What if pipeline workers could experience high-stakes emergencies before they ever happened? A new AI-driven multiplayer simulation is turning that question into a powerful training reality, arming teams with the skills they need to act swiftly and effectively when crises strike.
This new training framework simulates a potential pipeline incident using AI and a gaming platform. | Image: Donna Malak/Texas A&M Engineering
Researchers and industry partners are looking to create a game-like training tool using artificial intelligence (AI) to make pipeline safety training more effective.
The Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center (MKO) and EnerSys Corporation are partnering to create a multiplayer "game" that provides real-world scenarios and measurable outcomes of how pipeline operations respond to abnormal and emergency situations in a safe, controlled environment.
“This utilizes artificial intelligence as a tool to create a gaming platform where pipeline becomes at the source and all the different causes that can impact the pipeline operations response becomes the contributing factor,” said Faisal Khan, director of the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center.
Funded by the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, an agency within the Department of Transportation, this project aims to develop a realistic training system for teams to practice handling hazardous condition response and emergency response.
“In using this multiplayer gaming platform, it should become very much like actually working with pipelines,” said EnerSys Corporation CEO Russel Treat. “That's the goal, and ultimately, if that's the case, when incidents do occur, they should be responded to and mitigated more effectively.”
Pipelines are critical for infrastructure, so understanding how they operate can prevent major accidents, protect the economy, and improve emergency response to issues like leaks.
The platform stimulates various pipeline failure scenarios and incorporates those into the training system designed for pipeline operators.
“Pipeline incidents are exceedingly rare,” Treat said. “Most people who work with pipelines work their entire lives and never have direct experience. What that means is when they do occur, for many people, it's a first-time experience. By doing this training and giving people real-world experience, then they will be prepared when an incident does occur, which means they should respond more quickly, more effectively.”
MKO will provide knowledge and understanding of the pipeline and its safety issues, along with creating mathematical models for the project. EnerSys Corporation will merge industry and facilitate research and data collection from industry while serving as the program's Principal Investigator.
“We have a mathematical representation of how a pipeline should be operating in an idealistic condition, based on our scientific knowledge and what stimulates a pipeline failure,” Khan said.
Treat said the next step is to begin trial scenarios with a research and development team by the end of this year, aiming to collect results and incorporate them into the training.
“It's a great opportunity for us to learn, particularly from the industrial experiences, and develop tools that enable fusion of knowledge and experience to improve safety," Khan said.
The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), the official research agency of Texas A&M Engineering, administers funding for this research.
By Raven Wuebker, Texas A&M Engineering
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