API 579-1 / ASME FFS-1, Fitness-For-Service, Third Edition, is a standard developed and published by the American Petroleum Institute (API) that describes several fitness-for-service (FFS) assessment techniques for pressurized equipment used in the oil & gas, petrochemical, and chemical industries. The latest edition was published in June of 2016.
API 579 gives procedures for performing proper fitness for service evaluations and ensuring the safe and reliable operation of older plants and existing facilities. This standard contains numerous sections on assessment procedures for calculating the impact of damage mechanisms such as brittle fracture, general metal loss and local metal loss, pitting corrosion, blisters and laminations, weld misalignment and shell distortion, crack-like flaws, creep damage, and fire damage.
This standard has procedures for several different types of equipment that may contain flaws or damage. These include the evaluation and rerating of pressure vessels designed based on the the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, and piping systems that were constructed to either the ASME B31.3 Piping Code or those constructed under API 650 and 620, along with pressure containing equipment constructed to any other codes that are recognized in the publication. The assessments laid out in this RP can provide information on the current state of damage, as well as offer an estimate for the projected remaining life.
API 579 also has appendices on several other important topics, such as equations for determining MAWP, thickness, and stress in components, methods of stress analysis for Level 2 and Level 3 FFS assessments, a compendium of stress intensity solutions, guidance on material properties, failure modes and damage mechanisms, validation of assessment procedures, and information on submitting technical inquiries to API, among other things.
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September/October 2018 Inspectioneering Journal
By Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
In this column, I touch on what I see as an underused FFS technique for corrosion assessment: point assessment of corrosion – a technique that does NOT require a thickness grid. The reason I find this technique useful is largely because it’s so easy and cheap to implement. |
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July/August 2018 Inspectioneering Journal
By Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
API 579-1 is a complex document covering several different types of equipment that may contain flaws or damage. Due to its complexity, this article condenses it into six things you need to know. |
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May/June 2002 Inspectioneering Journal
By Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal, and C.P. Hsiao
We have discussed various factors that can affect the reliability of NDE techniques (i.e., probability of detection - POD and sizing accuracy) in Part 1. In general, it is difficult to quantify these uncertainties. In fact, it is impossible to fully quantify the uncertainties in NDE results. However, one can achieve a higher level of reliability by reducing or minimizing the uncertainties. We will discuss some of the steps one can take to minimize the uncertainties in NDE results. By minimizing or reducing the uncertainties in NDE results, FFS assessments can be less conservative, and thus provide more margin to the serviceability of the equipment. |
Stress Engineering Services is an independent, employee-owned consulting engineering firm committed to engineering problem solving. With years of experience in refineries, power stations, chemical plants and pipelines, our focus is on providing engineering solutions to improve plant and refinery on-stream efficiency, safety, and reliability.
Stress Engineering Services is an independent, employee-owned consulting engineering firm committed to engineering problem solving. With years of experience in refineries, power stations, chemical plants and pipelines, our focus is on providing engineering solutions to improve plant and refinery on-stream efficiency, safety, and reliability.
Pro-Surve Technical with subsidiaries ProSource Radiography and ProForce Industrial are an integrated inspection, NDT, reliability engineering, Data management and project controls service provider assisting clients across CapEx/OpEx budgeted projects processes. We concentrate on solutions provided by the integration of engineering and inspection.
Pro-Surve Technical with subsidiaries ProSource Radiography and ProForce Industrial are an integrated inspection, NDT, reliability engineering, Data management and project controls service provider assisting clients across CapEx/OpEx budgeted projects processes. We concentrate on solutions provided by the integration of engineering and inspection.
Quest Integrity Group is a global leader in the development and delivery of asset integrity management and asset reliability solutions for our clients in the refining and chemical, pipeline, syngas and power industries. Our services include furnace tube inspection for the refining and chemical industries, in-line inspection for the pipeline industry, steam reformer tube inspection for the syngas industry, as well as fitness-for-service assessment, remaining life assessment, structural integrity, failure analysis and materials consulting for various industries including the power industry. We specialize in condition assessment for fired heater coils, unpiggable pipelines, steam reformer tubes, storage tanks, gas turbines and other assets.
Quest Integrity Group is a global leader in the development and delivery of asset integrity management and asset reliability solutions for our clients in the refining and chemical, pipeline, syngas and power industries. Our services include furnace tube inspection for the refining and chemical industries, in-line inspection for the pipeline industry, steam reformer tube inspection for the syngas industry, as well as fitness-for-service assessment, remaining life assessment, structural integrity, failure analysis and materials consulting for various industries including the power industry. We specialize in condition assessment for fired heater coils, unpiggable pipelines, steam reformer tubes, storage tanks, gas turbines and other assets.
Versa Integrity Group, Inc. is a full service inspection, maintenance, and engineering company serving the oil refining, chemical processing, and offshore industries. Versa possesses over 70 years of NDE inspection, engineering and rope access experience and provides its customers access to a total of more than 400 engineers, API inspectors, rope access climbers and NDE technicians. Like many companies, Versa has the tools to get the job done; what separates Versa from the rest of the pack is their commitment to professionalism, integrity, and above all else, customer service.
Versa Integrity Group, Inc. is a full service inspection, maintenance, and engineering company serving the oil refining, chemical processing, and offshore industries. Versa possesses over 70 years of NDE inspection, engineering and rope access experience and provides its customers access to a total of more than 400 engineers, API inspectors, rope access climbers and NDE technicians. Like many companies, Versa has the tools to get the job done; what separates Versa from the rest of the pack is their commitment to professionalism, integrity, and above all else, customer service.
