Integripedia Topic
Fitness For Service (FFS)
Fitness for Service (FFS) is a best practice and standard used by the oil & gas and chemical process industries for in-service equipment to determine its fitness for continued service. FFS serves as a rational basis for defining flaw acceptance limits and allows engineers to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable flaws and damage based on industry recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices (RAGAGEP).
The FFS of any particular material is determined by performing a fitness-for-service assessment per standardized methods and criteria. Performing accurate FFS evaluations is an integral aspect of fixed equipment asset integrity management as an alternative to using the original construction design code. The FFS of a piece of equipment may be viewed both in terms of current and future FFS or remaining life.
Most equipment can continue in service despite small flaws, and to repair or replace equipment that can still be used would be an unnecessary and costly expense. In addition, unnecessary weld repairs can do more harm than good and create unnecessary risks to personnel in many cases.
API RP 579-1/ASME FFS-1, Fitness-For-Service is one example of a FFS methodology currently used by industry professionals. In general, most FFS assessment standards are broken into multiple levels. Each successive level (e.g., Levels 1, 2 and 3 of the referenced API 579-1/ASSME FFS-1 standard) requires increasing amounts of data, calculations, effort, and cost to arrive at the most accurate outcomes and possible longer equipment remnant life. In addition to calculations, FFS involves the consideration of additional data (e.g. pitting patterns and depths, corrosion morphology or shape and depth, crack depths and lengths, operating conditions, materials properties, etc.). Inspection information is often critical input to a FFS assessment.
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May/June 2021 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
This article addresses some of the advantages and disadvantages of acoustic emission testing and discusses a few examples of its typical applications.
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May/June 2021 Inspectioneering JournalBy Phillip E. Prueter at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc.
In this article, FFS assessment methods are summarized and practical guidance is offered for qualifying CUI damage on carbon and low-alloy steels.
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March/April 2021 Inspectioneering JournalBy Dr. Rob Kulka at TWI Ltd
Globally accepted FFS procedures for non-metallic components, such as reinforced thermoplastic pipes, do not exist. There may be opportunity in adapting existing procedures for metallic components and their damage mechanisms to composite components.
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March/April 2021 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
FFS assessments usually originate from inspection results and often end with a recommended inspection plan. This FFS Forum tries to provide a little better understanding of one particular inspection method: Acoustic Emission Testing.
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FFS Forum: Using Fracture Mechanics to Lower Risk and Improve Plant Reliability - Part 3, Practical ApplicationsJanuary/February 2021 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
The first two parts of this series covered the basics of fracture mechanics and how the FAD is interpreted. This article touches on a few practical points regarding the application of fracture mechanics in a plant environment.
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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...
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January/February 2021 Inspectioneering JournalBy Phillip E. Prueter at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc.
Thermal fatigue, a specific form of fatigue driven by varying metal temperature gradients and ensuing differential thermal expansion, is generally most effectively mitigated by reducing the severity of metal temperature gradients.
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November/December 2020 Inspectioneering JournalBy Phillip E. Prueter at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc.
Conventionally, three primary fatigue analysis methods have been used to estimate fatigue life; these are the stress-life (S-N) approach, the strain-life (ε-N) approach, and the fracture mechanics (crack growth) approach.
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FFS Forum: Using Fracture Mechanics to Lower Risk and Improve Plant Reliability - Part 2, A Closer Look at the FADNovember/December 2020 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
Every fitness-for-service (FFS) assessment must have a well-defined acceptance criterion. For many damage mechanisms, it’s the “remaining strength factor” (RSF). But for crack-like flaw assessment, it’s the Failure Assessment Diagram, or FAD.
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FFS Forum: Using Fracture Mechanics to Lower Risk and Improve Plant Reliability - Part 1, Introduction to Fracture MechanicsSeptember/October 2020 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
Fracture mechanics is a branch of engineering that describes the behavior of cracks – how they grow and when they fracture. Fracture of cracks is particularly dangerous because it can happen without warning under normal operating conditions.
