Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) prioritizes inspections and maintenance based on the likelihood and consequences of equipment failure. It helps optimize resource allocation, enhance safety, reduce costs, and extend asset life through data-driven decision-making.
Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) is a strategic approach to managing the maintenance and inspection of assets, designed to prioritize resources based on the likelihood and consequence of failure. This methodology focuses on identifying assets with the highest criticality and determining the most effective inspection schedules to mitigate risks. RBI is built around evaluating both the probability of failure and the potential impact on safety, the environment, production, and costs.
MISTRAS’ expertise in asset integrity management helps ensure that companies can accurately assess risk levels and schedule inspections in a way that reduces unnecessary costs while maintaining safety and operational reliability.
The primary goal of RBI is to optimize the inspection process by aligning resources with the areas of greatest risk, ensuring that high-priority assets receive the attention they need while reducing unnecessary inspections of lower-risk components. It incorporates various factors such as historical data, equipment type, operational conditions, and environmental influences. By combining engineering judgment with data-driven insights, MISTRAS' RBI solutions help to ensure that assets are maintained safely and efficiently while minimizing downtime.
RBI Benefits Include:
- Strategies to achieve desired level of Mechanical Integrity (MI) and reliability
- Reducing downtime by avoiding unplanned outages
- Increasing equipment reliability
- Lowering safety risks
- Optimizing inspection and maintenance costs
- Focusing resources on areas where maintenance is most critical
- Enabling better budgeting and planning for future inspection, maintenance, and run-repair-replace decisions
- More effective turnaround planning
Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) Assessments
Risk-Based Inspection is a critical methodology for optimizing the inspection and maintenance of equipment by focusing on the likelihood and consequences of failure. MISTRAS offers comprehensive RBI consulting services to help organizations prioritize risk-based inspections, ensuring safety and minimizing downtime.
Quantitative, Semi-Quantitative, and Qualitative Approaches
MISTRAS employs a combination of quantitative, semi-quantitative, and qualitative methods to assess risk levels, tailored to the specific needs of the operation in accordance with API 580/581. Quantitative approaches involve precise calculations of failure probabilities, while semi-quantitative and qualitative methods provide valuable insights based on expert judgment and historical data.
Risk-Ranking
With MISTRAS' expertise in risk-ranking, facilities can prioritize inspections and maintenance efforts based on the highest-risk assets. This data-driven approach ensures that critical assets are monitored more closely and resources are efficiently allocated. MISTRAS' team provides clear risk rankings based on the likelihood of failure and the potential consequences, guiding maintenance teams to mitigate potential hazards proactively.
NDT Methodology Recommendations
MISTRAS is a leader in Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) services, offering a wide range of traditional advanced inspection techniques like Ultrasonic Testing (UT), Eddy Current Testing (ET), Radiography (RT), and more. RBI consulting includes tailored recommendations for the appropriate NDT methodologies based on the specific damage mechanism identified, helping to ensure that inspections are thorough and cost-effective.
Corrosion Control Documents (CCDs) Implementation
Corrosion Control Documents (CCDs) are essential for managing corrosion risks in industrial systems. MISTRAS provides expert consulting services to help companies develop and maintain effective CCDs that safeguard assets from corrosion-related failures.
API 970 Damage Mechanism Reviews (DMRs)
MISTRAS leverages its extensive experience in conducting API 970 Damage Mechanism Reviews (DMRs) to identify potential corrosion threats. The company uses proven methodologies to assess how various environmental and operational conditions (such as temperature, pressure, and chemicals) contribute to corrosion risks. These reviews form the foundation for the development of targeted corrosion mitigation strategies.
Damage Rates and Probabilities of Failure Assessments
MISTRAS assists in evaluating damage rates and determining the probabilities of failure through advanced analytics. This assessment helps predict when equipment might need to be replaced or repaired, enabling operators to optimize inspection intervals and prioritize repairs before failure occurs.
Corrosion Monitoring Location (CML) Distribution
Identifying optimal locations for corrosion monitoring devices CMLs is critical. Many plants use a quantity-over-quality approach for CML placement, inspecting numerous locations with minimal corrosion activity, leading to high costs and low-value data. By working with MISTRAS' experts to strategically place corrosion probes, sensors, and coupons, operators can focus their resources on inspecting the highest-risk assets with the most effective inspection techniques.
Integrity Operating Window (IOW) Development & Implementation Services
Integrity Operating Window (IOWs) are vital for maintaining safe and efficient operations in complex systems like refineries and other process plants. MISTRAS delivers expert consulting on defining IOWs, helping companies manage operational limits and proactively respond to deviations to help prevent equipment failure.
Defining of Process Parameters
MISTRAS works to help plants define the critical process parameters that establish safe operational ranges for equipment. This includes temperature, pressure, and flow rates, which are customized to each asset’s operational limits. MISTRAS uses its experience and industry best practices to create IOWs that help prevent equipment from operating outside of safe thresholds, subsequently reducing the risk of failures.
IOWs Deviation Response Procedures
If deviations occur outside the defined IOW limits, MISTRAS advises on the best response procedures to mitigate risk and return the system to safe operating conditions. This helps ensure that companies have clear protocols for handling operational deviations, including automated alarms, operational adjustments, and step-by-step procedures for maintenance crews to follow.
Operational Data Analysis and Trending
MISTRAS offers advanced monitoring and data analytics services to track key operational parameters in real time. Through continuous data collection and trending analysis, MISTRAS helps identify gradual changes in system behavior that may indicate underlying issues. By proactively addressing these trends, MISTRAS enables customers to avoid unexpected failures and optimize the overall integrity of their critical operations.
RBI Assessments in Plant Condition Management Software (PCMS®)
In combination with PCMS®, RBI assessments are incredibly valuable tools for refineries and other process plants.
As these plants are required to keep track of a huge volume of data, centralizing that data in a well-organized data management system like PCMS® enables the development of highly-accurate risk algorithms. MISTRAS’ expert engineers can help our clients to compare new mechanical integrity and inspection data against both the plant’s own historical data, and against industry standards, to optimize maintenance spending and safety by focusing on the assets most at risk for failure.
Other benefits of using MISTRAS' engineers and PCMS® to implement an RBI assessment program include:
- Reducing the operating risk of process plant
- Recommendations for reducing the number of assets requiring inspection on the next shutdown/turnaround
- Analyzing the opportunities for reducing the number of internal inspections required per API 510
- Providing a systematic approach to establish and optimize the current piping inspection program
- Reducing the number and frequency of piping inspections required per API 570
- Reducing the overall cost of operation through maintenance and inspection costs and improved operating efficiency
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