other renewable production, these increases will maintain the non-emitting percentage of electricity produced in the U.S. at 30 percent, continuing to help keep our air clean.

It’s imperative to plan for rather than react to increases in future energy requirements. The AP1000 has been confirmed as the technology base for 10 combined construction and operating license applications. Among the utility companies considering expanding their nuclear capabilities are

South Carolina Electric & Gas (principal subsidiary of SCANA Corporation), Duke Power, Progress Energy and the team of Southern Company and Georgia Power. Late last year, NuStart, the nation’s largest consortium of nuclear power companies, selected TVA’s Bellefonte nuclear plant site for a combined construction and operating license (COL) applica-tion for the AP1000.

The AP1000 is ideally suited for the worldwide nuclear power marketplace. Not only is it the safest, most advanced design available, but its modular design promotes ready standardization and high construction quality. Its 1100 MWe design is ideal for providing baseload-generating capacity. It’s economical to construct and maintain because it requires less concrete and steel and fewer com-ponents and systems. It’s designed to promote ease of operation and features the most advanced instrumentation and control in the industry.

In the past, the high cost and long-term build-out schedules for nuclear power plants discouraged many countries from focusing on this type of power generation. Westinghouse is address-ing both of these issues with the AP600 and AP1000. By using modular construction methods, Westinghouse and its project partners will be able to build the AP1000 in 36 months. This is one-fourth to one-half the customary construction time of the most recent U.S. nuclear plants. Using Intergraph’s SmartPlant Review, Westinghouse shortened the construction cycle, ensuring the buildability of the plant as designed and using the model as an informational tool for both technical and non-technical audiences.

The price of fossil fuels, pending clean air regulations and increasing concerns about dependence on foreign oil suppliers will continue to encourage renewed interest in nuclear power generation. Taking into consideration that the newest technology allows significant cost reductions in plant construction, as well as streamlined build-out time and licensing procedures, nuclear power is the obvious choice for the future. Westinghouse is proud to be at the forefront of this exciting renaissance in nuclear power generation.

Jill Clelland is information management lead for passive plant development at Westing-house Electric Co. LLC.

www.westinghousenuclear.com


Cutting Construction CostsWestinghouse eliminates months from nuclear plant’s schedulen By Jill Clelland

Case study: WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CO.

Nuclear power is safe, clean and vital to a

balanced energy supply to meet the world’s

growing need for electricity. The improved per-

formance, reliability and efficiency of present-

day nuclear power plants have sparked new

interest in plant construction. However, the

industry must take a greater role in lowering

new plant construction costs.

Enter the AP600, a 600-megawatt advanced

pressurized light-water reactor plant devel-

oped jointly by Westinghouse, its subcontrac-

tors and contributors, the U.S. Department

of Energy and the Electric Power Research

Institute (EPRI).

The AP600 project focuses on reducing two

of the most costly pieces of construction:

financing during construction and onsite

skilled craft labor. By using modular con-

struction methods, Westinghouse and its

project partners found that the AP600 – and

its larger successor, the AP1000 – can be

built in 36 months, from the first concrete

pour to fuel loading. This is one-fourth to

one-half the construction time of the most

recent nuclear plants in the United States.

To ensure the 36-month timeframe could

be met, EPRI suggested that Westinghouse

investigate the “4D” concept, which

involves visually linking specific parts of

the 3D plant model to its related installa-

tion activities. Intergraph provided the core

tools for the virtual construction project:

PDS, DesignReview, SmartPlant Review and

FrameWorks® Plus.

The AP600 project team not only verified

the schedule through visualization, but it

found another three to five months could

be eliminated through logic and design

changes alone. This has a significant posi-

tive impact on financing costs.

“Building a nuclear plant is extremely capital intensive,” says Ed Cummins, Westinghouse’s director of passive plant development. “Cutting down construction time greatly reduces investment costs. Not tying up roughly $2 to 3 billion for an extra four months adds up to significant invest-ment savings. The plant also can begin operating and generating income sooner, contributing to the economic benefits.”Enter the AP600, a 600-megawatt advanced pres-surized light-water reactor plant developed jointly by Westinghouse, its subcontractors and contributors, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

The AP600 project focuses on reducing two of the most costly pieces of construction: financing during construction and onsite skilled craft labor. By using modular con-struction methods, Westinghouse and its


project partners found that the AP600 – and its larger successor, the AP1000 – can be built in 36 months, from the first concrete pour to fuel loading. This is one-fourth to one-half the construction time of the most recent nuclear plants in the United States.

To ensure the 36-month timeframe could be met, EPRI suggested that Westinghouse investigate the “4D” concept, which involves visually linking specific parts of the 3D plant model to its related installa-tion activities. Intergraph provided the core tools for the virtual construction project: PDS, DesignReview, SmartPlant Review and FrameWorks Plus.

The AP600 project team not only verified the schedule through visualization, but it found another three to five months could be eliminated through logic and design changes alone. This has a significant posi-tive impact on financing costs.

“Building a nuclear plant is extremely capital intensive,” says Ed Cummins, Westinghouse’s director of passive plant development. “Cutting down construction time greatly reduces investment costs. Not tying up roughly $2 to 3 billion for an extra four months adds up to significant invest-ment savings. The plant also can begin operating and generating income sooner, contributing to the economic benefits.”

Shortening the construction cycle Westinghouse had four specific objectives in mind when it began the visualization exercise:

n Shorten the construction cycle

n Allow expert review

n Increase confidence in the financial community and potential customers

n Demonstrate the value of a “4D” tool.

The Westinghouse project design team suc-cessfully met the objectives. First, during a visualization exercise, improvement was made on the already impressive 36-month schedule. One of the more dramatic sched-ule opportunities that was found involved reinforcing bars, commonly known as rebar. Watching virtual construction is much like watching the background of a motion pic-ture. Sometimes, the activity is tremendously

noticeable. But at other points, it’s barely seen.

During a visualization exercise involving the AP600 critical path, something hidden in 300 sheets of written activity reports became obvious. For virtually weeks, noth-ing was happening on the nuclear island. When activity finally continued, it was clear that the delay was tied to some rebar, which had to be placed after the reactor vessel head was installed.

Experts, potential clients impressed

The outside-the-project response to Westinghouse’s work has been outstanding. Before the visualization effort, Westinghouse had several construction experts communicate that there was no way a nuclear power plant could be built on such an aggressive schedule.