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July/August 2020 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
Assessment procedures in API 579 are organized by damage mechanism. But what happens when different damage mechanisms are in play since the evaluation criteria may not be compatible?
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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...
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May/June 2020 Inspectioneering JournalBy Phillip E. Prueter at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc., Brian R. Macejko, P.E. at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc., and Seetha Ramudu Kummari, Ph.D., P.E. at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc.
This article provides an overview of brittle fracture, details on several industry failures, and a summary of deficiencies and concerns with current published methods for screening susceptibility of equipment to potential brittle fracture failures.
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May/June 2020 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
There are many places where brittle fracture risk can sneak into your plant and many reasons why a new or revised brittle fracture assessment may be required when reviewing your pressure systems. Don’t overlook this dangerous failure mechanism.
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March/April 2020 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
FMR is a useful tool in many situations. It allows nondestructive evaluation of the surface microstructure that is entirely adequate in many cases. However, it is not a panacea, and there are many conditions where it is inadequate.
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January/February 2020 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
There are many sources and occurrences of metal fatigue in the chemical and refining industries. They range from low-cycle thermal stresses in an FCCU, to the relentless pressure cycling of a PSA, to the ultra-high cycles of a rotating pump.
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November/December 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
A cornerstone of Level 1 and 2 metal loss assessment methods in API 579 is the concept of measuring thickness on a grid and constructing a “critical thickness profile.” These concepts are fundamental to Level 1 & 2 assessments in both Parts 4...
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September/October 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
MSDs are an important, but often misunderstood, element of FFS analyses. This column will help readers understand what an MSD is and why it is so important to Fitness-For-Service analysis under API 579.
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FFS Forum: Creep in Heater Tubes and Other Components – Part II: Strategies for Evaluating & Managing Remaining LifeJuly/August 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
This is the second of a two-part column on “Creep.” This second part discusses the approach to creep assessment in plant equipment.
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BlogAugust 20, 2019 By John E. Bringas, P.Eng. at Codes and Standards Training Institute (CASTI), and Kimberley Meszaros, P.Eng. at Codes and Standards Training Institute (CASTI)
This blog article provides examples on addressing widely scattered pitting through the performance of a fitness-for-service assessment using the three conditions set out in the API 510 Pressure Vessel Inspection Code.
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May/June 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
This is the first of a two-part column on “Creep”. It presents an engineering overview of the phenomena, answers the question: “What is Creep?”, and provides readers with foundational knowledge for evaluating and managing remaining...
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March/April 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
Brittle fracture and material toughness issues are important concerns in equipment design and FFS. These issues increase when temporary start-up and shutdown conditions require more detailed assessments than provided for in vessel and piping codes.
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January/February 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
The distinction between primary and secondary loads is certainly important in analysis of pressure systems. But this distinction is also important for plant operations and reliability engineers to keep in mind when dealing with day-to-day problems.
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January/February 2019 Inspectioneering JournalBy Houssam Sabry at ADNOC LNG, and Asad Ali at ADNOC LNG
An effective RBI system implementation results in, not only safeguarding your assets & people, but can also reduce unnecessary inspection activities that may be required due to conventional & nonsystematic approaches.
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November/December 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
In this edition of the FFS Forum, Greg addresses some issues associated with inspection of vessels that have been in service for a number of decades, and offers some tips for reliability and inspection to follow when inspecting these older vessels.
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September/October 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy 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...
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July/August 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy 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 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Geoff Clarkson at UTComp, Inc.
With no industry consensus documents in existence that provide guidance for determining FFS of FRP, this article provides a case study that illustrates how an existing European design standard on GRP tanks can be used to calculate expected changes...
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May/June 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Dhananjay H. Rawal at Systech Consultancy Services
This article details the experience an oil company had when using FEA to evaluate the implications of a damaged pipeline. Specifically, it presents an efficient method that combines analytical techniques with FEA to determine the pipeline’s...
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Developing a Fitness for Service Approach for Reduced Toughness Carbon Steel Piping, Flanges & FittingsMay/June 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Ralph E. King P.E. at Stress Engineering Services Inc., John Norris, P.E. at Stress Engineering Services, Dr. Kannan Subramanian, Ph. D., P.E. at Stress Engineering Services Inc., and Daniel Ayewah, P.E. at Stress Engineering Services Inc.
