Vulnerability of welded joints and active damage mechanisms in petrochemical plants and processes: reliability through programming of risk-based inspection – Part I

CATEGORY: RELIABILITY
Welding International, Volume 27, Issue 12, 2013, pages 948-962
Vulnerability of welded joints and active damage mechanisms in petrochemical plants and processes: reliability through programming of risk-based inspection – Part I
G. Canale (a), M. De Marco (b) & S. Pinca (a)
a IIS Service , Genoa , Italy
b Italian Welding Institute , Genoa , Italy
Abstract
The special process of welding still plays a key role in the fabrication of pressurized equipment for the energy processing and generation industry. Similarly, welding is extensively used in repair, modification and overlay/cladding procedures and during the maintenance operations for large plants. However, the harsh statistics relating to faults shows welded joints to be among the most ‘at-risk’ areas with regard to various active damage mechanisms.
Within the framework of the management of plant risk and equipment integrity, the risk-based inspection method, with the aim of prioritizing and optimizing the inspection strategy, focuses attention on the criticality of welded joints with the framework of problems related to both simple mechanical vulnerability and physicochemical aspects such as corrosion and/or stress corrosion.
Authors provide an overview of the interactions between the various active damage mechanisms in plants and welded joints, as well as indicating the criticality associated with these interactions. Their intent is optimization of the management of plant risk and the design of inspection strategies for resolving them.
Full Text Source (Subscription or Fee): http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09507116.2012.753258

Use Of Survival Models In A Refinery

CATEGORY: RELIABILITY
REVSTAT – Statistical Journal, Volume 11, Number 1, March 2013, 45–65
Use Of Survival Models In A Refinery
S´ılvia Madeira, Phd in Mathematics, ECT of University of ´ Evora, Portugal
silvia.madeira@galpenergia.com
Paulo Infante, CIMA/DMAT, ECT of University of ´ Evora, Portugal
pinfante@uevora.pt
Filipe Didelet, EST, IPS Set´ubal, Portugal
filipe.didelet@estsetubal.ips.pt
Abstract:
Statistical methods are nowadays increasingly useful in industrial engineering. From plant design reliability to equipment analysis, there is much to cover with statistical models in order to improve the efficiency of systems. At Sines refinery authors found it useful to apply a Cox model to a particular critical equipment trying to find process variables that cause its vibration as well as to apply well known distributions to baseline hazard rate.
Sines refinery has been concerned with the shut-downs made by the Turbo- Expander equipment in the FCC unit (Fluid Catalytic Cracking). As it was having problems due to a vibration failure mode causing FCC unit shut-down since year 2000, it was decided to investigate the origin of the vibration. Expander manufacturers and other entities that have this kind of equipment have investigated this problem as it is a big economical issue for the companies as we can see in  and. They highly recommend investigating efficiency in order to detect scaling deposition in expander rotor blades. It is believed that the com- position of some particles resulting from process reaction are the key for scaling, not just erosion. On 2011 turnaround, the procedure of changing the expander’s rotor and shroud was not complete. Only the rotor was changed. This has caused a slight gap between the shroud and the rotor blades due to shroud erosion. This gap is believed to cause less resistance and then, less particles deposition. However, results of Cox Proportional Hazards   demonstrate components in these particles to be linked with high values of expander vibration and with times to failure. In Section 3 authors have a brief description of the equipment and contextualization of the subject. In Section 4 they refer to the goal of this work and variables definition. Then they present some parametric and non-parametric approaches using Kaplan–Meier estimator and Cox Proportional Hazards in Sec- tion 5, and a parametric adjustment to the null model with parametric models. Finally, Section 6 is dedicated to some general considerations of this work.
Free Full Text Source: https://www.ine.pt/revstat/pdf/rs130103.pdf 