But the experts then viewed the virtual construction and confirmed the construc-tion sequence’s feasibility. They were able to study the sequence in-depth by using the tool to navigate the schedule for them. They didn’t need to try to build the plant in their heads; it was right there on the screen.

“Checking for interferences is much easier with SmartPlant Review, as opposed to reviewing many drawings,” Cummins says. “Construction engineers who have visited Westinghouse have found the tool to be of great help to them to visualize the plant’s construction, as opposed to sifting through our complex schedule.”

The same visualization offers tremendous sales potential. It’s an easy way for the busi-ness community to grasp the complexities of the plant’s construction and to see how critical areas are addressed.

Representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy, possible customers and even the British trade minister have visited Westinghouse to view the virtual construction. They all were very impressed by the ability to show them what the plant will look like and how much is known about the plant.

The value continues

Westinghouse believes more value will be found during actual construction of the plant. “The ‘4D’ visualization effort will

drastically reduce field change notices and rework in the field, resulting in both lower costs and shorter times,” Cummins says.

“The true value of SmartPlant Review has yet to be proved for this project,” says Cummins. “However, it will allow construction trade review; show construction crews the daily tasks and how they interrelate; and enable us to do ‘what-if’ scenarios based on how the actual schedule is progressing. Tools like this have shown to be of significant value, not only in the nuclear industry but in other industries, as well.”

Jill Clelland is the advanced plant information management lead for passive plant develop-ment at Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC in Monroeville, Pennsylvania USA.

www.ap600.westinghouse.com

www.westinghousenuclear.com

AT A GLANCE

Headquarters Monroeville, Pennsylvania USA

Company focus Fuel, services, technology, plant design and equipment to the commercial nuclear electric power industry

Founded 1886; now part of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL)

Web site – www.westinghouse.com

By the Numbers n 20 countries supporting

AP600 development

n 34 locations in the United States, Europe and Asia

n 50 percent of world’s nuclear plants based on Westinghouse technology

n $148 million invested by Westing-house in the AP600


VIeWPoINt: WASHINGTON GROUP INTERNATIONAL

As the world searches for more energy to meet the needs of a growing population and spur economic development, there is a mounting interest in what many feel is the cleanest, most dependable, and efficient source of electrical generation – nuclear power.

This need for new sources of energy is exacerbated by what many experts say will be a doubling of people in the middle class by the year 2020 (mid-dle class is defined as someone who can afford a home and a car, has clean drinking water, and a savings account). It is predicted that somewhere between one billion and 1½ billion people will emerge into the middle class. Today, fewer than 1½ billion of the world’s 6.3 billion people qualify as middle class. Most of this upward mobility will occur in India and China if those countries continue economically.

Nuclear power has the support and attention of major industrial countries and their leaders. U.S. President George Bush and Tony Blair, the prime minister of Great Britain, have endorsed nuclear power as the best way to meet the world’s energy needs and solve environmental problems such as global warming.

“How can we meet the demands for new power if we build the same kind of power plants that we have built in the past?” asked Blair during a speech supporting a revival of nuclear power at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in 2005.

In this new climate, several public utilities are lay-ing the groundwork to build the first U.S. nuclear plants in decades, the first of which could be operating as early as 2015. The first six new plants will receive major incentives under the recently enacted Energy Policy Act of 2005, which contains a number of provisions to boost nuclear power development. Washington Group International plans to be a major player in the creation of these projected plants, which are expected to cost between $2 billion and $4 billion each.

“The nuclear renaissance provides a significant opportunity for Washington Group,” said George Nash, senior vice president – business develop-ment of the company’s Power Business Unit.

With so much at stake, many engineering and construction companies will likely form com-petitive partnerships to pursue the anticipated contracts. But Washington Group will have only

two true competitors for major contracts on these plants, according to Art Lembo, president of Steam Generating Team Ltd. (SGT). SGT is a Washington Group-led joint venture that specializes in the replacement of large components, such as steam generators, in nuclear power plants.

“There are few companies with the project-management ability to this scale,” Lembo said. “The companies that demonstrate that they can manage the spending for the utilities will be the victors.”

The largest bidding battles are likely years away, but it’s safe to say that no company is better positioned than Washington Group to obtain these contracts. The company is the engineer or constructor of record of more megawatts of total generating capacity than any competitor, including 29 of the nation’s 103 operating nuclear units. Washington Group is also one of only two U.S. companies engaged in the replacement of major nuclear plant components such as steam generators.

Perhaps most important to the utility companies, Washington Group enjoys an excellent reputation

A Nuclear RevivalWashington Group International engineers and constructs the coming generation of nuclear power plantsn By Rod HuntThis article originally appeared in Insight Issue 16, 2006.


for meeting or beating cost and schedule estimates on all of its current power plant and nuclear compo-nent replacement projects. Utilities also like the fact that Washington Group has an in-house cadre of expertise to complete all phases of licensing, design, engineering and construction. As a result of the varied project experiences of the company’s com-bined business units, Washington Group employs significantly more high-level nuclear experts than any other engineering and construction company. Despite the decades-long downturn in the industry, the company is already fully staffed to design, engi-neer and build new nuclear power plants.

“One of our differentiators in this marketplace is, ‘If you start with us, you can finish with us,’” Nash said. This has been a successful selling point in other power projects. Utilities like the fact that Washington Group business units operate as one company, with seamless transition between project phases and a demonstrated ability to synergisti-cally leverage the key competencies of each unit.

While the current U.S. administration and Congress clearly want to create incentives for nuclear development, unresolved political issues may still have the potential to slow or halt progress.

The foremost concerns relate to spent nuclear fuel, which continues to be stored at each plant site. The waste is neither bulky nor unstable, but storage solutions must contain the radioactivity for hundreds of thousands of years. For security and long-term storage reasons, the NRC had planned to transfer all spent fuel to a permanent, secure waste facility at yucca Mountain, Nevada, start-ing in 1998. However, Nevada politicians oppose the site and the facility remains unfinished and entangled in political battles that have no clear timetable for resolution.

Many utilities do not believe the unresolved spent fuel issue will have the power to delay their pro-posed new plants, and the Energy Policy Act gives the DOE only one year to deliver a long-term, high-level nuclear waste plan to Congress. However, the utilities’ comfort level could change if the public does not view current technologies as safe.

“It is also still too early to gauge the true level of public support for new plants,” said Cynthia Stinger, Washington Group’s vice president of government affairs.

Although some polls show nearly 70 percent of the public supports nuclear power expansion, Stinger said, “We’re looking at things from the 30,000-foot level right now.” She believes the real test will come when utilities begin to submit formal license applications for specific locations.

