Reliability Beliefs – Driving Organizational Accountability

This is the second in a series of Blogs on improving plant reliability performance through improvement in culture, programs and equipment design, maintenance and operation.  This Blog focuses on Reliability Beliefs – a key element in organizational accountability for everyone to do the right thing every time.  Read the first blog in the series – […]

Continue Reading

Storage Tanks – Maintenance & Reliability of Floating Roofs

The safe operation, maintenance and reliability of roofs in large tanks, does require special considerations in their design, construction and installation practices. Over the past 60 plus years, thousands of tanks with Fixed Roofs with internal Covers, and Floating Roofs, have been used to store Crude Oil and Middle Distillates. Refiners derived significant advantage through […]

Continue Reading

Risk Based Work Selection (RBWS) – An Essential Step for Turnaround Work Scope Optimization in Refining Units

Turnarounds (TA) in refining units are executed periodically, on a planned basis, to meet multiple objectives, such as regulatory compliance, process reliability improvement, and equipment inspection and/or repairs. In a competitive business environment, managing TA events in a cost effective manner is a well-recognized challenge. Key Step – Planning Development of a comprehensive Work Scope for […]

Continue Reading

Your pump’s Mean Time Between Repairs (MTBR) is what?…Or what should it be…

Many of the tourist spots around the world have panhandlers. Some of the more creative ones stand on street corners advertising that they will tell you where you got your shoes, for a dollar. Of course it turns out that “you got your shoes” at the corner of Bourbon and St. Peters – or wherever […]

Continue Reading

Importance of Codes and Standards for Process Safety

Compliance with the Process Safety Management rule, OSHA 1910.119, is a requirement for plants processing certain highly hazardous materials exceeding threshold quantities. The rule requires the owner to demonstrate all equipment has been purchased and installed in accordance with recognized industry standards. Maintenance practices must also be according to Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering […]

Continue Reading

Resolution of Chronic Cooling Tower Fan Vibrations

Traditional rotating equipment mounted at grade use the mass of a foundation and grout to reduce vibration and provide support and stiffness. However, cooling tower fans must be elevated many feet above a basin of water which sometimes puts them “out of sight and out of mind”. Cost and practicality prohibits concrete and grout, thus […]

Continue Reading

Becht Technology Review – Unusual Business Opportunities

The process team at Becht Engineering brings decades of experience from serving in the R&D of major corporations and also from representing a wide variety of Becht Engineering clients.  We have observed and evaluated new technology from both sides of the fence…as employees or for large corporations who do R&D internally to outpace their competition, […]

Continue Reading

ASME B31.3 – Substantive Changes in the 2016 Edition

In addition to the many clarifications, updated references to codes and standards, updates to basic allowable stresses, and added listed materials, there are several substantive changes to the 2016 Edition of ASME B31.3, Process Piping, which is scheduled to be issued on January 4, 2017. These changes are: Severe Cyclic Conditions The definition for severe […]

Continue Reading

“Speed Kills” – An Empirical Association of Antifriction Bearing Behavior When Things Go From Bad to Worse

Machinery and reliability people have for a long time observed that when it comes to long life and high reliability, operating at higher speeds compares poorly to operation at lower speeds. One of the primary reasons for having high-speed devices is economics. With high speed you can have smaller equipment sizes with fewer stages. While […]

Continue Reading
Becht default post image

Risk Based Work Selection – A Process Focusing On Turnaround Excellence

Risk Based Work Selection (RBWS) is one of the Best Practices used by refiners in managing safety and reliability of operations for a facility. RBWS enables refiners to optimize the scope, cost and duration of major turnarounds (TA). Optimization of the work scope is accomplished by screening individual TA Work List items, using a risk-based […]

Continue Reading
Let Becht Turn Your Problem
Into Peace of Mind