Data Management
Data Management refers to the process of collecting and organizing data in a way that makes it useful and easy to retrieve, navigate, and read at a later date. Over the course of a single day, the average facility will generate immense amounts of data. This data includes things such as pressure, flow, and conditions of various pieces of equipment such as pipelines, valves, and pressure vessels.
Data management can be a complex process. This is because data can come from numerous incompatible sources, with different levels of completeness and complexity. Getting these distinct sources of data to all mesh together can be difficult. Although the process can be made a bit easier with the use of a good data management system.
Proper data management is incredibly important for effective Asset Integrity Management programs.
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BlogJune 14, 2017 By Ken Latino at GE Digital
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has created immense excitement and promise for industrial facilities. Having connected assets that continuously monitor their own health and feed that information back in a way that is timely and actionable will drive business outcomes and help organizations achieve loftier goals. The challenge today is that many of our assets are not yet “connected” or “intelligent,” meaning that they are not yet outfitted with the health monitoring instrumentation that...
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March/April 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
Inspectioneering Founder and Chief Editor, Greg Alvarado, recently had the privilege to sit down with Clay White, Director of Mechanical Integrity for Phillips 66 (Downstream), to discuss the world of fixed equipment reliability in the refining and petrochemical industry.
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January/February 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy David Aldrich at North Highland, and Teri Mendelovitz at North Highland
This article covers where to start, what to look for, and how to execute a data and systems-focused performance improvement project that can drive large overhead savings.
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January/February 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Justin Nickel at PK Technologies
Today’s intelligent technology can provide is interoperability, mobile data collection, cascading questions, picture referencing, photo annotation, data funneling and cost savings. Take a closer look at some of the benefits intelligent technology can provide.
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Online Article
It is a commonly held belief with oil & gas (O&G), oil sands, and pipeline projects that material test reports (MTRs) are always required for turnover to the owner-user, but that is untrue. In this article I will describe what MTRs are, how these are used during manufacturing, and when these are mandatory for turnover in the manufacturing record book (MRB) or vendor data book (VDB) to the owner-user for retention as a permanent record. I will give specific examples from relevant Acts, Codes, Regulations, and Standards to prove that MTR turnover to the owner-user is usually not required and provide examples to clearly demonstrate how this increases costs but does not add value. I will also describe why this is a much bigger problem than wasted paper and recommend best practices that are easily implemented. With this information, projects and owner-users can reduce costs and eliminate headaches, while still maintaining all of their quality and technical requirements.
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May/June 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Jeffrey Foushee at Pinnacle Advanced Reliability Technologies, and Ryan Myers at PinnacleART
Data, in pure form, consists of raw, unorganized facts that need to be processed. Data can be found in databases, documents, drawings, reports, spreadsheets, and numerous other sources. Having data on hand is useful, however, it’s often inefficient and counterproductive to make decisions based on data in its raw form.
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March/April 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek, and Mark Bell at Ethos Mechanical Integrity Solutions
We have seen many different inspection recommendation management systems. Most of them struggle to effectively manage all inspection recommendations. However, a few of them are excellent. What makes an effective system?
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March/April 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Fletcher at North Highland Worldwide Consulting, and Josh Arceneaux at North Highland Worldwide Consulting
It is estimated that there have been more than 250,000 layoffs in the oil and gas industry since the price of oil began to drop precipitously in late 2014. With oil not expected to rebound significantly for at least the next year or so, we should be ready for even more workforce reductions. In addition, there is the ongoing reality of baby boomers retiring from the workplace – also known as the impending shift or crew change.
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January/February 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Barbara Lasseigne at Envoc
You probably already know that inspection apps for tablets and smart phones exist, and have notions of how these technologies can improve efficiencies in the field and beyond.
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January/February 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Grady Hatton at Versa Integrity Group, Donald Brou at Capitol Ultrasonics, and Joe Nichols at Valero Energy
When heading down the path of becoming an inspection professional, it’s helpful to understand the characteristics that truly make someone an outstanding inspector.
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Partner Content
Our proprietary furnace tube inspection system, FTIS™, is an ultrasonic inspection technology capable of rapid, automated fired heater coil inspection in refinery fired heaters. The data captured by our furnace tube inspection system is exceptionally powerful when combined with our LifeQuest™ remaining life assessment capabilities, providing an integrated solution set for refinery fired heaters in the refining and chemical industries.
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January/February 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
The enormous decline in oil prices over the past 14 months has definitely slowed projects and changed the energy and production landscape. Despite this, refineries, petrochemical plants, and chemical facilities must continue to run safely, responsibly, and reliably.