There is concern in the industry over recent findings of reduced toughness fittings and flanges at risk of brittle fracture. This article provides an overview; possible contributors; measures taken to address; and a proposed FFS approach to address...
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March/April 2018 Inspectioneering JournalBy Simon Yuen, P.E. at Suncor Energy Inc., and Ken Gottselig at BP America Production Company
Hot spots – localized areas of overheating in pressure equipment – can lead to deformation or even loss of process containment. It is important to understand the effects of elevated temperature caused by hot spots on the mechanical integrity of...
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September/October 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Arun Sreeranganathan at Stress Engineering Services Inc., and John Norris, P.E. at Stress Engineering Services
Fired heaters are among the most critical equipment in refineries and chemical plants. This article provides an overview of what a fired heater tube mechanical integrity program should include.
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High Resolution Inspection Data and Advancements in Finite Element Analysis Make Level 3 FFS More AffordableSeptember/October 2017 Inspectioneering JournalBy Tyron Kimble at Sonomatic
Due to its high-cost, Level 3 FFS is typically carried out after Levels 1 or 2 and only in extreme cases. However, advancements in inspection technology and improved use of inspection data have made Level 3 analysis more practical and affordable,...
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November/December 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Nolan L. Miller at SASOL North America
This article will go through the methodology of each process that could be used in determining the structural component for the required pipe wall thickness, but will focus on the use of Beam Flexural Stress calculations and Beam Deflection...
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My Pipes are Corroding! When Should I Repair? Getting the Answers You Need for Maintaining Pipeline IntegrityNovember/December 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Michael Turnquist at Quest Integrity Group
This article exhibits how modern inspection methodologies combined with innovative computational analysis practices demonstrate the value of conducting fitness-for-service (FFS) assessments on sectional piping.
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May/June 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Douglas Marriott at Stress Engineering Services Inc., Shannon Read at Stress Engineering Services Inc., and Arun Sreeranganathan at Stress Engineering Services Inc.
Aging equipment, along with more aggressive service, makes it more important than ever to carry out fitness-for-service (FFS) assessments in support of run/repair/replace decisions. Testing material in the service-degraded condition enables...
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March/April 2016 Inspectioneering JournalBy Tim Hill at Quest Integrity Group
Achieving fired heater reliability in conjunction with meeting performance standards can be a challenging feat. Performance is a measure of the degree to which the fired heater is in an operable condition at any given time.
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High Temperature Hydrogen Attack (HTHA): Life Assessment Methods for Carbon Steel and Carbon 0.50% Mo MaterialsNovember/December 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Ralph E. King P.E. at Stress Engineering Services Inc., and Brian Olson at Stress Engineering Services Inc.
To ensure the mechanical integrity and fitness-for-service (FFS) of equipment, facility managers, reliability engineers, and inspection technicians must understand the HTHA damage mechanism.
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July/August 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
Asset managers need to know when repairs and replacement are required for many reasons, including safe operation, accurate budgeting, replacement planning, and on-going reliability. When predicting design life based on a simple, linear corrosion...
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In-Place Pipe Support Load Testing & Hanger Surveys – Part of a Best in Class Fitness-for-Service ProgramJuly/August 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy Joe Frey, PE at Stress Engineering, Inc., Lange Kimball at Stress Engineering Services, and Britt Bettell at Stress Engineering Services
This article introduces portions of a “Best-In-Class” Fitness-for-Service (FFS) program that includes the performance of regular visual inspections of pipe supports and hangers, coupled with in-situ load testing of suspect supports. This...
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May/June 2015 Inspectioneering JournalBy David A. Hunter at Neptune Research, Inc.
In recent years, the growing use of composite repair systems for the rehabilitation of piping systems in the refining and chemical industries has increased the need for associated technologies for their manufacturing, installation, and inspection....
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BlogMarch 16, 2015
For many years, it has been common practice in the petrochemical industry to use fitness-for-service (FFS) evaluations to determine whether or not a finding during an inspection would prevent a part from being able to be returned to service.