Today’s Americans have been inundated with images of terrorist attacks and hurricane evacua-tions, so there is no telling how they will react to discussion of emergency-evacuation plans in their own communities as a response to a potential radioactive release.

“But if consumers are paying $4 or $5 per gallon of gas, politicians will feel the heat to make things happen,” said Stinger.

The continued nuclear renaissance also depends on an essentially perfect safety record at cur-rent power plants. An irony of the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania in 1979 is that the only fallout was political – the safety systems actually contained the release of radiation. Stinger said that politicians, if not the public, are now generally comfortable with the safety of today’s nuclear plants, which have multiple redundant safety systems and backups to ensure that a reactor is kept cool even if primary and secondary systems fail.

Whenever new reactors are built, they will be in a new league of safety features. Most important, these generation IV designs are “passive nuclear plants,” which are even safer because they require no electrical systems or pumps to cool the reactor – only a water supply and gravity.

While Washington Group gears up to create new nuclear power plants, there is still big business among the 103 nuclear plants currently operating. Until about 10 years ago, the conventional wisdom was that the big money would be in decommis-sioning and decontaminating the nation’s aging fleet. Instead, the revenue now comes from keep-ing those plants running.

“Deregulation made these very valuable economic assets for the utilities,” said Joseph Ruggiero, Washington Group’s director of nuclear ser-vices. He said the original 40-year operating licenses for these plants have been upgraded to 60 years in dozens of applications to the NRC.

“There is still a large amount of work available

from the maintenance and upgrade of these

nuclear plants,” he said. Washington Group per-

forms a sizable share of the major engineering and

upgrade work on existing plants. Gross predicts

that both this market and the company’s market

share will escalate.

Lou Pardi, president of the Power Business Unit,

said that Washington Group is pushing for legal

changes that will help the company enter the grow-

ing, lucrative overseas nuclear power plant market

as well. Under current international law, should an

accident occur at a foreign nuclear plant that was

engineered or constructed by Washington Group,

the company would have no protection from class

action suits in American courts. Washington Group

belongs to a consortium that is pressing for an

international convention that will provide protec-

tions similar to the U.S. Price-Anderson Act.

“The probabilities of an accident are extremely

remote, but the consequences to companies like

ours are very high,” Pardi said. “We don’t want to

get into this market until these issues are resolved.”

Over the long term, nuclear power is far cheaper

to produce per kilowatt than other fuels, but few

utilities can afford to tie up billions of dollars in

capital for a decade before the generators start

running. Utilities in the United States and abroad

still have a high interest in traditional fossil fuel

power plants – particularly coal – and increased

power demands will help the Power Business Unit

continue to grow even if nuclear energy again falls

out of vogue.

“There has historically been a rotation of techno-

logies as one fuel becomes favored above another,”

Nash said. “Our strategy is to be diverse: gas, coal,

hydroelectric and nuclear. We want to do a mix in

services business, new generation, maintenance

and engineering, the upfront assessing of capital

projects, a lot of retrofit, modification and facilities

work. A diverse business is a strong business.”

As energy needs grow throughout the world,

Washington Group will continue to offer a full

spectrum of power and nuclear services. “We’re

keeping our engineering and construction pool as

deep and broad as possible,” Nash said.


URS’ Washington Division is currently in a process of transformation. The Washington Division, previously Washington Group International, has a rich history and consists of a number of well- known heritage companies that not only have brought extensive industry expertise to the organization, but also a variety of different business models into the fold. As a large division of an even larger company doing business on a global scale, it is critical that the Washington Division transform itself to better provide consistent, reliable services to clients worldwide, while creating efficiencies and avoiding overlap.

To align with the Washington Division’s business strategy of using a global, multi-office execution approach, the Division established a priority of standardizing work and work processes. In doing so, the Division then needed to choose the tools to make this standardization possible and

establish the plan to implement the tools. As the mode, the Division chose SmartPlant Enterprise, an integrated suite of engineering authoring tools developed by Intergraph. As the method, the Division felt the best approach to use would be one it has the most experience with, a classical “project” approach.

Project approach to implementing new technologyFor the Washington Division, implementing the SmartPlant Enterprise technology meant it could achieve its goal of standardizing processes and products, but at the same time, the change in process would impact the work of multiple offices and thousands of employees. It was determined that a well-thought-out approach would be cru-cial to ensure efficient and successful execution, as well as acceptance by those impacted. The Washington Division chose to use a “project”

approach, modeled after how it approaches proj-

ects for external clients. The approach included

detailed steps to test, configure, pilot, document

and deploy the new technology platform. In

addition, the approach would ensure executive-

level support, alignment with business drivers,

a focused scope and a schedule with adequate

time for completion, plus it would provide an

estimated cost.

In this sense, implementation of SmartPlant

Enterprise was treated as any other full-service

project the Washington Division undertakes,

complete with a project team established to

ensure each step of the project plan was adhered

to and to guarantee successful results. We’ve

all heard the adage, “Plan your work, and then

work your plan.” This is nothing new in project

execution, and it is also how the Washington

Case study: URS WASHINGTON DIVISION

URS Washington Division’s Project Approach Delivers ResultsImplementing successful system and cultural changes by using the right tools and the right plann By David Collett


Division undertook the implementation of SmartPlant Enterprise.

As part of good project management practice, a project vision was determined to maintain undeviating focus and direction. The vision was to transform the Washington Division into a one-way global engineering organization and help its business units succeed with a more efficient, cost-effective business model. Using the project approach helped smooth the way for change with the Division’s project community, giving them con-fidence implementation would be handled with rigorous diligence and attention to detail. A project approach is seen to be one that delivers results.

The project team was initially located in Huntsville, which allowed the team to fully focus on its efforts and have direct access to Intergraph staff at its corporate headquarters. This meant the project team could resolve issues immediately and more thoroughly assess, validate and test the new technology

platform, ensuring it would deliver the benefits as promised. To further establish the project team culture, a team logo was created and to kick off the project, a team-building and alignment work-shop was held.

In the beginning, the Washington Division also set project baselines for performance management, including scope, schedule and cost (budgeted cost of work scheduled). During the project, detailed monthly project reviews were conducted, as well as monthly estimate at completion forecast-ing based on trends, and quarterly forecasting based on detailed estimating. Formal change control was applied to help prevent scope creep and to add bona fide new scope. Finally, reporting

was conducted at both the project and executive levels to ensure executive support.

