Petrobras have a fleet of FPSO units (Floating Production Storage and Offloading), two of which Orion Fire Engineering supplies the fire system; the Caratinga and Barracuda. Beginning in 2021 Orion Fire has been engaged in the upgrade of the fire systems. The upgrade would include a complete drop-in replacement of the control system and gradual replacement of 24 fire monitors. As a Mechatronics Engineer at Orion Fire, I contributed towards the delivery of this project through software development, monitor assembly, panel assembly, and functional testing.
The control system upgrade leveraged a Phoenix Contact PLCnext to host a web user interface and an application for the monitoring and control of fire monitors, valves, pumps, and distributed I/O. The Orion built fire monitors were fully networked using ModbusRTU over RS-485 and ModbusTCP over ethernet with PLC intermediaries. The PLCnext operated with duplicate redundancy for reliability.
Developing this application and using these platforms enhanced my skill set with networks across the different layers and strengthened my proficiency with IEC 61131-3, Linux, and Python. I was also heavily involved in the assembly of the control panels and electrical wiring of the monitors, fostering skills with reading engineering drawings, wiring diagrams, and using hand tools. Finally, I planned and carried out the functional testing of the entire system which presented a variety of troubleshooting scenarios.
My involvement in this project was a comprehensive and enriching experience that significantly broadened my technical expertise and practical skills. Through the different aspects of the project, from software to assembly to testing, I gained essential insights into real-world processes, problems, and applications. These challenges will serve as preparation and training for future professional endeavours.
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