A Roadmap for Successful Turnaround Inspections: Turnaround Completion and Inspection Documentation
Dual Mode Pulse Reflectometry – A New Approach to Heat Exchanger Tube Inspection
Effective Integrity Management Programs for Steam Reformers
Key Performance Indicators – Understanding is Key
Sands of Time Create The Mechanical Integrity Compliance Officer (MICO)
Save Time and Cost for Turnarounds Using Phased Array Technology
The Role of Process Unit Corrosion Reviews on Inspection Planning, RBI and IOWs
The Top 10 Reasons for FEMI Failures in the Hydrocarbon Process Industries
Achieving a Comprehensive Fired Heater Health Monitoring Program
Leveraging RFID Technologies for Pipeline Asset Management
Stress Assisted Corrosion and Fitness for Service in 66 Year Old Boilers
The Current State of Pipeline Integrity Management
The Top 10 Reasons for FEMI Failures in the Hydrocarbon Process Industries
A Roadmap for Successful Turnaround Inspections: Turnaround Inspection Execution
ABSA’s Unique Approach to Pressure Vessel Safety Administration
Avoiding 5 Common Pitfalls of Pressure Vessel Thickness Monitoring
Corrosion Under Insulation And Best-fit Solutions
ISO 55000 – What You Need to Know
Optimize FPSO Operations through Certification and Risk Management
The Changing Role of the Unit Inspector
Assessing the Reduction in Spill Risk of the Keystone XL Special Conditions
Criticality Assessment of Piping Systems for Oil & Gas Facilities
Fitness for Service from an RBI Point of View
Heater Tube Inspection and Remaining Life Evaluation
How Facilities Can Better Ensure SPCC Compliance
Navigating ASME Section VIII (Div.1): Managing Your Pressure Vessels
The Pathway to ASME PCC-1 2013 Appendix A Compliance and its Critical Importance
The Three Tiers of Most Fixed Equipment Mechanical Integrity (FEMI) Programs
12 Key Ingredients of a Successful FFS Team
A Discussion on Strategies for Effectively Transferring Knowledge to the Next Generation
A Roadmap for Successful Turnaround Inspections: Pre-turnaround Inspection Planning
Best Practices of a Joint Integrity Program
Clay White Takes the Reins as Chair of API
Is Your Killed Carbon Steel Resistant to High Temperature Sulfidation?
Managing Asset Transfers: Negotiating the Deal and Minimizing Risk
New Inline Inspection Technology Helps Ensure Terminal & Pipeline Integrity Management Success
A Discussion on Hydrogen Bake-Outs
Avoiding HTHA Failures: An Owner-User Perspective of the HTHA Risk Mitigation Process
Corrosion Testing with Real-Time 2-D Ultrasound Camera Imaging
Drones for Visual Testing & Inspection
Managing Asset Transfers: Negotiating the Deal and Minimizing Risk
Managing Fired Furnace Tubes in Refineries
Navigating ASME Section VIII (Div.1): Managing Your Pressure Vessels
New Standards for Quality Control and Assurance of Bolted Flanges
2014 Inspectioneering Journal Article Index
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March/April 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Hugo Julien, P.E. at GCM Consultants, and Guy St-Arneault, P.E. at GCM Consultants
Since important decisions will be based on the results of the fitness-for-service (FFS) determination, you need to be sure that you have a strong FFS team. But what are the key ingredients of a good FFS team? This article provides some guidelines to help you answer this question.
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January/February 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Marc McConnell, P.E. at Pro-Surve Technical Services, Josh Yoakam at Holly Refining and Marketing - Tulsa, LLC, and Frank Dean at Ion Science, Ltd.This is the second of two articles published in Inspectioneering Journal discussing the value of hydrogen bake-outs. Our first article was published in the May/June 2013 issue and received a great response from the Inspectioneering community. In this piece, we will continue the discussion and touch on some new technologies used to enhance the bake-out process.
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March/April 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Bobby Wright, P.E. at Becht Engineering, and Ralph E. King P.E. at Stress Engineering Services Inc.
Recently, Inspectioneering Journal sat down with Stress Engineering’s Bobby Wright and Ralph King to discuss how companies can better transfer and preserve industry knowledge.
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A New Method for Prioritizing Equipment in HTHA Service for Inspection & Replacement and the Challenges in Obtaining Process Conditions to be Used in the HTHA Assessment
November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Gerrit M. Buchheim, P.E. at Becht Engineering Co., Inc.This article provides background on HTHA, discusses some current developments in HTHA inspection and mitigation, and describes how one refiner is instituting an HTHA risk management plan for its refineries along with challenges they have encountered.