Using SmartPlant Enterprise for standardizationOne of the key business drivers for the Washington Division’s implementation of SmartPlant Enterprise was standardization. Efficient, multi-office execution can only be successful where standard work processes are applied. Secondly, the integration and enabling of discipline and multi-discipline processes were major priorities that would help the Washington Division more effectively utilize global resources. This was accomplished by closely coupling the SmartPlant team with the global engineering leadership team that was simultaneously tasked with standardizing discipline and multi-discipline work processes. In essence, the configuration of SmartPlant Enterprise was a catalyst for the parallel standardization efforts. Consequentially and finally, standardization and the reduction of overlap would help keep the Washington Division competitive in an industry experienc-ing shortages of people trained in certain technical fields.

SmartPlant Enterprise supports management initiatives for quality and standardization. The technology can integrate and enable various disciplines in a single platform and give the Washington Division a data-centric approach with enhanced quality and efficiency through integration. The SmartPlant architecture is specifi-cally designed to enable multi-office execution. This enables the leveraging of our global resource base through standard processes and tools.

Focus first on outputs, functionality and work processTo configure the effort and set the required bar for success, the Washington Division’s project approach focused on outputs, required function-ality and supporting work processes.

The core focus for defining the scope of the project was on outputs. The goal was to make sure the Washington Division could continue its business, and its business is focused on generating outputs. For this reason, it was essential to create outputs in an efficient, consistent and standardized way.

SmartPlant Enterprise comes with basic function-ality that requires users to configure to coding, naming and numbering conventions in addition


to symbols, drawing and document formats. By incorporating this technology, the Washington Division was able to meld its various methods into the SmartPlant configuration and create standard outputs that still allow for flexibility to accommodate client-specific requirements. A functional requirements specification became the checklist against which a readiness analysis was conducted. This specification was essentially comprised of existing tool functionality as a minimum to help assure that vital business functions were not disrupted.

As standards were coalesced into a single stan-dard with business unit and client flexibility, work processes were also assessed for consistency with SmartPlant. Initially the tools were configured to meet our existing work processes. When piloting was completed, work processes were adjusted with prime focus on the integration of P&ID and instrument design. As the Washington Division is now moving through the early stages of deploy-ment on live projects, even more adjustment is being made to the work process to attempt to extract more efficiency based upon tool and integration functionality.

Communication key to culture changeThe Washington Division felt communication was one of the most important aspects of making the technology implementation a success. By creating an open and regular discussion, with input to and from a diverse and varied audience, the Division was better able to achieve employee buy-in and

ownership. Because a large number of people would be affected and employees would have to change the way they work, it was important to be sensitive to the issues and communicate effectively to help avoid resistance to the changes, which could have caused delay and/or failure. Instead, it was the Washington Division’s goal to make employees feel empowered and part of the new initiative.

The perception of what change brings with a one-of-a-kind project can be difficult to address. So the Washington Division employed a two-way communication strategy using a variety of communication tools, including:n Meetingsn Monthly reportsn Articles in company magazinesn Presentationsn Business unit project manager focus groups.

Now as deployment is in progress, communication with the projects is taking the prime focus, both in terms of training, as well as familiarization presentations with the project management teams to establish and reinforce expectations for what changes may be required from previous methods to fully take advantage of the SmartPlant platform.

Deployment statusThe Washington Division chose to start with a single project to ensure the platform was ready for production, as well as to ensure the appropri-ate support was in place and to build confidence in the tools and processes. After positive results

and feedback, the Division moved on to addi-

tional projects. It has started implementation of

five projects under the new configuration, begin-

ning with the first project in Q3 2007.

The SmartPlant Enterprise tools currently in use

are SmartPlant 3D, SmartPlant P&ID, SmartPlant

Instrumentation and SmartPlant Foundation.

Other tools, such as SmartPlant Electrical, are

still being configured and are in a pilot stage. In

order to maintain a successful implementation,

the Washington Division has been cautious and

tries not to deploy more broadly or quickly than

it can support.

Feedback

Feedback from Washington Division project teams

has predominantly focused on the consistency,

multiple-use, and time-saving aspects of the new

technology platform. The technology has helped

enforce consistency in work processes and

output, while exposing any disconnects in

existing work processes. Integration of tools

allows for the users to enter data once and have

it available for multiple uses and users, saving

valuable time. Interfaces are consistent and

productivity tools reduce design time. In addition,

data is generated during the design, making

outputs a byproduct of the design process.

Conclusion

The Washington Division is still early in the

process of implementation of its new technology

platform, but the indications are positive. Through

meticulous planning and a focus on creating an

environment that embraces change, the Division

is looking forward to seeing great results from

its transformation, while continuing to be a

leader in global, multi-office capabilities for its

clients worldwide.

David Collett is a senior project director at

URS’ Washington Division. He is based in Boise,

Idaho, U.S.

www.urscorp.com

Photos in this article are from stock sources.

Case study: URS WASHINGTON DIVISION


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Current partners include:


The eyes of the world are on China, as the country

begins development of the very first commercial

modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor.

This significant new project is being undertaken

by the Chinese government, which has assigned

the task of building the reactor to Chinergy, a

joint venture of Tsinghua Holding Co. Ltd. and the

state-owned China Nuclear Engineering and

Construction Corporation.

Chinergy has begun the process by selecting

Intergraph’s SmartPlant 3D and SmartPlant

Enterprise software as the core technology for

project design and implementation requirements.

“After an extensive evaluation of all traditional plant

engineering, design and information and materials

management applications, we felt the SmartPlant

Enterprise suite of solutions would provide an

open, modern platform for new systems and the

next generation of plant engineering and design,”

said Frank Wu, CEO of Chinergy. “In addition,

Intergraph’s experienced technical staff can help us better use their technology for the maximum benefit of this project,” he added.

As the most populous nation on earth, China’s rapid growth and industrialization have fueled an urgent need for increased power generation. The Future of Nuclear Power, a study by a blue- ribbon commission headed by former CIA director John Deutch, concluded that in less than 50 years, the country will need nearly as much energy output as is currently produced worldwide today. China has relied on fossil fuels and hydro power to generate nearly all of its energy, but these two traditional means of creating power are already inadequate.

Gerhard Sallinger, president of Intergraph Process, Power and Marine, notes that China is experi-encing an 8 to 10 percent annual increase in energy demands, compared to the 2 to 3 percent demand increase in the Western Hemisphere.