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BlogJanuary 5, 2015 By Jeremiah Wooten at Inspectioneering, LLC.
There are numerous benefits to adding fitness-for-service (FFS) assessments to energy sector reliability projects. The acceptance of API 579/ASME FFS-1 is increasing across the energy sector and other industries, as these benefits have been...
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BlogDecember 22, 2014 By Nick Schmoyer at Inspectioneering
One of Inspectioneering's most popular topics is Fitness for Service (FFS). This blog post will provide you with some highlights from some of our most popular articles related to FFS. It's only a small sample of what we offer, but it should still...
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May/June 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Luciano Narcisi at Stork AMT
As 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...
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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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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...
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January/February 2014 Inspectioneering JournalBy Antonio Seijas at Phillips 66 Company
Fired 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...
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November/December 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy Michael Turnquist at Quest Integrity Group
While there are many types of damage mechanisms that can occur in a piece of equipment, localized metal loss is one of the most common. If an inspection reveals that metal loss has occurred, many questions are raised...
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November/December 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy Ralph E. King P.E. at Stress Engineering Services Inc.
Auto-refrigeration is a process where an unintentional and/or uncontrolled phase change of a hydrocarbon from a liquid state to a vapor occurs, resulting in a very rapid chilling (refrigeration) of the liquid containing local equipment and/or...
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September/October 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy Joe Pikas at Technical Toolboxes
Even though oil and gas pipelines and their related facilities are generally safer for people and the environment compared to other means of transportation, occasional leaks and failures due to corrosion and other defects have become an issue in...
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BlogSeptember 9, 2013 By Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
We’ve been discussing Scalable Accuracy and its use related to Lifecycle Management technologies available to owner/operators. The last few topics have included Risk Based Inspection, Fitness for Service using Accuracy, the approach for Equipment...
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BlogAugust 26, 2013 By Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
This blog post continues our discussion from the previous posts on scalable accuracy. We started with a post outlining the steps prior to using scalable accuracy. Then we walked through the scalable accuracy approach to Fixed Equipment LCM. While I...
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BlogAugust 19, 2013 By Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
Continuing from last week’s blog, I want to go in depth into scalable accuracy for fixed equipment lifecycle management. In this post, I want to outline the scalable accuracy approach to fixed equipment lifecycle management.
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BlogAugust 12, 2013 By Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
In the next few blog posts, we will be going in depth on scalable accuracy. This post walks through the thinking needed prior to initiating. Then we will discuss two technologies immediately available to plant operators for fixed equipment...
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July/August 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy James R. Widrig at Quest Integrity
Inspection and fitness-for-service assessments of critical in-plant piping systems are a concern for the chemical industry. This presents a potentially insurmountable task and discovery of a number of areas where the condition is at risk.
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BlogApril 29, 2013 By Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
This is my second of three posts on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) based on requests and discussions on the issue.  In part 1 of this series I provided a brief overview of KPIs and their ability to predict good, poor, and sometimes...
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BlogMarch 3, 2013 By Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
This is a question with which I frequently like to start the API RBI 580/581 training course when I am instructing. It is meant to provoke the attendees to really think hard about why they order an inspection or really think about inspection...
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March/April 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Garic at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
If an operator finds cracking in a furnace waste heat boiler, excessive thinning in an absorption tower, or severe bulging in a converter, FFS assessments—not standard code analyses—are needed to evaluate the unit’s mechanical...
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January/February 2013 Inspectioneering JournalBy Devon Brendecke, P.E. at Quest Integrity Group
The benefits of adding fitness-for-service (FFS) assessments to energy sector reliability projects are numerous. The acceptance of API 579/ASME FFS-1 is increasing across the energy sector and other industries, as these benefits have been...
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September/October 2012 Inspectioneering JournalBy Peter Carter, PhD, PE at Stress Engineering, Inc., Joe Frey, PE at Stress Engineering, Inc., and Mike Guillot, PhD, PE at Stress Engineering, Inc.
