Ormen Lange, Norway

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Hydro’s exploration team could not believe its eyes when it found a vastnew reservoir of natural gas 120 kilometers off the Norwegian coast in1997. Ten years later, the Ormen Lange gas field came on stream. At itspeak performance, it is estimated to produce 70 million standard cubicmeters of gas every 24 hours, thus covering 20% of the UK’s gas needsfor the next 40 years. Three high-end Barco video walls are one of themany state-of-the-art technologies supporting Norske Shell, OrmenLange’s operator, in its challenging task.

Monitoring Ormen Lange's amazing journey in energy

“The rear projector display cubesrender razor-sharp, crystal-clearimages with smooth, accuratecolor tones, providing an easy,unifying overview of operationalas well as security aspects ofOrmen Lange’s operations.”Morten Hansen, Sales Manager,VideoSystem

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“We have made the impossible possi-ble,” said Ormen Lange’s project man-ager during his inauguration speech inOctober 2007. And, indeed, the chal-lenges the project met were daunting.But the steep and uneven seabed, harshweather, subzero temperatures andmany other issues did not prevent theteams from completing this ambitiousproject within the agreed budget andon time. On 6 October 2007, King Haraldof Norway opened Ormen Lange: aseries of sea-floor installations at depthsof between 800 and 1,100 meters andan onshore plant at Nyhamna (near thetown of Molde) where the gas isprocessed. From the onshore facility, thegas is exported beneath the North Seathrough the world’s longest subseaexport pipeline (1,200 km) to the recep-tion center in Easington, on the eastcoast of the UK.

Oil and gas references

Hydro, which operated the field duringthe development phase, insisted onworking with only the very best busi-ness partners, in order to meet the pro-ject’s huge technological and organiza-tional challenges. ABB was one of them.As an expert in power automation andtelecoms solutions to the oil and gasindustry, the company was contracted todeliver the control, safety and informa-tion management systems for the gasprocessing plant. “Ormen Lange neededa visualization solution to monitor theplant and the flow of gas through thepipelines, plus display solutions for thesimulation and collaboration rooms.ABB resolutely included our productoffering in their tender, as we hadalready proven our market leadershipand dedicated 24/7 support services inmany successful oil-related installa-tions,” said Morten Hansen, Sales Man-ager of Barco’s Norwegian distributor,VideoSystem.

Three Barco video walls

ABB elaborated a comprehensive designproposal for the control room, the heartof the on-shore processing plant, includ-ing recommendations on Barco displaysand supporting projection systems. “Thehuman aspect and ergonomics were ofkey importance for the control room,”Morten Hansen recalled. “In addition,Hydro insisted on the highest possiblelevel of automation and wanted a solu-tion that exceeded the latest standards.”ABB designed an ergonomically opti-mized room featuring a giant 14 x 50’’central Barco video wall system (7 x 2configuration) with rear projection, con-trolled by a Barco display controller andmanagement software. For the simula-tor room, an innovative video wall sys-tem (4 x 2 50’’ cubes) on castors wasdelivered, to allow front projection. Inaddition, a wall of 3 x 3 cubes was setup in the collaboration room.

Operational and security details

The main task of the operators manningthe control room is to monitor and con-trol production at the onshore OrmenLange plant and minimize safety risks.During normal operations, the Barcovideo wall therefore displays processoverviews, live CCTV camera feeds, an

alarm list and a fire and gas overview,among other data. During an emer-gency shutdown, the on-screen contentcan be changed to zoom in on security-relevant information. “The operatorshave an easy, unifying overview ofoperational as well as security aspectsof their operations. In case of a problem,they can spot it straight away, as thealarm is clearly visible, and then look atthe desktop for more details,” saidMorten Hansen.

Brightness and contrast

Morten continued: "Barco's rear-projec-tion display cubes, based on DLP tech-nology, render razor-sharp, crystal-clearimages with smooth, accurate colortones. For someone who routinely putsin long hours in front of the wall, likethe Ormen Lange operators, their eyesmight don't get as tired. That little bit ofdifference can help them to do a betterjob." To make sure the video wallretains that high quality year after year,VideoSystem offers a complete overhaulof the installations once a year. Andthey are, of course, available 24/7 inthe event of questions or problems. Inthis way, Barco can play its part in Nor-way’s – not to say Europe’s – mostgroundbreaking oil and gas project.

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