“In the emerging economies, particularly China

and India, there will be significant growth. In

fact, there are 25 nuclear plants forecast to be

built in the next five years in China, compared to

only two new plants scheduled to be built in the

next 10 years in the U.S. Chinergy’s selection of

Intergraph’s SmartPlant Enterprise suite validates

our worldwide industry and technology leader-

ship as the premier provider of plant engineering

and design technology. Our company’s long-

term investment in our vision for engineering

enterprise technology is helping drive the revo-

lutionary shift in plant design and engineering,

which makes projects like Chinergy’s possible,”

he said.

Nuclear power development in mainland China

began in 1970. While coal continues to be the

main energy source in China, most reserves are

in the country’s north or northwest, presenting a

tremendous logistical problem. Most electricity is

Powering Up a Growing NationChinergy looks to SmartPlant Enterprise for fast project design and implementationn By Jana Miller

Case study: CHINERGy


produced from fossil fuels and hydro power. Two large hydro projects are now under construction: one at Three Gorges and another at yellow River. Nuclear power must be added to the mix in order to meet demand, especially in the coastal regions far from the coalfields and in communities where the economy is rapidly developing.

The China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) is responsible for planning and managing the peaceful use of nuclear energy and promoting international cooperation. The CAEA reviews and approves feasibility studies for new plants, although the State Development and Planning Commission is ultimately responsible for final approval.

According to Wu, nuclear energy is safe, clean, dependable and stable in cost. “As the country moves forward, nuclear power will become a vital source of electricity and will help reduce China’s dependence on coal, natural gas and oil to drive its rapid growth and moderniza-tion. Currently in China, the pressurized water reactor is the priority reactor. Plans call for the high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTR) to be used to supplement current nuclear power generation. This will be a significant addition to the program since the HTR’s absolute quantity is remarkably large,” he said.

Wu says China’s new HTR-10 (high- temperature 10 megawatt reactor) will revolutionize nuclear power generation across the globe. The benefits of the pebble bed modular reactor are many, and with the opening of the new plant at Weihai in the Shandong Province in 2012, China will be the first country to commer-cially venture into this type of nuclear technology. The plant will be owned and operated by Huaneng Group, one of China’s largest independent utilities; China Nuclear Engi-neering and Construction Corporation, China’s construction company for the nuclear island; and Tsinghua University.

The HTR-10 is powered by graph-ite balls about the size of standard billiards balls packed with tiny flecks of uranium, rather than with the conventional white-hot

fuel rods used in existing nuclear reactors. Instead of super-heated water, the core is bathed in inert helium, which can reach much higher tempera-tures without bursting pipes. No steam means no pressure dome is required to contain it in case of a leak.

“First and foremost, this generator will be the saf-est nuclear power plant ever designed and built,” said Wu. “The major safety issue regarding nuclear reactors lies in how to cool them efficiently, as they continue to produce heat even after shutdown. Gas-cooled reactors, on the other hand, don’t need additional safety systems like water-cooled reac-tors do, and they discharge surplus heat. Using the existing operating HTR-10 research reactor at the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology of Tsinghua University in Beijing, we have already done what would be unthinkable in a conventional reactor – we switched off the helium coolant and successfully let the reactor cool down by itself,” said Wu.

Second, the modular design enables the plant to be assembled much more quickly and cost-effectively than traditional nuclear generators. The modules are manufactured from standardized components that can be mass-produced, shipped by road or rail and assembled relatively quickly. The new plants are smaller, and new modules can be added as needed. Multiple reactors can be linked around one or more turbines, all monitored from a single control room. In other words, the HTR-10’s design is tailor-made for the world’s fastest grow-ing energy market.

“Regions that are in the process of transforming

from rural to industrial can start small, but add

new modules as the area and its fuel demands

grow,” said Wu. “We can provide them with

modules one at a time, if needed. This makes

start-up costs affordable and the reactors will

be cheaper to operate as they grow, thanks to

economies of scale in everything from staff to

fuel supply,” he said.

The byproduct of the nuclear reactor will be hydro-

gen, a clean fuel providing alternative, energy

saving options that are less harmful to the envi-

ronment. According to Wu, the HTR-10 is the only

reactor which can provide a nuclear heat source to

produce hydrogen.

Construction of the $300 million plant should

begin in 2009, with completion targeted for 2012.

This streamlined construction timetable is also a

first for the nuclear power industry, where design-

ing and building generators usually take decades,

rather than years.

Not surprisingly, a number of countries are closely

watching these developments in China. Wu said,

“Many of my colleagues around the world agree

that high-temperature gas-cooled reactors using

pebble fuel offer the most potential for commer-

cially meeting the future environmentally friendly

needs of global power generation.”

Jana Miller is editorial director of Insight.

www.chinergy.com.cn


Bringing It All TogetherPBMR takes advantage of data integration to speed construction of next-generation nuclear plantsn By Pat Thomson

Case study: PBMR

In 1994, two events of global significance occurred in South Africa. The first was the successful comple-tion of the country’s first democratic election. The second was the project development launch of the Pebble Bed Modular Nuclear Reactor (PBMR) by Eskom, one of the top 10 utilities in the world. The South Africa power utility giant had concluded that PBMR technology showed considerable technical and commercial merit for future energy demands in South Africa, as well as throughout the world.

In 1999, Eskom joined with the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), British Nuclear Fuels and the U.S. utility Exelon to create PBMR (Pty) Ltd. to build and market PBMR-based power plants. (Later, Exelon with-drew from PBMR to focus on its core business of power generation plant operations and power sales brokerage.) The new company completed a feasibility study which showed the PBMR tech-nology was viable and that pebble bed modular reactors represented one of the most viable and

cost-effective means for increasing South Africa’s power generation.

Consistent power supply“The beauty of the PBMR technology is that it has intrinsically safe features. It cannot suffer a melt-down,” said Juan le Roex, power plant division software systems manager for PBMR. “The nuclear plant is easy to operate and you can regulate the power output. you couldn’t do that with the conventional reactors, which needed to run at 100 percent all the time. Also, the pebble bed design allows us to refuel the plant without shutting it down, which represents enormous cost savings. For example, Koeberg, the nuclear plant near Cape Town, has to be shut down for about 100 days each 18 months for refueling purposes.”

It is already evident that South Africa has to add electricity generation capacity since the country’s peak demand is starting to exceed capacity, especially during peak hours. Today, almost 90 percent of the country’s electricity is generated

by coal-fired power stations, with the Koeberg nuclear plant providing an additional five percent of the country’s needs. The remaining five percent is generated by hydroelectric and pumped storage means. PBMR’s feasibility study demonstrated that there are few, if any, new hydroelectric sites in South Africa that could be developed to deliver significant amounts of power, and the country’s natural gas resources are too limited to qualify as a viable power generation option.

