Modeling Human Physiology Coupled With Hyperbaric Plant Simulation for Oil and Gas

Introduction

Diving history is millennia long, in fact in the past it was used for gathering of corals and sponges, while nowadays it evolved in important industrial instrument. Underwater activities, such as maintenance and service of underwater installations, cables, pipelines in addition to marine salvage and rescue operations are required in many industrial fields, especially in Oil & Gas industry. Safety risks caused by harsh environment, especially in case of work in deep water, lead to development of various autonomous or remotely operated underwater vehicles, however, despite big advances in such systems, in many cases human intervention is still required (Rebikoff 1954; Graczyk et al. 1970; Martin 2013).

Besides technical advances, one of main differences between such activities several centuries ago and now is related to substantial extension of autonomy and of achievable depths, caused in big part not only by technological advances, but by better understanding of underwater medicine. Indeed, multidisciplinary approach nowadays allows to perform required activities efficiently, safely and treat disorders which could occur during stay in hostile for a human body conditions. In fact, diving medicine is one of principal fields of study of sportive, military and commercial diving and in the second half of XX century improvement of diving equipment and techniques allowed to extend maximum operation depth for divers up to 250-300m (Naquet & Rostain 1988). Obviously, to operate in conditions of high pressure, low temperature and poor visibility it is necessary to provide adequate training of both divers and technical personnel, especially Life-Support Supervisors (LSS).

For safety reasons, most of training courses are carried out on empty plants, which is caused by the problem that in this field even a small error, which could be easily introduced by unexperienced operator, could lead to injures of divers inside the plant and to damage of expensive equipment. Considering this, the authors propose development of M&S (Modeling and Simulation) solution to substitute empty plants, which could be very useful to support training activities, reduce costs and risks (Amico et al.2000). Despite evident advantages, only several simulators certified for this purpose by IMCA (International Marine Contractors Association) are known to the authors. Furthermore, existing models are focalized on many aspects but human behavior, hence, does not provide adequate response to actions of the LSS in terms of feedback typically available from divers, for instance about uncomfortable conditions or symptoms of different disorders. For this reasons, the authors are involved in development of the next generation simulator suitable for LSS training, with advanced model for representation of different aspects related to diving medicine.