This week thirty-four years ago 167 souls lost their lives in the Piper Alpha disaster, an an oil platform located in the North Sea approximately 120 miles northeast of Aberdeen, Scotland.
This tragic event marked a turning point for safety, resulting in the creation of offshore regulations and standards that have been accepted worldwide.
Many of the challenges that impacted the industry then are even more acute today – how to deliver improvements in safety and environmental performance whilst striking the correct balance between cost and safety against a background of ageing assets.
The development of Gexcon’s industry standard software for dispersion, explosion and fire modelling is closely linked to what happened at Piper Alpha.
“Piper Alpha was crucial for the development of our consequence modelling tool, FLACS. Today over 50 years of research, learning and standards development have been codified into FLACS. The role of such tools is greater than ever in supporting operators and companies in developing a deep understanding of the risks and consequences in designing and operating their existing and future assets” explained Paul Taylor, CEO of Software at Gexcon.
Today the world faces more complex challenges as we pivot towards creating a sustainable, net zero energy and materials system whilst balancing energy security, cost and safety.
As such Gexcon continues to invest along all of the pathways such as LNG, hydrogen, nuclear and carbon capture and to support the industry to create a safe and sustainable future.
Contact us to learn more.
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