Moving forward, Eskom wants to reduce the coun-try’s dependence on coal from 90 to 70 percent of supply. In 2005, South Africa declared the PBMR project a National Strategic Project, demonstrat-ing the importance of the PBMR development to South Africa’s future.

Unifying disciplinesPBMR executives strongly believe the pebble bed technology will be of great benefit to countries around the world, so the company is working to design and build a demonstration plant at


Koeberg to serve as a launch platform for local and international sales. At the same time, they are developing an associated fuel plant at Pelindaba near Pretoria. Once the technology is ready to be implemented, Eskom will be PBMR’s first customer. PBMR is on schedule to begin construction on the demonstration plant.

“As our team of PBMR staff and contractors final- izes the design for the plant, we have what I call ‘islands’ of information,” said le Roex. “Intergraph’s SmartPlant Enterprise is providing us with a well- structured integration to bring all the disciplines together. It unifies the design process and provides us with an interface for the procurement and construction processes, as well as helping us manage and control data on the construction site,” he said.

Innovative design The reactor offers a sustainable energy source with an inherent capacity for safety. It can be either dry- or water-cooled, so it doesn’t have to be sited near water. This new design can be built in a much shorter timeframe than traditional nuclear plants and its modular design allows for a close match of demand and supply through expansion planning. The design follows U.S. rules, standards and regulations as far as they apply to this technology to facilitate a seamless application process for building PBMRs internationally.

“We’re already pursuing the process of engaging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the American regulatory authority, to reach an agreement for the formal application of design certification,” said le Roex. “Once you’ve got American certification, it makes it much easier to gain certification in other countries, which will significantly expedite our international sales,” he explained.

PBMR fuel is based on a proven high-quality German fuel design consisting of low-enriched ura-nium triple-coated isotropic particles contained in a molded graphite sphere (the “pebble”). Because South Africa boasts the world’s largest gold mining industry, it holds abundant reserves of uranium, a byproduct of gold production. This will enable the country to support its nuclear power plants glob-ally and to sell nuclear fuel manufactured locally. Very little nuclear material remains in each spent fuel sphere, which makes it extremely proliferation-resistant. The pebbles do not require an expensive

waste disposal site and can be readily buried in

any geologically stable formation.

The PBMR modular concept gives utility clients

flexibility in choosing the configuration that best

matches their needs. The power plant design can be

configured in two-, four- or eight-module arrange-

ments, greatly reducing the capital required for

installation. Units can be brought online at a rate

that best matches the electricity demand growth

of a region, saving millions of dollars in start-up

costs. The modules can be added on without any

interruption in current power generation.

Because it’s small in size compared to traditional

nuclear reactors and requires a smaller safety peri-

meter, the PBMR can be built in close proximity

to the community it serves, eliminating the

need and cost of thousands of miles of high-

transmission cables.

Planning for the futureAlec Erwin, South Africa’s minister of public enter-

prises, has stated an intent to eventually produce

between 4,000 to 5,000 MW of power from pebble

bed reactors in South Africa. This equates to be-

tween 20 and 30 plants of 165 MW each. Erwin

said the PBMR would place the country at the

forefront of energy technology. “The project is now

factored into our future energy planning, and we

are negotiating a major intention-to-purchase

agreement between Eskom and PBMR,” he said.

As a further endorsement of the project, Westing-

house, one of the world’s leading nuclear power

companies, has become a PBMR shareholder,

replacing the 15 percent interest previously held

by British Nuclear Fuels.

Le Roex explained that South Africa’s pebble bed

demonstration reactor project will take place in

three phases. First, PBMR will obtain regulatory

approvals (environmental impact assessment and

licensing) to begin construction. Next, they will

load the fuel, and finally, the client (Eskom) will

operate the plant.

“At the moment, we have drafted the safety case

for construction and are reviewing and revising

it with Eskom. It will soon be submitted to the

National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) here in South

Africa for approval,” said le Roex.

SmartPlant integrated workflowIntergraph’s SmartPlant Enterprise is playing a key role in the plant’s design and licensing stage. “We’re actually doing a full-house Intergraph implementation,” said le Roex. “The main power system – the reactor vessel, turbines and all the major parts that carry the helium between the turbine and the reactor – are being designed in Unigraphics. And then out of that, we’re driving the equipment 3D models into SmartPlant 3D. That’s where design comes together with electrical – and the 3D integration with electrical, P&ID, instrumentation and all of the other engineering disciplines – to control and produce the production drawings and specifications,” he said.

“Because we’re operating in an integrated design environment,” he continued, “we’ve eliminated a huge amount of work duplication, data transfer and all associated configuration management. Intergraph provided an enormous amount of technical expertise and support by flying out a team of professionals from all over the world to conduct a week-long initial workshop. Our staff is currently being trained in SmartPlant P&ID, SmartPlant 3D, SmartPlant Foundation, SmartPlant Materials and advanced administration,” he said.

PBMR has created an implementation team made up of smaller staff units. The sub-groups are responsible for 3D Design, Product Data Management, P&ID Design, Instrumentation and Electrical and Project Management.

“The bottom line for us is that I don’t know how anyone can deliver a complex project like this one effectively without using something like the SmartPlant Enterprise suite. We are happy to collaborate with other organizations on best practices and how we have made use of Intergraph’s technology to achieve our goals,” said le Roex.

“If you look at the return on investment over the life cycle of the project and all the time we’ve saved using Intergraph software, you’re looking at a very large number. I estimate our savings outweigh the costs by 10 to 1. At the end of the day, we at PBMR hope to become a model Intergraph site.”

Pat Thomson is managing director of Intergraph Systems Southern Africa (ISSA), an Intergraph distributor.

www.pbmr.com


SmartPlant Enterprise: The Right Solutionfor Nuclear Power PlantsData-driven, integrated and rule-based environment is vital for next generation complex nuclear power plant projectsn By Wayne Smith

Case study: PBMR AND SNC-LAVALIN NUCLEAR

The nuclear power industry is one of the most regulated industries in the world. Traceability of all data and documents that are generated during the plant life cycle is fundamental in the nuclear industry.

Data pass through various phases of the product and plant life cycle, beginning from design con-cept, basic engineering/FEED to detail design, procurement, construction, licensing support, pre-commissioning and commissioning, operations, refurbishment and decommissioning. For this reason, it is imperative that information integrity is ensured throughout a plant’s life cycle reflecting the design basis.

Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) was seek-ing a technology enabler to assist with the engineering and management of plant data. The technology enabler would allow PBMR to hand over an integrated data model of the entire plant to the owner operator ESKOM, one of the world’s largest utilities.

Established in 1999, the PBMR organization

intends to develop and market small-scale, high-

temperature reactors both regionally and interna-

tionally. The 700-member PBMR team is based in

Centurion, near Pretoria in South Africa.

SNC-Lavalin Nuclear (SLN) has nearly 50 years

of experience in the design and construction

of nuclear power plants around the world that

includes project management and plant life cycle

support experience. While assisting in other areas,

SLN is primarily involved with the engineering,

procurement, construction and management as

an EPCM subcontractor for the PBMR demonstra-

tion power plant at Koeberg, near Cape Town in

South Africa.

The PBMR plant design has undergone develop-

ment since 1993. The plant is scheduled to begin

construction in 2010, with the first fuel to be

loaded four years later in 2014.

Comprehensive solutionTogether with SNC-Lavalin Nuclear, PBMR’s plant and product realization and engineering groups have implemented Intergraph’s SmartPlant Enterprise suite as the engineering solution for the PBMR demonstration power plant to be constructed at Koeberg. PBMR is focused on using SmartPlant Foundation’s infrastructure and cen-tralized repository for maintaining all plant data and documents.

“PBMR is a complex and first-of-a-kind project,” said Aaron Bukhari, a consultant to PBMR and the chief information officer at SLN. “Our primary reasons for looking at the Intergraph products were traceability within a data-driven and integrated environment that will enable PBMR to deliver a plant with all intelligent data and documents.”

Bukhari confirmed that SNC-Lavalin Nuclear has used Intergraph technologies from the early days of PDS to the current SmartPlant Enterprise suite. He noted that the savings in man-hours and


engineering effort using SmartPlant Enterprise will be dramatic over the course of a plant’s life cycle.

“When the owner operator chooses SmartPlant Enterprise, the plant data handover can be an integrated process that should reduce the overall plant operating cost,” he said. “Using Intergraph tools enables concurrent engineering from multiple locations that translates into significant efficiency and dramatic savings.”

With basic engineering (PFDs and P&IDs, including mechanical datasheets) enabled by SmartPlant P&ID and AspenTech Zyqad™ PFD software, these tools can integrate and share information through SmartPlant Foundation.

The ongoing task involves the creation of refer-ence and model data to be used when and where required. For example, five complete line specifications were created within five days using the SmartPlant Reference Data tool. Typically, this would require weeks of painstaking work. A significant time and cost savings was realized by capitalizing the standard ASME piping database add-on.

SmartPlant Electrical and SmartPlant Instrumenta-tion also contribute toward an integrated envi-ronment. SmartPlant 3D plays a pivotal role by maintaining the repository of the master model for all phases of the plant life cycle.

SmartPlant Enterprise’s integrated, data-driven environment is helping PBMR to manage data such as the life cycle of tags, datasheets and workflows, and to integrate data from third party tools such as AspenTech and Tekla. Meanwhile, the constructability team is busy combining data from various sources such as scheduling and SmartPlant 3D tools into SmartPlant Review.

Award-winning effortsAt the Intergraph 2007 International Users Conference, PBMR received one of Intergraph’s inaugural Icon Awards for using SmartPlant Enterprise solutions to integrate the plant life cycle environment for its next generation reactor design. The award is Intergraph’s highest customer distinction for product innovation, partnership and proven results.

Bukhari remarked that the vision behind SmartPlant Enterprise was a major factor in PBMR’s decision

to choose Intergraph for its advanced technology nuclear power plant design.

One of the immediate benefits to PBMR involves data and document organization. SmartPlant Foundation enables the creation of data fields which can be assembled into documents and presented in reports.

SmartPlant Enterprise enables a complete data set to be provided, while reflecting any changes. “Traceability is one of the key capabilities we were looking for in the product, to ensure that everything is captured and nothing will be lost. SmartPlant Enterprise’s traceability, control and workflow management are among our greatest assets,” said Bukhari.

ImplementationAfter PBMR chose the Intergraph solution, the software was implemented through a combined effort by the PBMR product realization software team, the PBMR engineering software team and SLN’s plant systems team, with support provided by Intergraph team members and partners in South Africa, Europe and the U.S.

Reduced cost is another key benefit of SmartPlant Enterprise for this unique project. “There is no other product that can reasonably cover all the cost areas of construction, operability and main-tainability, and provide a cost benefit,” Bukhari said. “The Intergraph solution can deliver this cost benefit over the long-term.”

Employing Intergraph’s SmartPlant Enterprise suite of tools will significantly reduce the time it takes for PBMR to bring reactors to market and to deliver plants to owners and operators complete with all data and maintenance information.

PMBR considers its relationship with Intergraph a true success story, as it implements its next gen-eration nuclear plant technology.

“A broken process results in broken technology,” said Anton Kotzé, the product realization software systems manager at PBMR. “We work very hard to recreate our business processes, workflows and procedures, and to encourage EPC managers to embrace an integrated mindset for working with the fourth generation of engineering. SmartPlant Enterprise is very pivotal to solidify this integrated mindset with the associated work methods.”

“We know that to develop an architecture and environment for distributed engineering, we want everyone to draw from the same centralized data-bases,” Bukhari said. “From this viewpoint, we envision that use of the SmartPlant Foundation repository will increase even more.”

From beginning to endPBMR’s vision is for a technology that covers the entire life cycle of a nuclear plant, beginning with conceptual engineering and continuing through to operation and eventual decommissioning. Intergraph’s market-leading technology supports plant life cycle effort. According to Kotzé, PBMR will continue to expand its use of SmartPlant Enterprise as more products are designed and developed.

“PBMR believes that Intergraph’s product range supports its vision and strategy 100 percent,” Kotzé said. “This is confirmed by the products we see coming from Intergraph and through much discussion of this topic.”

“A successful roll-out of any plant life cycle information management system, from design to decommissioning, requires business process-centric operations – policies, procedures, work instructions, workflows, reports, specifications, catalogs, rules and processes – along with a stable technology base,” said Bukhari.

“These are exciting times when vendors such as Intergraph can deliver a vision and align their products with business requirements for the plant life cycle.”