Use Of Survival Models In A Refinery

CATEGORY: RELIABILITY
REVSTAT – Statistical Journal, Volume 11, Number 1, March 2013, 45–65
Use Of Survival Models In A Refinery
S´ılvia Madeira
Phd in Mathematics, ECT of University of ´ Evora, Portugal
silvia.madeira@galpenergia.com
Paulo Infante
CIMA/DMAT, ECT of University of ´ Evora, Portugal
pinfante@uevora.pt
Filipe Didelet
EST, IPS Set´ubal, Portugal
filipe.didelet@estsetubal.ips.pt
Abstract:
Statistical methods are nowadays increasingly useful in industrial engineering. From plant design reliability to equipment analysis, there is much to cover with statistical models in order to improve the efficiency of systems. At Sines refinery we found it useful to apply a Cox model to a particular critical equipment trying to find process variables that cause its vibration as well as to apply well known distributions to baseline hazard rate.
Sines refinery has been concerned with the shut-downs made by the Turbo- Expander equipment in the FCC unit (Fluid Catalytic Cracking). As it was having problems due to a vibration failure mode causing FCC unit shut-down since year 2000, it was decided to investigate the origin of the vibration. Ex- pander manufacturers and other entities that have this kind of equipment have investigated this problem as it is a big economical issue for the companies as we can see in [4] and [6]. They highly recommend investigating efficiency in order to detect scaling deposition in expander rotor blades. It is believed that the com- position of some particles resulting from process reaction are the key for scaling, not just erosion. On 2011 turnaround, the procedure of changing the expander’s rotor and shroud was not complete. Only the rotor was changed. This has caused a slight gap between the shroud and the rotor blades due to shroud erosion. This gap is believed to cause less resistance and then, less particles deposition. How- ever, results of Cox Proportional Hazards [2] [3] demonstrate components in these particles to be linked with high values of expander vibration and with times to failure. In Section 3 we have a brief description of the equipment and contextu- alization of the subject. In Section 4 we will refer to the goal of this work and variables definition. Then we will present some parametric and non-parametric approaches using Kaplan–Meier estimator and Cox Proportional Hazards in Sec- tion 5, and a parametric adjustment to the null model with parametric models. Finally, Section 6 is dedicated to some general considerations of this work.
Free Full Text Source: http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=turnaround+refinery&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C11&as_ylo=2013&as_yhi=2013 

Developing an Instrument to Understand Impact of knowledge management on equipment reliability

CATEGORY: RELIABILITY
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 3, Issue 2, February 2013 1
Developing an Instrument to Understand Impact of knowledge management on equipment reliability
Tarapada Pyne*, Utpal Baul**, Radhey Shyam Jangid**
* JSW-ISPAT Steel Ltd, Dolvi, Raigad, Maharashtra,India.
** Department of Management, Birla Institute of Technology Mesra, Ranchi, India.
**Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, India.
Abstract
The previous research in Knowledge Management (KM) concentrated on the development of the subject of Knowledge, the creation of the maturity models, the process of implementation etc. as evident in the literature. The related past instruments are not applicable for evaluating the relationship of KM with industrial equipment reliability. The purpose of this paper is to develop a validated instrument to prove the relationship of organization-wide ‘failure factors (FF) of KM’ with ‘equipment performance’.
A survey among the expert professionals attached to the inter-disciplinary tasks of managing assets’ reliability reveals that 116 items in 4 constructs suit this core specific purpose. The empirical results had provided the strong support for the models. It is expected that the proposed model would help in any future study on the ‘impact of KM’ on ‘asset management’.
The various ‘factors of equipment’s failure’ as commonly encountered and applicable in any sector of industry were adopted and then these factors were validated with the responses from the industrial and specialized workforce either working on or associated with the equipments’ mal-functions. The responses from experienced ‘reliability experts’ had been statistically validated for consistency and reliability. The interplay and the inter-dependence of the failure factors are analyzed along-with the various ‘independent factors’ those have bearing on the equipments’ failure. The relationship of these independent factors with associated Knowledge Gap (K-Gap) and/or Knowledge Risk (K-Risk) and/or Knowledge Strength (K-Strength) may guide then to formulate the equipment-oriented KM strategy.
Free Full Text Source: http://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0213/ijsrp-p1405.pdf