News & Insights

The Becht Blog

In this section of the site contributing authors submit interesting articles relating
to the various services, industries and research & development efforts of Becht.

News & Blog

Becht Acquires Fronek Power

Becht Engineering Acquires Fronek Power Systems The engineering consulting operations of Fronek Power Systems LLC (FPS) (www.fronekpower.com) are now part of Becht Engineering (Becht.com) effective January 26th, 2018.  The former FPS staff is now part of Becht Engineering. Frank Fronek will continue to manage the Fronek Piping Group (FPG), a division of Becht Engineering, in […]

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Five Keys to a Cost-Effective Repair/Modification Package for Tanks-Vessels-Piping

: Process: Does the repair change the process chemistries, physics (fluid phase), and thermo-hydraulics (flow rates, pressures, temperatures)? Does the modification change the control room indications and the operating envelopes? Material: Are the selected metallic materials (base metal and welds) and non-metallic materials (gaskets, packings, etc.) compatible with the existing materials, with the environment, and […]

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12 Checks When Qualifying Piping Systems in Nuclear Applications

The analysis and qualification of piping systems in nuclear power plants involves more than meeting Code stress limits. Generally, a piping system is qualified if the following criteria have been met. These various qualification criteria are typically specified in the plant FSAR, the plant design procedures, or the ASME Code. Pressure design in accordance with […]

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Purpose of the Flange Bolt Rules in ASME VIII and ASME III

The partial objective of the ASME Appendices ASME VIII Div.1 Appendix 2, and ASME III Div.1 Appendix XI provide “Rules for Bolted Flange Connections” with ring-type gaskets. One of the rules provided applies to the calculation of the minimum required bolt area. In other words, what should be the minimum combined cross-section area of the […]

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Differential Thermal Expansion: A Challenge to Flange Joints

by George Antaki and Jeremy Lundquist It is not uncommon to use B7 low alloy high-strength bolts on stainless steel flanges. If that is the case, and if the flange operates at high temperature, then the thermal expansion-induced stress in the bolt should be checked. Consider, for example, a stainless steel flange SA-182 Grade F304, with […]

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Storage Tanks Floating Roofs – Challenges In Aging Tanks When Exposed To Extreme Weather Conditions

Over one hundred thousand floating roofs have been used in hydrocarbon (oil) storage tanks since the 1950s. A majority of these tanks continue to be in service and are critical to meet strategic storage needs. An earlier article in this blog category describes Industry Best Practices for inspection and maintenance of such tanks. View Maintenance […]

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Reliability Program Implementation and High Altitude Climbing – What They Have in Common

This is the third in a series of Blogs on improving plant reliability performance through changes in culture, programs, equipment design, maintenance and operation.   [Click link to review  Making Bad Actor Elimination Programs Work; or the second blog, Reliability Beliefs – Driving Organizational Accountability]    This blog compares experiences in successful high-altitude expedition climbing and the effort to […]

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Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) – A Key Element to Improved Reliability

Many companies and organizations have been on the reliability journey for a number of years, while others are just beginning.  There are many elements of a solid reliability program – establishing a reliability centered culture, tracking key metrics, bad actor elimination programs and establishing equipment reliability plans – to name a few.  But, one key […]

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Are Your Heaters Affecting Your Reliability?

From a process standpoint, your Fired Equipment items are not only some of the most critical but some of the most risky items in day-to-day operations. Add in the presence of open flames and failures can be dramatic.  In today’s refining climate, fired equipment is required to run 4, 5, 6 or even 7 years […]

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CalOSHA Update – Damage Mechanism Reviews (DMR)

On May 18, 2017, the California Department of Industrial Relations’ Occupational Safety and Health Standards (CalOSHA) board approved a new regulation that changes how Process Safety Management (PSM) is handled for oil refineries within the state of California.  This regulation was approved in response to high-profile industry incidents in the state of California in the […]

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