In this section of the site contributing authors submit interesting articles relating
to the various services, industries and research & development efforts of Becht.
There are numerous standards, recommended practices, and guidelines which provide clear direction on how to manage equipment integrity. By now, many petrochemical operators have implemented Risk-Based Inspection (RBI), Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), and Root Cause Analyses (RCA). All these risk management controls, as well as many others, are critical: Equipment, which is well designed to […]
Just another late night shift. Just like it’s been many times before. Tough to stay focused when everything is carving straight lines. And then the alarms start. Things go south – REALLY south. The board operator has seen this before. They recognize the pattern – the “footprint” – of the alarms and the problem and […]
With contributing author Jessica Hofmann The oil and gas industry alone, directly and indirectly, contributes to 42 per cent of global emissions. As a result, refineries worldwide, as part of the wider O&G value chain, are facing increasing pressure to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and align with climate-change goals set by regulators. Refineries […]
I had multiple requests to discuss how to evaluate purchased feedstocks for hydroprocessing units. As always, I’ll present some ideas and welcome further comments and thoughts. Jack be nimble, Jack be quick! In my background, the question of whether to purchase a feedstock for a hydroprocessing unit comes up with very little notice and sometimes […]
Refractory linings are common throughout the refinery and found in many different units including the FCCU, fired heaters, and Claus thermal reactors. In the previous posting of Becht Blogs: Refractory series, we gave a cursory overview of several refractory types and where they are typically applied (Introduction to Refractory). These materials come from the family […]
Do you feel lucky, well do ya? Famous words uttered by Inspector Harry Callahan in one of my favorite Clint Eastwood movies is certainly no way to run a refinery, chemical plant or other hazardous operation. However, in real life we find operations relying on luck, tribal knowledge, personnel memory vs. standards and procedures and […]
As owner-users continue to rely on existing RBI programs, the question of how to keep an RBI program functioning and compliant continually comes up in discussions. Mechanical integrity professional want to know what needs to be done and when it needs to happen. Let’s start with Code requirements: API 510 10th Edition, 2nd Addendum 6.3.2 […]
“My reaction is done in a few seconds; therefore, I can’t have a mixing problem.” Mixing experts hear this frequently, but is it true? Actually, because the reaction is fast, mixing is more likely to affect the reaction rate. However, to more fully address the question, imagine a reaction takes 10 seconds to complete. Is […]
This is the third of 3 articles discussing relief issues for Hydroprocessing Units. Last month we discussed Separator Blow-through. As discussed, the five main lessons from that article are: Relief valves on low-pressure separators must be designed for vapor blow-through The design vapor blow-through rate must consider all potentially open level-control valves and bypass valves […]
Risk-based inspection (RBI) methods have been around the refining and petrochemical industry for nearly 3 decades. The concept of focusing inspection programs on areas of highest risk has proven to be an effective approach for managing fixed equipment integrity and optimizing inspection programs. For RBI, risk is defined as the product of probability of failure […]