An all too familiar scenario in power plants is one in which an inspection finding occurs late in an outage and consequently, the return to service date may need to be postponed to allow time for corrective action. Historically, cracks or thinned...
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January/February 2012 Inspectioneering JournalBy Devon Brendecke, P.E. at Quest Integrity Group
Thanks to constantly improving technology developments, inspection of atmospheric storage tanks has yielded better data which, when used as input, improves the accuracy of advanced assessment techniques. Coupling the improved inspection data with an...
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January/February 2012 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
The various factors of the challenge, e.g. creating effective and then efficient inspection strategies, are at the crux of the decision process. Within each of these factors are questions that must be answered. The answers should be well thought...
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January/February 2012 Inspectioneering Journal
The design and fabrication of nuclear pressure vessels and piping components are governed by the rules of Section III of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. This Code, which aims to to ensure high...
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November/December 2011 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
The original article on scalable accuracy which laid the groundwork for the concept was published in the March April 2011 issue of the Inspectioneering Journal, entitled Scalable Accuracy, Key Roles of Risk Based Inspection and Fitness for Service,...
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March/April 2011 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
Two technologies, immediately available to plant operators for fixed equipment life-cycle management are Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) and Fitness for Service (FFS), two best practices that optimally work together or can standalone. Both have...
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The Role of Life Cycle Management in Achieving Excellence in Pressure Equipment Integrity and ReliabilityJanuary/February 2011 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
In the first article in this series entitled How to Put It All Together - Guide to Organizing a Successful PEI Program, (1) I provided an overview of the necessary Management Systems (MS) for a successful program to achieve excellence in pressure...
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November/December 2010 Inspectioneering Journal
Understanding, predicting, detecting and controlling high-temperature hydrogen attack (HTHA), have been elusive goals of materials engineers and scientists for over 70 years. The destruction of low alloy steel components exposed to hydrogen through...
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May/June 2009 Inspectioneering JournalBy Fernando Vicente at ABB
In 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...
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September/October 2007 Inspectioneering Journal
The assessment procedures in this Standard can be used for Fitness-For-Service assessments and/or re-rating of equipment designed and constructed to recognized codes and standards, including international and internal corporate standards.
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May/June 2007 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
This is part 2 in a multi-part series. Part 1 set the stage in explaining the basics of RBI. As I am most familiar with API Base Resource Document 581, I will continue to use this technical basis for this article.
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May/June 2006 Inspectioneering Journal
Revisions to the California Code of Regulations Title 8 Petroleum Safety Orders are nearly complete and the new regulations should be published late summer 2006. The regulations will affect both drilling and production facilities and refining,...
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November/December 2005 Inspectioneering Journal
A few years ago, TWI investigated a corrosion failure in a 30 inch crude oil pipeline that regrettably led to an explosion and fire, and the death of several operating personnel. The pipeline was designed to ASME B31.4 and the investigation found...
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July/August 2005 Inspectioneering JournalBy Jonathan D. Dobis at The Equity Engineering Group, Inc., and David N. French
This bulletin is part of a series of WRC Bulletins that contain the technical background and other information to evaluate damage mechanisms in various industries to facilitate the use of API 579. These bulletins, shown below, will be updated based...
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May/June 2005 Inspectioneering JournalBy Bob Stakenborghs, P.E. at Evisive Inc.
API is preparing to release the next edition of API 579 Fitness-For-Service (FFS) the first quarter of 2006. The many major enhancements that have been made to the next edition of API 579 will permit Owner-Users to evaluate new types of damage...
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March/April 2005 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
We are happy to announce the 10-year anniversary of the inaugural issue of the Inspectioneering Journal!
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January/February 2005 Inspectioneering JournalBy Julian Speck at TWI Ltd., and Brigdet Hayes at TWI
The number of FFS assessments carried out by inspection engineers is expected to increase in the future, as operators "sweat" their ageing process equipment. The parameters required for assessments can be quite complex and interdependent. Therefore,...
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May/June 2002 Inspectioneering JournalBy 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...
