In this section of the site contributing authors submit interesting articles relating
to the various services, industries and research & development efforts of Becht.
In a recent blog, August 8, 2022, the subject of an independent check-rate or rating of a cooling tower’s thermal design was discussed. This enables a determination of whether or not the stated or quoted fan horsepower for given design conditions is based on acceptable data and whether or not the resultant horsepower prediction is […]
If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend watching the 1993 documentary “Blue Angels: Around the World at the Speed of Sound.” It’s a documentary about Navy pilots and stunts they perform at aerial shows. Not only is it entertaining, but there are also some excellent safety lessons in these elite pilot’s pre- and post-flight […]
Dr. Charles Becht IV., was awarded the 2022 B31 Forever Medal during the ASME B31 & Nonmetallic Pressure Piping Code meetings. The ASME B31 Forever Medal for Excellence in Piping is a Committee Award awarded for distinguished contributions in the field of pressure piping including but not limited to leadership, technical, research and development, and […]
The workforce is changing rapidly and the people who will be blending gasoline at a refinery will have a different set of knowledge, skills, and attributes compared to prior generations. This will be the generation that likes to collaborate on platforms instantaneously and make rapid decisions in a constantly changing and challenging environment. This generation […]
Risk-based Inspection (RBI) has been around the refining and petrochemical industry for many years. When the original task group was put together to investigate RBI in the early 1990s, lessons learned from other industries that had been practicing this approach even earlier were incorporated into the two standards that API developed, API RP 580 – […]
High-temperature IR Thermography was pioneered several decades ago as a method for understanding tube temperatures inside fired equipment. While the equipment continues to improve, completing accurate analysis of the data remains very challenging. It is a complex process to accurately measure tube wall temperatures due to the variable nature of surface scale, combustion characteristics, and […]
A cooling tower is the largest heat exchanger in a plant, designed to remove heat from a process by a combination of sensible heat transfer and evaporation of water in contact with the surrounding airstream. Mechanically induced draft towers have fans located at the top to draw air through the tower and may be either […]
When faced with a task of improving something, you assess the current situation, define the future state and determine the path to get to the future state. Improving Reliability at a site should follow the same process. This blog focuses on the first part – Assessing the current situation. To understand what we are trying […]
“What’s holding you back?” “How can I improve safety and productivity on my projects?” Great questions. Advanced Work Packaging, or AWP, has been identified as a best practice for projects by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) and by the Construction Owners Association of Alberta (COAA). While good project planning has always been an important part […]
Project Risk Assessments and Risk Management Assessments have proven repeatedly to be effective “tools” to ensuring the likelihood of a project achieving its performance, cost and time goals. For example, the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK®)(1) outlines a risk management process that has been effectively used by many industries. That […]
