Risk-Based Inspection in Maintenance

The Course

The cornerstone of plant integrity is ensuring that facilities are correctly designed, and operated and maintained within the equipment design envelopes. The profitability of the facilities is significantly impacted by the cost-effectiveness of inspection and maintenance strategies and programs in place. Plant equipment is subjected to deterioration mechanisms and potential damage throughout their service life. To know with confidence the current condition of plant equipment, we need to inspect the equipment. Moreover, to determine the next inspection date, we need to understand the deterioration mechanisms to which the equipment will be exposed and their effects. This entails identifying the deterioration mechanisms; determining their rates; acceptability criteria; and the extent, frequency, and methods for inspecting this equipment.

 

Traditionally, prescriptive inspection practices were developed based on experience and in some cases in response to significant failure cases. In general, they did not take full account of failure risks nor of the degradation mechanisms that the equipment is exposed to in operation. As a result, some companies would not do enough inspection and precipitate avoidable failures, while others would unnecessarily overspend, resulting in significant waste of resource.

 

Risk Based methodologies enable the assessment of the likelihood and potential consequences of equipment failures. RBI & RCM provide companies the opportunity to prioritize their equipment for inspection; optimize inspection methods, frequencies and resources and develop specific equipment inspection plans. This results in improved safety, lower failure risk, fewer forced shutdowns, and reduced operational costs.

 

The risk-based approach requires a systematic, and integrated use of expertise from the different disciplines that impact plant integrity. These include design, materials selection, operating parameters and scenarios, and understanding of the current and future degradation mechanisms and of the risks involved.

 

The Goals

• To provide clear understanding of the key aspects of Risk Based Inspection, its advantages and limitations, and how it is linked to Reliability Centered Maintenance and to fitness-for-service assessment.
• To show you how to develop a successful Risk Based program at your facility, and to provide you with the practical and effective methods you need to perform practical likelihood and consequence analysis.
• Show you how to develop optimum Inspection intervals for individual equipment based on the assessment of the active degradation mechanisms.

 

The Delegates

• Operations, maintenance and engineering professionals and supervisors,
• Engineers and other technical staff with responsibilities for inspection, maintenance, assessment and mitigation of plant equipment degradation
• Those who want to use Risk Techniques effectively in their plants.

 

The Process

The course combines presentation of the key principles, methods, and best practices backed up with case studies and Question & Answer workshops to maximize the benefits to the participants. The comprehensive course notes and presentation material will provide valuable reference

 

The Benefits

Delegates will acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to apply the risk-based methodology effectively in their work thereby enhancing their competence and performance level and making additional value added contributions to their organizations.

 

The Results

Identification and assessment of active degradation mechanisms coupled with implementation of a Risk Based program would result in significant measurable improvements including: improved plant integrity with fewer failures, optimization of inspection and maintenance plans and resources, and reduction in operating costs.

 

• AZTech Certificate of Completion for delegates who attend and complete the course.