Quality Auditing & Reporting (QAR)
When More Means Less: Increasing Inspection Effectiveness to Reduce Remediation Costs
How to Put it All Together - A Guide to Organizing a Successful PEI Program
Obtaining Leak Free Bolted Joint Operation by Returning to Basics
2009 Inspectioneering Journal Article Index
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March/April 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
The ASME Post Construction Committee (PCC) has embarked upon a noble activity to produce a guide to using codes, standards, recommended practices, specifications and guidelines that can be used by manufacturers, owners, users, regulators, engineers and all other stakeholders in the total life cycle management (LCM) of pressure equipment. As most of know, there is a very wide array of such documents available and to the best of my knowledge there is no comprehensive guide to how all these documents can be tied together in the cradle to grave management of pressure equipment, from concept to decommissioning.
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A Simple Mistake While Performing Active Infrared Thermography Approach: Something we should think about!
July/August 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy M.Z. Umar at Malaysian Nuclear AgencyWe have been introduced to Infrared Thermography (IRT) since World War I and over the last decade the application of this technique has gained impetus. Today, the IRT application is widely used and accepted by many industries such as power generation plants, oil & gas industries, manufacturing factories, medicine, agriculture and biology etc. The technique has been recognized as a reliable tool for technical diagnostics in particular to condition monitoring and predictive maintenance.
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January/February 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy Dan Carnevale at Danatronics Corporation
Ultrasonic thickness gages have progressed a long way since their early development in the 1960's. The first thickness gages were large and bulky although they used the same conventional longitudinal (compressional wave) techniques still in use today. Thickness gages are used in a wide variety of industries including refineries, power plants, process control, oil and gas, transportation, automotive and manufacturing to name a few.
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API RP 581 Risk-based Inspection Technology Demonstrating the Technology Through a Worked Example Problem
January/February 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy Lynne Kaley at Trinity Bridge LLC / Trinity Bridge DigitalThis article provides a unique opportunity to guide the reader through API RBI quantitative calculations per API RP 581, Second Edition, September 2008, using real data. The author guides you step by step from input data to final answers including, probability of failure, consequence of failure, financial and risk return and metrics usage, and inspection planning.
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API RP 581 Risk-based Inspection Technology Demonstrating the Technology Through a Worked Example Problem
March/April 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy Lynne Kaley at Trinity Bridge LLC / Trinity Bridge DigitalThe previous article (Part 1) covered Probability of Failure (POF), including modeling of thinning and stress corrosion cracking and demonstrated how API RBI provides credits for past inspections, considering their effectiveness in detecting those specific damage types and the number of inspections performed. This article (Part 2) picks up where the previous left off by guiding the reader through the health, safety, and environmental and financial consequence calculations, including calculation of Consequence of Failure (COF).
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API RP 581 Risk-based Inspection Technology Demonstrating the Technology Through a Worked Example Problem
May/June 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy Lynne Kaley at Trinity Bridge LLC / Trinity Bridge DigitalThis article is Part 3 of a 3-Part series. The articles in this series provide a step-by-step example of utilization of API RP 581 and build off of each other. This article (Part 3) will cover the final risk analysis, inspection planning, provide a very helpful table of calculated results for each step to check your calculations against, and a glimpse of the future direction of API RP 581.
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July/August 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy Willis PerryIn the current economic environment, there is increasing pressure on petrochemical refineries and delivery systems to be more productive and to minimize unscheduled shutdowns due to leakage. Leakage can occur from either the piping itself or the joints of the pipes. In a refinery there are several thousands of feet of piping and associated joints, as shown in the photograph presented in Figure 1. Petrochemical leaks don't only cost the companies money for the time and material to repair a leak, but also to remediate the areas affected and the institution of stricter controls. Because of this pressure, the involved companies are looking to replace the current monitoring scheme with a more effective and cost efficient risk based inspection (RBI) program.
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September/October 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Knowing what needs to be accomplished in order to achieve excellence in pressure equipment integrity (PEI) is one thing, but knowing how to organize it all for success is quite another. I have previously written numerous articles for the IJ about what all needs to be accomplished (1-2). In this article (and 10 articles to come with more details) I will show how to organize all this \"PEI stuff\" to achieve overall success in order to make sure that everything that needs to be accomplished, is accomplished using management systems (MS) and work process (WP) descriptions.