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November/December 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Mike Brown at Sentinel Integrity Solutions
It is often best to rely on properly trained and experienced inspection service providers to determine the proper method for any inspection project. Thus, inspection companies can suggest utilizing the most effective and efficient inspection techniques that will result in the highest probability of detection (POD), while potentially saving the facility operators’ time, effort, and capital.
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September/October 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy A.C. Gysbers at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc.
This article addresses a debate mechanical integrity professionals in the O&G and Chemical Processing industries periodically have about how thickness data gathered during a thickness monitoring inspection (TMI) should be recorded.
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May/June 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Dylan Schrader at PinnacleART, Tom Pickthall at EnhanceCo Inc., and Carlos A. Palacios at CiMA-TQ
Pipeline integrity is critical to ensure maintenance and operational efficiency; however it is becoming an increasingly challenging task for the energy industry. Maintenance managers and inspectors must make sure their pipeline(s) and its associated equipment meet strict integrity requirements and comply with regulations in order to avoid unnecessary downtime and mitigate safety and environmental risks.
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May/June 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Mauricio Palomino at GE Oil & Gas, Measurement & Control Business
Machine-to-Machine connectivity combined with advanced computing capabilities and industry-focused software enable a wide range of new capabilities. From smart homes controlled over the internet, to smart electric grids with smart meters, sensors and controls that continually monitor the performance of electric distribution and can self-adjust to demand and outage conditions to optimize uptime across the whole network or a combination of networks, the Industrial Internet has opened the door to a new era of efficiency, productivity, and safety for the industrial world.
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May/June 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Barbara Lasseigne at Envoc
While performing visual inspections with a pen and notepad is the traditional way to record data, there are now more efficient ways to complete inspections out in the field. Investing in a mobile inspection application can be a great way to save time, reduce cost, and improve safety over traditional methods.
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BlogJune 8, 2015 By John Reynolds at Intertek
There should be a policy in place and enforced by management at each operating site of not allowing equipment and repair recommendations to become overdue for inspection and handling. Such a practice goes a long way toward increasing the credibility of the inspection efforts at each operating site, as well sending the message that FEMI is just as important as other plant priorities. Of course, in order to get to that point, inspection scheduling, data quality, data analysis, and...
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January/February 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Pamela Hamblin at Thielsch Engineering, Inc.
Avoiding cracking under pressure when managing high-energy piping systems is common subject matter in the power industry. Just as high-energy piping can give way to pressure, stress and fatigue, so can the people in charge of operating them when trying to determine what to inspect, where to inspect, and what to do with those inspection results once they have them.
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November/December 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Based 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 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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September/October 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Layne Tucker at EchoRFID, and Peter Forster at ProStar
Recently 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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BlogOctober 28, 2013 By John Reynolds at Intertek
Today’s blog post is a continuation on the 10 essential Management Systems needed for an effective PEI program that can achieve excellence. My previous posts covered the first six of these, including LCM, Risk Assessment and Inspection, and Deterioration Management and Control, among others.
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May/June 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy A.C. Gysbers at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc.
Piping failures still represent a frustrating and ongoing problem for processing plants. Failures are still commonly reported and contribute to large losses. In the author’s experience, piping represents the highest percentage of fixed equipment failures in petroleum refining.
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January/February 2012 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Clearly, record-keeping and data management have a major role in achieving excellence in pressure equipment integrity and reliability (PEI&R). Everything else we do to achieve excellence in PEI&R stems from keeping high quality and complete PEI&R records, as well as doing all the necessary data analysis.
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July/August 2010 Inspectioneering JournalBy Craig Emslie BSc at Sonomatic Ltd., and Karen Gibson at Sonomatic Ltd.
Inspection intervals for equipment have in the past been defined in a prescriptive manner. However, industry is now embracing the Risk Based Inspection (RBI) approach which in contrast prioritises inspections based on an assessment of the risk to each individual item.
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Partner Content
Industrial Rope Access is a proven method of achieving a safe work position at elevated heights or areas that are difficult to access. When combined with advanced NDE technologies, rope access technicians can substantially reduce the cost of inspections and maintenance activities by virtually eliminating the need for fixed scaffolding.
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November/December 2007 Inspectioneering JournalBy Mark Vining at Sunoco Inc.
Facilities are often content in compiling event data, entering thickness measurements, assigning a system description, tracking work requests and recommendations in their databases. These are certainly valuable data points but using your database for performing just these tasks relegates a valuable resource to nothing more than a ledger of inspection events. The value of these systems becomes more apparent when they are utilized to show you where you should be inspecting.
