Hoon Kiang Tan

Automated identification of components in raster piping and instrumentation diagram with minimal pre-processing

This paper proposes a novel framework for automated recognition of components in a Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) of raster form. Contour is used as the main clue for visual recognition through the use of Local Binary Pattern (LBP) as descriptor and concept of Spatial Pyramid Matching (SPM). Comparison of two image patches is done by calculating the l1 distance between two corresponding LBP based descriptors. Firstly, the framework requires at least one example image per type of component to be recognised, the corresponding LBP and SPM based descriptor is determined and stored. Linear sliding window approach is used to detect a small set of top candidates from a pool of all sub-images in original image. Verification against the entire library of symbols is performed on each candidate selected from previous stage, using concept of nearest neighbour based classification. The method has demonstrated state of the art performance in a new challenging dataset created with advices from a group of experienced engineers in marine and offshore industry.

Automated design evaluation on layout of Piping and Instrumentation Diagram using Histogram of Connectivity

An autonomous framework to evaluate layout of a Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (also known as P&ID or piping design) according to a set of standards of marine and offshore industry is proposed. The method starts with transforming layout of a P&ID into a vector x in Rd. Transformation is done based on a novel concept developed for piping design known as Histogram of Connectivity (HoC). The proposed descriptor captures two essential properties of piping design: attributes of each component and connectivity among the components. Next, linear Support Vector Machine (SVM) is used to learn from existing compliant and non-compliant designs. Subsequently, the linear classifier can be used to check if an unseen design complies with the standards, hence achieving the aim of checking compliance of layout of a piping design. The method has demonstrated state of the art performance in a challenging dataset of designs created with advices from experienced engineers in marine and offshore industry, based on International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).

A review of offshore decommissioning regulations in five countries – Strengths and weaknesses

Abstract The decommissioning of offshore structures around the world will be a persisting problem in the coming decades as many structures will exceed their shelf life, or when reservoirs are no longer productive. This paper examines an overview of the global offshore decommissioning legal regime, and a summary of regulations in countries that are deemed to be more experienced in decommissioning such as the UK, Norway and USA. Two oil-producing countries in South East Asia, Malaysia and Thailand are also reviewed to identify potential gaps in decommissioning legislation for countries in its infancy in decommissioning. The differences were identified in terms of decommissioning preparation, decommissioning technical execution, additional environmental requirements and financial security framework. In conclusion, the majority of the regulations covering the technical section are similar within all countries studied. Major differences lie in two overarching philosophies of the framework – a prescriptive regime versus a goal-setting regime. Other decommissioning aspects appear to attract increasing attention, such as in expanding clarity on in situ decommissioning, residual liabilities, optimising finance related issues of decommissioning and offshore to onshore waste movement. These gaps in the existing framework can be filled by taking an evidence-based stand in developing the framework.