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May/June 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy Fernando Vicente at ABBIn the oil and gas industry, pressure vessel integrity is a major concern. After internal and external inspections various anomalies or defects can be reported and repairs could be required for pressure vessels in order to restore its original condition. The first question for engineers, operators and managers is, can we keep operating at this pressure level? Is it safe? Or do I have to take it out of service to repair?
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March/April 2009 Inspectioneering Journal
History has taught us that we should trust, but verify! Verification of alloys to ensure they are composed of the correct alloying elements has been the realm of handheld x-ray fluorescence for the past four decades. Industries ranging from petrochemical, aerospace and fabrication (which are mission critical for the correct material), to contract testing services, metals recycling applications and many more have employed portable XRF for alloy verification for over 40 years.
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September/October 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy Warren Brown at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc., Wayne McKenzie at Syncrude Canada, and Shane Ryan at Syncrude CanadaLeakage of pressure vessel and piping bolted joints in refineries is an unnecessary hazard, with high associated cost, that can be easily rectified using currently available technology. There have been advances in gasket testing technology in recent years that have allowed great improvements to be made in the specification of gaskets for refinery applications. This minimizes the likelihood of joint leakage and results in reduce operating cost. In addition, there have also been advances in joint assembly procedures that have enabled significant reduction in joint assembly times, while resulting in a better final gasket stress distribution and therefore lower likelihood of leakage.
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January/February 2009 Inspectioneering JournalProgress has been made in this area over the last 5 to 10 years. Here is a listing of helpful references for managing pipeline integrity that represents a lot of that progress and experience. It is by no means exhaustive. To the best of our knowledge the references are current. New editions and addenda may be in progress. It is the responsibility of IJ readers to perform more detailed research before using any of the referenced documents.
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September/October 2009 Inspectioneering Journal
A U.S. refiner said it is examining pipes and systems at its U.S. facilities in the wake of a May 2009 fire at a 178,000-barrel-per-day refinery.
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November/December 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy P.N. Sunil Kumar at Kuwait Oil Company
The market around the globe is being opened up. More and more manufacturers are entering the fray from different parts of the world. The competition is tightening at an unprecedented rate causing considerable reduction in profit margins enjoyed by the industry. This prevailing scenario around the globe makes the sustenance of a pressure vessel manufacturer in the fabrication industry a "tight rope walk". Continuance in the same market could only be assured through best quality and best price, both with conflicting interests. In order to maintain both, the manufacturer shall have a reasonably good quality system and shall have adopted the most efficient methodologies and systems, so as to maintain best quality at the lowest possible cost. Regarding the quality versus cost aspects, in my previous article published in April 2007 Issue of the Hydrocarbon Processing, titled "Optimum Specification & Quality requirements for Pressure Vessels", various methods and practices were elaborated. In this article, an effective, sensible and realistic quality audit system for continuously monitoring the quality of various disciplines that contribute to the manufacturing quality of pressure vessels is proposed. Such a system is absolutely essential for the sustenance of the already established stature and reputation of the manufacturer in the industry, by the vigilant and committed involvement of the top management. The QAR is intended to serve as a tool to the management with information on any decline in quality (if any occurs), to initiate timely remedial action, to ward off such occurrences in the future and to prevent a decline in quality of the organization in its functions.
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What an Ohio Oil and Gas Producer or Affiliated Industry Company Needs to Know About an OSHA InspectionNovember/December 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy Andrew Balcar at Bricker and Eckler LLP, Michael S. Holman at Bricker and Eckler LLP, Doug Shevelow at Bricker and Eckler LLP, and Matt Warnock at Bricker and Eckler LLP
A recent well publicized Ohio fatality highlights the simple truth that the oil and gas industry can be a dangerous business. This has been recognized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, better known as OSHA, which is charged with making sure that all workers perform their work in as safe an environment as possible. Historically sporadic enforcement of OSHA standards in the Ohio oil and gas industry may be coming to an end. This bulletin explains the information you need to know to be prepared for your company's next OSHA inspection.
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November/December 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy Stefan Papenfuss at Quest Integrity Group
Pipeline integrity management programs are largely driven by regulatory compliance and are typically budgeted years in advance. Operators of all sizes are looking for ways to reduce expenditures related to operational efficiency and safety in order to maintain optimal profitability while sustaining safety and compliance.
