Turnaround, Maintenance & Reliability | December 26, 2018 Turnaround Critical Path Reviews – Recommendatio... Critical Path Analysis, Schedule Optimization or Cold Eyes Review (call it what you want) are all designed to check your Turnaround… Read More
Machinery | December 16, 2018 Reducing Coupling Weights in Large Motor-Driven Pu... One of the major issues in designing large motor driven pump applications is minimizing the overhung weight on the pump… Read More
Crude Refining & Production | December 9, 2018 Due Diligence – Making Rapid, Accurate Judge... or "Kidnapped By My Own Business Team" A number of years ago I worked closely with an Operating Company Business… Read More
Mechanical Engineering | December 3, 2018 ASME B31.3 – Substantive Changes in the 2018... In addition to the many clarifications, updated references to codes and standards, updates to basic allowable stresses, and added listed… Read More
Capital Projects | December 2, 2018 Rigging Points Of Attachment – A Critical El... Review of rigging attachments to the equipment being lifted have prevented lift failures. When planning major crane lifts we are… Read More
Mechanical Engineering | November 25, 2018 Basics of Design By Analysis in ASME Section VIII,... How hard can it be? I’ve heard from several (unnamed) analysts that because they have access to an FEA program… Read More
Mechanical Engineering | November 18, 2018 How To Quantify And Evaluate Oil Storage Tank Annu... In the past ten years, there have been a few oil storage tank annular plate failures due to soil side… Read More
Turnaround, Maintenance & Reliability | November 15, 2018 Identifying Gaps in Risk-Based Inspection Programs... Risk-based inspection (RBI) is a powerful tool to identify and manage mechanical integrity risks in fixed equipment and piping but… Read More
Mechanical Engineering | November 4, 2018 Do I Have to Replace My Bulged Pressure Vessel?... There are a variety of conditions an in-service component (e.g. vessel, tank, piping) can be found in. The purpose of… Read More
Crude Refining & Production | October 28, 2018 All That Glitters Is Not Gold – Due Diligenc... A few years ago I conducted what might be the world's cheapest, fastest and most cost effective due diligence study… Read More
Process Technology | October 21, 2018 Fatal Distractions: Refinery Chloride Contaminati... On December 29, 1972 one the Nation’s worst airline accidents occurred as Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashed into the… Read More
Corrosion, Materials & Integrity | October 17, 2018 Reducing Loss of Primary Containment (LOPC’s... Reducing Loss of Primary Containment (LOPC's) or commonly referred to as “leaks” in a refinery is a key factor to… Read More
Corrosion, Materials & Integrity | October 14, 2018 Why Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) Works... The API Inspection Codes were originally based on failure prevention and did not consider the consequences of failure or potential… Read More
Mechanical Engineering | September 30, 2018 Elastic Follow-up Can Result in Failures in System... The analysis procedures in the Code essentially assume that the strain range in the system can be determined from an… Read More
Mechanical Engineering | September 17, 2018 Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) Transfer Line Flexi... FCC’s are complex units - and the design of their transfer lines has some unique considerations. While many of the… Read More