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July/August 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Scott Corey at Sentinel Integrity Solutions Inc.In this issue of Inspectioneering Journal, I detail a roadmap for inspection activities during turnaround executions. This roadmap includes the critical elements of turnaround inspections, the keys to optimizing inspection activities, and the emerging challenges and solutions during these projects.
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March/April 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Scott Corey at Sentinel Integrity Solutions Inc.Periodically, oil refinery and petrochemical plant operating companies conduct complex turnarounds for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to, scheduled maintenance, facility upgrades, and code compliance. In this series of articles published in Inspectioneering Journal, I will begin by detailing a roadmap for pre-turnaround inspection planning activities.
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Scott Corey at Sentinel Integrity Solutions Inc.
One of the major challenges inspectors and plant operators face after each turnaround is to ensure that all repair and scope work is and was completed in accordance with the client’s requirements. Sometimes that verification will be to ensure work was completed in conjunction with the applicable codes, and sometimes that it was completed in conjunction with the client’s own in-house specifications.
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Abnormal Cracks Led to Premature Decommissioning of Boiler Feed Water Exchanger – What Happened and Why?
September/October 2014 Inspectioneering JournalA small leak from top tubesheet-to-tube welds prompted further inspection of the 1¼Cr- ½Mo Ammonia Converter Boiler Feed Water (BFW) Exchanger during a planned shutdown. Further cracks were identified in the top channel to tubesheet butt weld that operated at 700 °F.
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July/August 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Jeremiah Wooten at Inspectioneering, LLC.The Province of Alberta has a long history of pressure equipment safety dating back to 1897 when the first boiler laws were introduced to regulate the new technology of steam boilers. Boiler inspectors were hired, and soon thereafter the Alberta Boilers Branch was established as the government organization that administered those laws.
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Partner ContentFFS assessment techniques are applicable to a wide range of damage types: LTA's, cracks, creep damage, dents, and more. These are very powerful analytical tools that often allow operators to not only keep the plant running, but to keep it running safely.
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September/October 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Tim Hill at Quest Integrity GroupFor the past 30 years, infrared (IR) thermometry has been used to monitor tube metal temperatures in refining and chemical furnaces. Tracking temperature levels and variations determine performance capability limits and reliable tube life. However, the application of IR thermometry has often been characterized as highly operator dependent, which can result in less-than-optimal data accuracy as a consequence of poorly applied and interpreted results.
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March/April 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Phil Smith at Chevron
The rules and regulations applying to U.S states, cities and Canadian provinces and territories concerning piping, pressure vessel and storage tank inspection can be described as "a coat of many colors," and are meant to represent continuous improvement over time. This table provides some information that will hopefully be useful to you regarding the level of acceptance of API 510 by the state, city, province and territorial authorities.
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May/June 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Sergio Oliva at Wild Well ControlAn adequate characterization of the Keystone XL special conditions from the perspective of pipeline integrity and risk would be advantageous from the system onset for identifying latent flaws in the system spill prevention plans.
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July/August 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy A.C. Gysbers at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc.One of the more common inspection monitoring programs for pressure vessels is to perform thickness measurement at Corrosion Monitoring Locations (CMLs) to allow monitoring of minimum thicknesses and provide estimates for corrosion rates. These minimum thicknesses and corrosion rates are critical in supporting risk based inspection techniques or in setting half-life prescriptive re-inspection intervals.
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January/February 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Mike Urzendowski at Valero EnergyThe intent of these two articles is to share lessons learned from recent experiences setting up a comprehensive HTHA review process across multiple refineries, and to help other operators define and mitigate the HTHA risk to an acceptable level.
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March/April 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Neil Ferguson at HydratightJoint integrity programs (JIP) should be an integral part of every refinery, petrochemical, production, or other industrial-complex facility operations.
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March/April 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Jeremiah Wooten at Inspectioneering, LLC.
Inspectioneering is pleased to announce that our friend, colleague, author and industry leader, Clay White, has recently taken over as chair of API’s Subcommittee on Inspection (SCI).
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January/February 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Bob Lasser at Imperium, Inc., and Daniel Oehl at Imperium, Inc.Technicians inspecting oil & gas installations and petrochemical plants employ a wide variety of nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques. A new technology has recently been developed that utilizes a real-time portable imaging device which has distinct advantages in finding internal corrosion.
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July/August 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Brian J. Fitzgerald at Stress Engineering ServicesAs any refining or petrochemical plant manager knows, corrosion can occur on insulated piping at any facility, and is particularly difficult to prevent, track, and mitigate. Corrosion under insulation (CUI) has been a major challenge for the petrochemical and refining industries since the first pipelines were insulated with wrappings.
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Partner ContentIf you are developing a mechanical integrity program, or you would like to optimize your existing mechanical integrity program, do you have qualified MI consultants to meet your regulatory needs? If you already have a sound, defensible MI inspection system in place, do you have qualified and experienced personnel maintaining your program?
