Becht staff include over ten senior materials experts with expertise in applications including power, refinining, petrochemical and chemical facilities, and materials including metals, coatings and linings, and nonmetals such as refractories, thermoplastics (e.g., high density polyethylene) and reinforced thermosetting resins (e.g., fiberglass). Our services include material selection, establishing operating envelopes for equipment, failure analysis, remaining life assessment, and establishing deterioration mechanisms and their associated probabilities for risk based inspection and development of equipment reliability plans. We are experts in modifications to existing chemical processes to alleviate and control corrosion that allows continued operation of existing equipment. We are experts in the equipment requirements for processing corrosive crudes (e.g. high TAN crudes such as Doba crude) as well as material applications for high temperature services such as steam cracking furnaces and furnaces to produce synthesis gas.
Reducing Loss of Primary Containment (LOPC’s) or commonly referred to as “leaks” in a refinery is a key factor to improve reliability. Historically, most refiners reduced the high consequence leaks to avoid major incidents; however, lower consequence related leaks were not given high priority. Today high reliability is required, and reduction of all leaks is […]
The API Inspection Codes were originally based on failure prevention and did not consider the consequences of failure or potential damage mechanisms. Risk-based inspection (RBI) assessments result in an equipment risk ranking based on the probability of failure (a leak occurring) and the consequence associated with that leak. Applied properly, RBI provides the benefit of […]
Cracking of REAC Duplex Stainless Steel Failures of Refinery Hydroprocessing Unit REACs made of 2205 DSS have in some cases resulted in significant plant damage and extended outages for repairs. In a few cases, header box welds have ruptured. Additionally, failures have occurred at tube-to-tubesheet welds and in REAC inlet and outlet piping made of […]
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 […]
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 […]
Changes in steelmaking practice are reported to be causing some carbon steel piping components that are assumed by ASME Codes to behave in a ductile manner at ambient temperatures, to behave instead in a brittle manner. Barry Messer from Fluor made a presentation on this subject at the Spring 2016 meeting of the ASME B31.3, […]
There are many reasons why a refinery may want to change their crude slates. However, all of them boil down to economics. Whether a cheaper crude is available or there is a desire to manufacture specific products to increase profitability – money is the driver. However, in deciding to change your crude slate, the long […]
Gerrit Buchheim, Manager of the Pono Division of Becht Engineering, has developed a practical and simple-to-use approach to prioritizing the inspection and replacement of equipment in High Temperature Hydrogen Attack (HTHA) service. This approach utilizes the existing and accepted “Nelson Curve”, but adapts it to better fit the realized operating conditions at an individual facility, […]
CFD was used to confirm that poor design of the steam inlet nozzle was the main contributor to deaerator head to shell weld cracking, and confirmed proposed design improvements. This recent Becht project illustrates one of the causes of deaerator cracking. A through-wall crack had been found at the head-to-shell junction at the steam inlet […]
In the US and throughout much of the world, pressure equipment for oil refining services is designed according to ASME Codes (possibly augmented by API standards) and the integrity is assured by performing periodic inspection and maintenance according to equipment strategies, which often are developed in accordance with and guidance from API recommended practices and […]
