How does Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum Company utilize additive manufacturing?

It is well known that oil and gas producers are turning to 3D printing technology to address supply chain issues and accelerate innovation. Dutch company Shell Petroleum is no exception. This article will introduce the progress of the company in using additive manufacturing technology.

Shell Amsterdam Technology Center

In 2011, Shell's Amsterdam Technology Center was the first to introduce metal laser printers for manufacturing specialized components for experimental equipment.

In 2019, the PBF 3D printing facility at the center received the best practice certification from Lloyd's Register. The certification included audits of Shell's systems, procedures, personnel capabilities, regulatory compliance, and material handling.

As of 2023, Shell has deployed 15 3D printers for polymers, ceramics and metals in its technology centers in Amsterdam and Bangalore, establishing a complete capability covering 3D scanning, reverse engineering, design optimization, printing and post-processing.

Under the impetus of this center, Shell has focused its 3D printing efforts on three main areas: digital inventory, innovative design, and models. Due to space limitations, today we will introduce digital inventory.

Digital inventory

In the petrochemical industry, spare parts management has always been a major challenge. Insufficient inventory may lead to production halts, while excessive reserves result in waste of funds and storage space. What's more serious is that large petrochemical enterprises often encounter the problem of aging facilities. For instance, core components such as pump bodies, which are usually costly and crucial, directly determine the overall lifespan of the equipment. Once an internal component goes out of production and a compressor breaks down, the entire unit has to be replaced.

3D printing has the potential to restructure the supply chain system. Shell recognizes that through 3D printing, a digital supply chain can be established, effectively addressing supply chain challenges such as regional supply, component obsolescence, and real-time inventory.

Therefore, since 2019, Shell has collaborated with global core suppliers to establish digital warehouses, and jointly developed digital document standards for the list of parts that can be 3D printed. The traditional "preventive stockpiling" model has been transformed into a digital supply model based on demand. This model can shorten delivery cycles and optimize resource utilization.

As of 2023, Shell has installed over 50 3D printing spare parts in its operational assets. All components have been strictly certified by experts and professional engineers at the 3D printing center.

Typical case

Seventh-grade centrifugal pump impeller

Shell and Baker Hughes successfully 3D-printed the impeller of a certain medium-high critical 7th-level centrifugal pump. In May 2022, the centrifugal pump was successfully started. After rigorous testing, the performance of the 3D-printed components was no less than that of the traditional impeller.

Currently, the centrifugal pump equipped with this impeller has been deployed in the Shell Deltav Energy Chemical Park. This confirms that the 3D-printed impeller can meet the safety operation requirements of the key pump body.

The successful printing of the impeller has shortened the traditional supply cycle by 75%, and has also eliminated the need for years of spare parts inventory, reducing the spare parts inventory cost for each operating pump body by approximately $100,000. More importantly, Shell has established a replicable supplier certification process, laying the foundation for the large-scale application of 3D printing.

Aluminum alloy impeller of LNG pump

Shell collaborated with Elliott Turbo Company and printed an aluminum impeller for a multi-stage high-pressure liquefied natural gas pump. The collaboration team completed the printing, heat treatment and testing of the impeller in just 40 days, significantly shortening the expected 270 days for traditional manufacturing. The 3D-printed impeller demonstrated superior mechanical properties compared to the traditional cast impeller.

Marine operation platform spare parts

The Shell team in Nigeria discovered that the sealing cover of a mooring buoy on an offshore structure was damaged. What's more serious is that this small component is no longer in production. According to the traditional process, once the production line is shut down, engineers would replace the entire set of components through a dangerous offshore lifting operation, which would take at least 16 weeks.

Fortunately, the Nigerian team used 3D scanners from local suppliers to model the components. Since there were no qualified printers locally, the files were sent to Europe for printing. Eventually, 3D printing reduced maintenance costs by 90% and shortened the production cycle to just 2 weeks.

3D printed gate valve

In September 2023, Shell used additive manufacturing technology to produce a gate valve for Bonney Forge Company. The gate valve passed the specific material assessment and met the requirements of the "Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU". At the same time, the international classification society DNV also issued the CE certification for the additive manufacturing gate valve.

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