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May/June 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Fernando Vicente at ABBEnsuring the integrity of process piping systems in the Oil & Gas industry (specifically those related to the ASME Code B31.3) is a key issue with respect to the process, business, safety, and the environment. However, in the current cost reduction environment, some companies are adopting a very risky strategy for piping systems where maintenance and inspection tasks are reduced and eliminated indiscriminately, without considering the relative importance of piping for the process.
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January/February 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Jason C. Shankle at United Dynamics CorporationUAS (Unmanned Arial System) drone technology has numerous applications, including anything at elevated heights or where human access and/or occupancy are prohibited, or in the case of confined spaces, limited.
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Dr. Noam Amir at AcousticEyeTube and shell heat exchangers are required to operate continuously in tough conditions for years, coping with thermal cycling, corrosive fluids on the tube and shell side, vibration and fouling of many different types, all collaborating towards degrading the performance of the unit and causing its eventual failure.
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Kelsey Hevner at Quest Integrity GroupSteam reformers are critical assets for the successful operation of hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol plants. The steam reformer is also one of the most expensive assets in these facilities. Catalyst tubes inside the reformer are one of the most important and costly components.
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May/June 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Luciano Narcisi at GIEAs an RBI consultant, I frequently get involved in discussions spawned from a misunderstanding of the relation between Risk Based Inspection (RBI) approaches and Fitness for Service (FFS) assessments. Questions like: If thickness is below the minimum required by design, why does the risk stay so low?
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May/June 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Jeremiah Wooten at Inspectioneering, LLC.The following interview with Rich Roberts provides answers to some of the questions our readers have about small, specially designed pigs carrying NDE technologies that can inspect nearly every area of a tube from the coils interior surface.
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Partner ContentAuto-refrigeration can impose low temperatures onto process vessels and piping causing them to be at risk of brittle fracture, the sudden break-before leak phenomena that can result in catastrophic rupture of the equipment.
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May/June 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Kelly Lagana at BLRSeveral catastrophic spills over the past few years have sparked significant interest in oil spill prevention across the industry. Not only do facilities with large amounts of oil want to prevent environmental damage, loss of product, and civil lawsuits, but, assuming their operations are based in the United States, they must also comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations.
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March/April 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Gerrit M. Buchheim, P.E. at Becht Engineering Co., Inc., Marc McConnell, P.E. at Pro-Surve Technical Services, and Josh Yoakam at Holly Refining and Marketing - Tulsa, LLCHigh temperature sulfidation is probably the most well- known corrosion mechanism in the oil refining industry because it occurs in large sections of the refinery.
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July/August 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Marc Laplante at Meridium
One of the more popular topics discussed and debated vigorously in the asset management community is the potential impact of the ISO 55000 series of standards, which was just released in January of 2014 and is the first set of international standards addressing asset management.
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal, and Michael O. Nichols at Marathon Petroleum CompanyKey Performance Indicators or KPIs are important for businesses to track measurable progress, or a lack thereof, as compared to pre-defined goals or benchmarks. For those of us in the inspection, fixed equipment reliability world, the same holds true. Often the efficacy of our inspection programs is measured against such goals.
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September/October 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Layne Tucker at EchoRFID, and Peter Forster at ProStarRecently developed RFID best practices provide an opportunity for pipeline businesses to transform their asset management and pipeline integrity management processes away from traditional paper-based systems to more efficient, highly-integrated electronic data solutions.
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March/April 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Brandon M. Watson, Esq. at GableGotwalsThis follow-up article compliments the one published in the last issue by focusing on the techniques routinely employed by Buyers in the purchase of complex oil and gas assets, paying special attention to three sections found in most asset purchase agreements.
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January/February 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Brandon M. Watson, Esq. at GableGotwals
Inspectioneering Journal is focused on informing its readers of innovative and trailblazing trends in day-to-day asset integrity management and asset risk reduction activities. How does an entity best manage risk, however, when purchasing or selling an asset - an event that sets in motion (or halts) the day-to-day operational activities?
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January/February 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Antonio Seijas at Phillips 66 CompanyFired furnaces in the petrochemical and refining industry are critical pieces of equipment that can have a major impact on process unit safety, reliability, and economics. They are complex pieces of equipment, where tubes and other pressure boundary components might fail due to relatively short periods of upset conditions.
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May/June 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Hugo Julien, P.E. at GCM Consultants, Serge Bisson at GCM Consultants, and Guy St-Arneault, P.E. at GCM Consultants
Inspections, repairs, modifications, or Fitness-For-Service (FFS) assessments on an old, unfired ASME Section VIII (Div. 1) pressure vessel - Which ASME Section VIII (Div. 1) Code Edition should you use?