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January/February 2002 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal, and C.P. Hsiao
Safety, environmental and economic pressures are motivating process industry (e.g. refineries & petrochemical plants) operators to consistently improve equipment reliability performance, optimize expenses and more accurately target resources where...
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November/December 2001 Inspectioneering JournalBy Greg Alvarado at Inspectioneering Journal
A typical risk based inspection (RBI) analysis should include past inspection results, tempered by confidence in those results. For example, API's (American Petroleum Institute) RBI methodology and software when calculating the likelihood of failure...
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May/June 2001 Inspectioneering JournalBy Russell Orr at Metals Technologies Laboratories, CANMET, and John Bowker at Materials Technology Laboratory
The use of engineering critical assessment (ECA)of "fitness for service", for the evaluation of flaws and local wall thinning in pressure vessels is receiving a lot of attention in the petrochemical and utility industries. A rigorous methodology...
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March/April 2001 Inspectioneering JournalBy Gerrit Buchheim, P.E. at Becht
With the publication of API RP 579 For Fitness-For-Service and the planned publication of API RP 580 for Risk Based Inspection in 2001, these technologies will find increasing application in maintenance and inspection planning.
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November/December 2000 Inspectioneering JournalBy John Reynolds at Intertek
Part 4 of this article continues to outline the 101 essential elements that need to be in place, and functioning well, to effectively and efficiently, preserve and protect the reliability and integrity of pressure equipment (vessels, exchangers,...
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The Future Direction of API RP579 and its Relationship with other API Codes and Recommended PracticesMarch/April 2000 Inspectioneering JournalBy Gerrit Buchheim, P.E. at Becht
The release of API RP579 will bring about some changes to other existing API standards. The plan is to offer an integrated suite of API standards, where information is presented once and the other documents refer and are linked to that information.
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May/June 1996 Inspectioneering JournalBy Walter G. Reuter at INEL
The U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) has a substantial interest in predictions for fitness-for-service as well as for lifetime extension. The ability to predict fitness-for-service is applicable to making...
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November/December 1995 Inspectioneering JournalBy Ted L. Anderson at Quest Integrity Group
An inescapable law of nature is that engineering materials contain flaws. Perfect materials and welds simply do not exist in the real world. A newly fabricated pressure vessel, for example, contains numerous imperfections and will probably degrade...
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November/December 1995 Inspectioneering JournalBy Richard S. Boswell, P.E. at Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
Evaluations of aged and critical service vessels such as FCCU's and Delayed Cokers have been aided by the addition of two physical measurements referred to as structural characterizations. These are placed in perspective with the classic...
Quest Integrity is a global leader in the development and delivery of asset integrity and reliability management services. Our integrated solutions consist of technology-enabled, advanced inspection and engineering assessment services and products that help organizations in the pipeline, refining, chemical, syngas and power industries improve operational planning, increase profitability, and reduce operational and safety risks.
Quest Integrity is a global leader in the development and delivery of asset integrity and reliability management services. Our integrated solutions consist of technology-enabled, advanced inspection and engineering assessment services and products that help organizations in the pipeline, refining, chemical, syngas and power industries improve operational planning, increase profitability, and reduce operational and safety risks.
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.
Becht provides comprehensive and technically excellent engineering consulting, and project and turnaround management services to the energy, industrial gas & chemicals sectors, worldwide.
Becht provides comprehensive and technically excellent engineering consulting, and project and turnaround management services to the energy, industrial gas & chemicals sectors, worldwide.
E²G is a technology driven company that solves engineering problems. Our consulting services & proprietary software are focused on finding answers to challenging industry problems for new & aging equipment, while promoting safety, preventing future failures, reducing downtime, maximizing reliability, & minimizing damage.
E²G is a technology driven company that solves engineering problems. Our consulting services & proprietary software are focused on finding answers to challenging industry problems for new & aging equipment, while promoting safety, preventing future failures, reducing downtime, maximizing reliability, & minimizing damage.
Pro-Surve Technical & subsidiaries ProSource Radiography & Walzel Technincal Services are a NDT, integrated inspection, 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 & subsidiaries ProSource Radiography & Walzel Technincal Services are a NDT, integrated inspection, 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.
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