API 580/581/ASME PCC-3: Risk-based Inspection Program, Technology and Planning Methods

Introduction

Risk-based-inspection (RBI) has become the state-of-the-art approach towards inspection and maintenance planning and asset integrity management in oil and gas, refining and petrochemical industries in the last couple of decades. RBI represents the approach that links the operational side – consequences of the failures with the asset integrity management efforts, first of all, inspection planning. RBI methodology identifies the most critical assets in the plant and facilitates the focus of inspection efforts on them, allowing proper and balanced decision making towards inspection frequency, extent and most efficient methods for damage monitoring in time.

The training course will teach the participants the methodology of the risk-based inspection approach as defined in the API RP 580/ASME PCC-3 and the RBI implementation methodology as defined in the API RP 581. The aim of the training course is to teach the participants to understand the safety benefits of the RBI implementation and, on the other side, also appreciate the economic aspects of the risk. Participants will have full and deep understanding of the calculation procedures in the RBI process and will be able to confidently deal with risk and safety in the plant operation.

This training course incorporates the latest changes in the API RP 580 from August 2023.

This GLOMACS API 580/581/ASME PCC-3: Risk-based Inspection Program, Technology and Planning Methods training course will highlight:

• How to systemically identify damage mechanisms
• How to estimate the damage state of the equipment
• How to link the probability of the equipment failure to the consequences of such potential failure
• How to plan and optimize the inspections, online or offline of your fixed assets
• How to utilize in the best manner the results of risk analysis for the maximal life-cycle utilization

Objectives

By the end of this Risk-based Inspection Program, Technology and Planning Methods training course, participants will learn to:

• Grasp the RBI process, as applied on static pressurized equipment, piping & storage tanks
• Enhance process safety and potentially reduce or eliminate unit / system downtimes
• Verify and implement most appropriate methods for damage identification & monitoring
• Optimize inspection plan compared with traditional inspection practices
• Increase equipment reliability by proper damage management, hence increasing plant operation efficiency and achieving most favorable lifecycle cost of the assets
• Implement state-of-the-art approach towards the asset management

Training Methodology

This training course combines lectures teaching the theoretical principles of the risk-based and risk-informed approaches to inspection planning, then link it to the operational situation found in the typical petrochemical / refining plant. The lectures are accompanied and illustrated by the real-life examples and, in a number of cases, first-hand experience of the trainer, giving unique transition from theory to practice. Further, the practical workshops will allow the participants to try to combine own professional knowledge and experience with the newly acquired knowledge during the training course in order to be able to solve practical problems.

Organisational Impact

The organization will increase the professional level of their maintenance and operation excellence, and, ideally achieve the following goals:

• Technical excellence & application of the state-of-the-art methods in inspection planning
• Systemic approach to the maintenance, as needed
• Utilization of the risk, operation (consequences) and maintenance (probabilities) synergy
• Use of RBI as a tool for decision-making
• Increased safety and asset reliability
• Optimal life-cycle utilization of the fixed assets
• Economic benefits in form of optimal ROI from capital assets

Personal Impact

The participants will gain basics of the RBI principles in the first part of the training course, focusing on the API RP 580, as well as on practical implementation as covered in the API RP 581. The participants will gain the following:

• Understand the RBI process
• Understand the damage mechanisms, their forms and methods to measure the damage
• Learn how the consequences are calculated
• Learn how the probabilities are estimated and updated with new information
• Match the inspection and mitigation strategies to the true state of equipment
• Prepare for the API 580 certification