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Repair versus Replace – Not Always an Easy Decision

Equipment Operators face hundreds of work list items while planning for scheduled maintenance events.  For each item the owner must make a decision on whether to repair or replace the equipment to resolve the deficiency.  In some circumstances, owners are unable to come up with a cost effective repair solution so they default to the […]

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Capturing the Reliability Prize – Leadership, Vision, & Commitment

Reliable operations is a key business objective for nearly every manufacturing plant due to global economic pressures and increasing Process Safety Management (PSM) requirements. Pacesetter sites that have been successful in achieving long-term reliability are characterized by Business Units empowered and accountable to meet their reliability targets. Structured work processes, with specialist support, provide the […]

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Refrigerated Storage Tanks – Managing Operational Integrity

Refrigerated Liquefied Storage Tanks have been used for over 60 years in the industry. A significant number of these tanks store liquefied Propane and Butane, Ethylene and LNG and Ammonia. The stored fluids are at atmospheric pressures with temperatures which range from -45 F to -270 Failures of refrigerated tanks have been quite infrequent over […]

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BIDES – A Knowledge Base Facilitating Effective RBI Assessments

There are numerous challenges that Inspectors and Reliability Engineers face when developing Risk Based Asset Integrity Plans, such as: Identifying the applicable Damage Mechanisms Picking the correct Failure Mode(s) Determining the Probability of Failure Deciding how to mitigate risks to acceptable levels Industry documents give some guidance (i.e. API-571, API-580) but not the whole picture. […]

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Check Valves: Often Forgotten – Till They Cause Catastrophic Damage

Integrity management of piping systems involves functional testing, inspection and maintenance of components which are identified as “safety critical”.  Typically, these component types include control valves, isolation valves, pressure relief valves and instrumentation – but exclude check valves.  However, recent incidents involving check valve failures have resulted in fatalities, equipment damage and toxic releases.  These […]

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Considerations in Selection of RBI Tools

The world of reliability is shifting from a calendar based approach to a smarter, risk-based approach in the hydrocarbon production and refining world.  The leadership teams are now expecting a risk-based program in place for minimizing the HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) and economic consequences as much as possible.  Some states have mandated the use […]

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Reliability Gap Assessment – A Critical Step to Improve Unit Reliability

Every Refinery whether small or big, isolated or a part of a larger group generally has practices to improve reliability of operations.  However, refineries who are known to be world class performers have well defined Reliability Management Systems (RMS) which focus on improving equipment reliability for piping, pressure vessels, rotating equipment, electrical distribution system, instrumentation […]

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Machinery Hurricane Flood Damage– Innovative Seal Recovery Procedure

Serious floods rarely occur in the life of a refinery or petro-chemical plant. But when such an event does occur there are significant implications for the reliability of rotating equipment and associated business risks when it’s time to restart the plant. And because this scenario is so uncommon, there are few, if any, industry standards […]

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