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January/February 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Hugo Julien, P.E. at GCM Consultants, Serge Bisson at GCM Consultants, and Guy St-Arneault, P.E. at GCM ConsultantsInspections, repairs, modifications, or Fitness-For-Service (FFS) assessments on an old, unfired ASME Section VIII (Div. 1) pressure vessel - Which ASME Section VIII (Div. 1) Code Edition should you use?
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March/April 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Ron Maurier at Quest Integrity Group, LLC, and Dan Revelle, Sr. at Quest Integrity Group, LLCNew inline inspections and integrity management systems allow operators to understand the complexities and economics of terminals’ and station’s complex aging pipeline infrastructure.
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January/February 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Neil Ferguson at HydratightIf necessity is the mother of invention, then the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are the parents of guidelines, standards, and regulations that help keep industrial operations safe for humans and the environment.
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July/August 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Nicolas Legregeois at Bureau VeritasMore than 170 FPSOs currently operate worldwide with more expected to go into service over the next few years. The challenging environment in which these complex offshore energy assets operate requires safe and reliable systems that ensure continued production. Instituting appropriate independent inspection and certification regimens protects the substantial investment these vessels represent.
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Marc McConnell, P.E. at Pro-Surve Technical Services, Josh Yoakam at Holly Refining and Marketing - Tulsa, LLC, and Jeannie Beth Richey at Sasol North America, Inc.The role of an API inspector is rapidly changing. Necessary skills for success have transformed as technology, standardization, and regulations have become part of the way of life.
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Rajesh Bose at BP, and Terry M. Webb at BPThe introduction of PAUT is a challenging effort initially, but can have a very positive impact on your first TAR and become a routine inspection for future TARs. When fully implemented, radiation safety boundaries can be reduced significantly or eliminated altogether.
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September/October 2014 Inspectioneering JournalMaintaining mechanical integrity for aging power boilers can be challenging. This article provides a case study on how mitigating one damage mechanism led to the discovery of another, and how refinery engineers collaborated with industry experts to fully understand an unfamiliar damage mechanism and perform a fitness for service assessment for the safe and reliable operation of power boilers.
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July/August 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Marc McConnell, P.E. at Pro-Surve Technical Services, David Jordan at CVR Energy, and Grady Hatton at Versa Integrity GroupOne difficulty new company inspectors typically have is becoming comfortable in their new role. This is due to the fact that they have received little guidance about where they fit in with the "team." Where are they on the organization chart?
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September/October 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Tiratsoo at Pipelines InternationalThe pigging industry has developed a tremendous range of techniques and technologies, and it is probably fair to say that there are few pipelines in the world that cannot be cleaned and inspected, although the success of such operations will often depend on the available budget.
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May/June 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Neil Ferguson at HydratightIn November 2013, ASME released its updated PCC-1 guidelines for pressure boundary bolted flange joint assemblies. Contained within the document is Appendix A, which represents a major change from the previous 2010 release and is considered to be one of the most critically important changes for BFJA technicians, operators, and other industry professionals.
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Alphonse W. Hegger Jr., P.E. at Stress Engineering Services
Today, more than ever, refinery operators are focused on maintaining safe operations for their employees and extending the life cycle of valuable operating equipment to optimize efficiencies and avoid expensive unforeseen shutdowns. When process unit corrosion assessments, RBI methodologies, and IOWs are properly integrated into refining operations, the result is improved safety and longer run times.
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July/August 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Jerry Crawford at TGC EngineersPiper Alpha is an offshore oil and gas platform that suffered an explosion in July 1988, still regarded as the worst offshore oil disaster in the history of the United Kingdom. The 25th anniversary of the disaster was commemorated across the country in July of 2013. The accident killed 165 out of 220 crew members, plus two crew from the standby vessel Sandhaven.
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May/June 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at IntertekThere are typically three tiers to pass through for most fixed equipment mechanical integrity (FEMI) programs before they reach excellence in FEMI. In my 45 years in the FEMI business, I have observed FEMI programs in all three tiers (phases).
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September/October 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at IntertekBased on my 45+ years of experience working with fixed equipment mechanical integrity (FEMI) issues in the refining and petrochemical processing industry, this article summarizes what I believe are the top 10 reasons why pressure vessels and piping systems continue to fail, thus causing significant process safety events (e.g. explosions, fires, toxic releases, environmental damage, etc.).
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at IntertekBased on my 45+ years of experience working with fixed equipment mechanical integrity (FEMI) issues in the refining and petrochemical processing industry, this article summarizes what I believe are the top 10 reasons why pressure vessels and piping systems continue to fail, thus causing significant process safety events (e.g. explosions, fires, toxic releases, environmental damage, etc.).