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July/August 2006 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
The Shell Martinez Refinery has been in operation since 1915, and is located 30 miles northeast of San Francisco on about 1,000 acres of land. The refinery combines state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to convert approximately 165,000 barrels of crude oil a day into many products including automotive gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, petroleum coke, industrial fuel oils, liquefied petroleum gas, asphalt, sulfur, and lubricants. The Shell Martinez Refinery has grown into a sprawling yet efficient assemblage of sophisticated processing equipment; modern control rooms; environmental protection facilities; shipping and receiving terminals for marine, rail, and truck cargoes; maintenance shops; office buildings; quality assurance laboratories; storage tanks; and warehouses. In some ways it resembles a small city with its own utilities, medical facilities, and fire department.
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January/February 2006 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
The deadline for submission will be extended through the end of 2006 and we will update and report on the results at least one additional time through year’s end.
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March/April 2004 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
Data management is an important issue in today's world. We have data all over the place. Every manager is looking for ways to migrate data from platform to platform to save on the cost of re-gathering data and ways to share output from various platforms to better schedule and coordinate activities.
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September/October 2000 Inspectioneering JournalBy Russel T. Mack at National Association of Inspection Companies (NAIC)
In part 1 of this article we covered the importance of quality assurance of UT data, that is, understanding for each particular application, the accuracy required of the UT data, and new ways/graphical program to analyze and show the interrelationships of data by location for trending. Part 1 article areas then included: -UT Data Reporting and Evaluation -Imaging UT Data Evaluating the Quality of Static UT Data -Visual Trending of UT data -Mathematical Trending of UT Data Now, in Part 2, we will cover data quality issue statistics and possible sources of poor quality UT data.
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Partner Content
InVista is a lightweight, hand-held ultrasonic in-line inspection tool (intelligent pig) capable of detecting pipeline wall loss and corrosion in unpiggable or difficult-to-inspect pipelines. The pipeline geometry inspection data captured by the InVista tool is exceptionally powerful when combined with the LifeQuest™ Pipeline fitness-for-service capabilities, providing an integrated solution set for the pipeline industry.
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September/October 1998 Inspectioneering JournalBy Bernie Weber at Det Norske Veritas
Quality failure rate data have long been needed by the Chemical Process Industry. Unfortunately, the emphasis too often has been on the collection of data rather than on its uses . One must answer the question of what to do with the data once it has been collected. The type of information that would allow more effective continuous improvement is often collected without any real thought other than, "sounds like we should have it," or "we might need it someday." Data collection is typically driven by perceived data requirements, regulatory requirements, and data that make day-to-day work assignments more efficient or provide proof of work performed.
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March/April 1998 Inspectioneering JournalBy Mark Bell at Ethos Mechanical Integrity Solutions
In Part 1 of my article that appeared in the previous edition of the IJ, I focused on several issues that are vital to the successful application of any inspection information management system. In Part 2 of my article, I will concentrate on several additional important issues.
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January/February 1998 Inspectioneering JournalBy Mark Bell at Ethos Mechanical Integrity Solutions
Inspection record systems, used to be just that, a place to "record" data. Our industry has spent many millions of dollars collection data to put into our "record" systems. The problem was trying to manage and utilize the millions of pieces of information (not being a computer type, a piece of information to me is a piece of information, not a Byte). A statistician with my company recently compared our management of information with trying to get a drink of water from a fire water hose. The information is there, but good luck trying to use it.
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September/October 1997 Inspectioneering JournalBy Michael Twomey at CONAM Inspection Inc., and Jay N. Rothbart at Conam Inspection Inc.
This task though tedious and exasperating is a key part of the operation. Plant personnel often find ingenious uses and filing systems for key data such as UW 1 forms. The more remote the plant site is, the more extraordinary the hiding places. In addition, the adage "garbage in = garbage out" keenly applies. To avoid this concern, it is vital to quality assurance check the data prior to input.
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July/August 1997 Inspectioneering JournalBy Michael Twomey at CONAM Inspection Inc., and Jay N. Rothbart at Conam Inspection Inc.
Regulatory requirements such as OSHA 1910, industry codes and practices coupled with an international drive for more cost-effective preventative maintenance are leading the industry toward data information management systems to assist in organizing and prioritizing preventive maintenance strategies. This shift coincides with the movement toward a risk-based inspection approach to plant condition management. This approach ranks units or individual equipment according to criticality or risk, allowing inspection efforts to be focused where they can have the greatest effect in risk reduction. There are a number of points to bear in mind when planning to implement a plant condition management system.
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March/April 1997 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
This is the second in a series of articles on piping inspection. In the last article, I enumerated four inspection issues that I believe contribute to inadequate piping mechanical integrity in the hydrocarbon process industry.