Both Bukhari and Kotzé see SmartPlant Enterprise leading the way into a new dimension of what they call the “ERP of engineering.”

Wayne Smith is a contributing editor for Insight based in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.

www.pbmr.co.zawww.snclavalin.comwww.slnuclear.com


For a company that plans, designs and manages facilities all over the world, keeping up with data can be a monumental task. But it’s a challenge that must be met as a company strives to help make clients successful.

Needing a more complete approach to informa-tion management, Burns & McDonnell chose to implement Intergraph’s SmartPlant Electrical.

“SmartPlant Electrical gives us the ability to produce one-lines and schematics that are directly related to the tabular reports we generate on most new jobs,’’ said Scott Hendrickson, SmartPlant Electrical product lead for Burns & McDonnell’s Energy Global Practice. “This enables us to be more productive by reducing rework.”

SmartPlant Electrical is integrated with other SmartPlant Enterprise applications to give Burns & McDonnell better control of change manage-ment and data consistency between disciplines.

Founded in 1898, Burns & McDonnell provides engineering, architecture, construction, environmental and consulting services. The employee-

Technology at Work

on the Fast TrackBurns & McDonnell uses SmartPlant Electrical to manage data, save time

n By Wayne SmithThis article originally appeared in Insight Issue 21, 2008.

owned company had US$760 million in revenue in 2006. It has 2,500 employees in 20 offices.

In late 2007, Burns & McDonnell had more than 10,000 MW of new electric generating units and air quality control system upgrades under construction or in design. Data consistency was a primary objective for Burns & McDonnell.

IntegrationThe company’s Energy Global Practice selected

SmartPlant Enterprise as its primary engineering and modeling solution.

“We made a big effort initially to integrate SmartPlant Electrical with all other disciplines that directly impact electrical engineering data,’’ Hendrickson said. “In doing this, we customized and are using interfaces between such products as SmartPlant P&ID, SmartPlant Instrumentation and SmartPlant 3D.”

“Once we were committed to using SmartPlant

Electrical on every project … it took less than a week

to have the system up and ready for production.

scott Hendrickson SmartPlant Electrical Product Lead, Burns & McDonnell

Case study: BURNS & MCDONNELL


Burns & McDonnell uses the SmartPlant P&ID interface to pass load and engineering data to SmartPlant Electrical. “This helps enable our electrical engineers to keep up with the continuously changing load requirements on a complex project and more accurately update one-lines, schematics and cable specifications.”

Burns & McDonnell can pass cables created in SmartPlant Electrical to SmartPlant 3D to com-plete routing. “Currently we manually route all cables that need to take an underground path in SmartPlant Electrical, leaving SmartPlant 3D to autoroute all above-ground cables through cable tray and conduit.”

Burns & McDonnell had experience using Intergraph solutions, including PDS and SmartPlant P&ID. That was one factor in choosing SmartPlant Electrical. Other factors were the integration capabilities and the ease of customizing SmartPlant Electrical “to match our business and client requirements.”

Better serving clientsSmartPlant Electrical is used as the company’s main electrical engineering design tool, as well as the main storage area for all electrical project information. All tabular reports issued for contracts and internal uses are created from SmartPlant Electrical, along with many of the schematics created for a job. “The integrated approach con-nects workflows between disciplines. This helps create a more consistent and accurate deliverable for our clients,” said Hendrickson.

Providing a complete solution for clients was a primary reason Burns & McDonnell adopted the SmartPlant Electrical application.

up and running fastBurns & McDonnell engineers implemented the software, with support from Intergraph. No data migration work was required. All projects started in SmartPlant Electrical used “out-of-the-box” setup. Configuration and plant data were added and modified as the design parameters were de-termined for each project.

Once implementation was complete, most users of SmartPlant Electrical only needed less than a day of training. Users will continue to be trained based on needed tasks for various project stages.

“Once we were committed to using SmartPlant Electrical on every project in the Energy Global Practice, it took less than a week to have the

system up and ready for production,’’ Hendrickson said. “Time was spent during the first couple of projects creating our standard reports and drawing templates, but the time saved in creating graphical reports from the database helped us quickly break even on the time spent dur-ing configuration.”

Hendrickson said that Intergraph is committed to reacting quickly to any issues or questions that are raised. “Intergraph knows you are in a production environment where every minute counts. There have been multiple occasions where Intergraph support has offered advice and suggestions after-hours that helped us meet our project schedules.

“Intergraph developers and managers are also very responsive to comments about product func-tionality and work closely with our company to provide more complete solutions.”

In productionData managed by Burns & McDonnell in SmartPlant Electrical include all electrical equipment, instru-mentation, cables and raceway. Some of the projects have less than 10,000 items to manage, while some of the larger ones have more than 200,000 items.

Burns & McDonnell expects to develop SmartPlant Electrical into the standard electrical engineering design application across its Energy; Process and Industrial; and Aviation Global Practices.

“We also have a large initiative to refine work-flows and more fully develop the integration of SmartPlant Electrical with all other products in the SmartPlant Enterprise suite,” said Hendrickson.

As Burns & McDonnell changes the way it manages its data, Hendrickson said companies in a similar position must have a commitment to a new solution and dedicated resources for implementing the new technology.

“When introducing a new way of doing busi-ness you must have a complete commitment to embrace the new technology,’’ Hendrickson said. “Change must be managed, and when you are implementing new software solutions there are always hurdles you will encounter.”

Wayne Smith is a contributing editor for Insight and is based in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.

www.burnsmcd.com


smartPlant® 3d –Increase productivity with application and data interoperability

Make the most of your enterprise engineering design data investment. Support integrated plant modeling and design from concept to operations and maintenance.

Intergraph® SmartPlant 3D is an open, data-centric, multi-discipline plant design solution proven to increase productivity with streamlined modeling workflows.

EPCs and O/Os from around the world rely on Intergraph’s integrated plant design environment for real business benefits:

Engineering rules-based design Complete projects more quickly, more accurately, at less cost. Benefit from seamless integration between modeling, analysis, reporting, and fully automated drawing production tasks with engineering rules-based design.

Global worksharing Enhance multi-site, concurrent engineering and data sharing of the evolving 3D plant design with industry-standard worksharing.

Automate the plant design process Capture engineering knowledge and expertise as part of SmartPlant 3D’s integrated automations.

www.intergraph.com/power

Boost interoperability

Intergraph, the Intergraph logo, and SmartPlant are registered trademarks of Intergraph Corporation. ©2009 Intergraph Corporation. 04/09 PPM-US-0069A-ENG

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