We know what kind of pressure your equipment can put you under, particularly if it's not operating optimally. AVHENG provides detailed reporting and assessment for virtually all pressure equipment found in the energy and petrochemical sectors. Details are what you need and what we provide.

• ▼   Circuitization

  The circuitization process separates piping and associated equipment into segments or loops. Each segment has similar types and levels of degradation. Piping systems with similar construction materials, process conditions, and design specifications have similar corrosion properties. Circuits with the same damage mechanisms degrade in a similar manner. Specific inspection techniques can be chosen per circuit. The benefits of dividing complex process units or piping systems into piping circuits are:

  • Assist with risk-based analysis
  • Identify critical piping segments
  • Optimize piping inspections
  • Assist with effective decision-making
  • Streamline calculations
  • Make record-keeping manageable

  AVHENG staff expertly separate systems into corrosion circuits. Customers receive hard-copy and electronic P&IDs highlighting each circuit. Defined circuits and P&IDs are cross-referenced for easy use.

• ▼   CML Optimization

  • Corrosion/Condition Monitoring Locations (CMLs) or Thickness Measurement Locations (TMLs) are set inspection points designed for the repeat inspections used to determine damage rates so that piping and equipment can be repaired or replaced before loss of containment. CMLs should be optimized to give the best information about equipment or piping's state. Anticipated damage mechanisms based on service, material of construction, and equipment configuration must all be considered when determining a CML.

  Optimization is a process to make condition monitoring more effective by extracting maximal information with minimal effort. Many plants have too much data and limited information. AVHENG utilizes techniques developed for Risk-Based Inspection to optimize the number and location of CMLs

  • Target susceptible locations by considering materials of construction, process, and flow conditions
  • Examination measurements must be repeatable and taken at suitable locations
  • Place CMLs to fully use information gathered
  • Identify specific inspection techniques for damage mechanisms

  Regular CML assessments aid in tracking plant assets’ integrity.

  • A CML program is critical to safe and efficient operations
  • Companies can budget and plan for maintenance before failures occur
  • CML inspections use valuable plant Integrity Group resources for planning, execution, and reviewing collected data
  • Optimization helps to extract more information and increase condition monitoring effectiveness

  AVHENG can provide:

  • Piping isometric diagrams or vessel drawings identifying CML points
  • Inspection advice
  • CML data in electronic-file format — suitable for corrosion monitoring software packages, such as VisionsTM, Meridium, or PCMS
  • Customized field survey sheets to record collected data

  Periodic review of condition monitoring programs helps to assure that all CML information is useful. CMLs can be added or removed, as required.

• ▼   Corrosion Control

  Corrosion Control Documents (CCDs) contain the specific corrosion-creating details of a chemical or refining process. CCDs have various sections, including:

  • damage mechanisms
  • design data (e.g., construction materials, equipment age)
  • critical reliability variables (e.g., operating parameters, cycles, process chemistry)
  • guidelines for equipment reliability

  AVHENG CCD management develops awareness of the different types of damage modes and mechanisms that may be present in a facility and how they may affect fixed equipment and piping. A CCD manual provides guidance for maintenance inspection, monitoring, and operations to minimize asset degradation. The CCD is a resource for personnel to understand how damage occurs and how Damage Mechanisms (DMs) change with changes in operational conditions and parameters over the life cycle of the plant.

• ▼   Integrity Operating Windows

  API RP 584 states that “a fundamental understanding of the process/operating conditions and resulting damage mechanisms is required in order to establish and maintain an inspection program that yields the highest probability of detecting potential damage.” AVHENG staff are experienced in IOW development for pressure equipment and piping. IOWs combine operating process facts and integrity management principles to analyse the effects of process changes within equipment’s design limits. IOWs assist integrity teams to predict equipment damage and manage equipment operation and integrity strategies to mitigate damage and extend equipment life.

• ▼   RAM Services

  Reliability, Availability, Maintainability (RAM) assessments provide the means to easily emulate the operation of a facility such as a gas plant, chemical plant, or wind farm. RAM analyses take into account equipment failure and repair, system configuration, production capability, product demand, and equipment analysis to determine business risk, or the impact of downtime from failures on profitability. Unlike safety risk ranking, business risk ranking addresses failures resulting in reduced production.

  Benefits include:

  • Reducing maintenance and sparing costs while maintaining and/or increasing production levels.
  • Optimizing capital investment for reducing the cost of production.
  • Decreases in unplanned and planned outage durations.
  • Alignment of maintenance resources based on the criticality of equipment to production revenue.
  • Accurate forecasts of equipment life-cycle costs that reflect equipment age, duty cycle, and maintenance effectiveness.
  • Optimization of capital improvement options within a plant or within an enterprise when improvement budgets are constrained.

  Business risk analysis is used to:

  • Maximize production revenue.
  • Increase plant efficiency and reliability levels.
  • Minimize downtime – some facilities have seen improved production efficiencies of 5% to 10%.
  • Minimize life-cycle costs.
  • Reduce maintenance workloads, reducing operating costs up to 15%.
  • Reduce capital replacement costs.
  • Preserve and maintain safety requirements and production goals.
• ▼   RBI Implementation

  Significant resources can be spent once a decision has been made to initiate an RBI program: Individuals are assigned the task of determining which software is to be evaluated and purchased, what equipment is to be included in the program, along with a wide variety of decisions that will affect the way the integrity unit works in the future. Now it is time for implementation.

  Owner User companies may decide to implement the program themselves, often assigning the task to a full-time employee who already has day-to-day commitments and projects, so the RBI program languishes. AVHENG can supply the expert personnel required to get you through the challenges of implementation and execution, allowing personnel to concentrate on their daily priorities with minimum impact to work flows. AVHENG’s implementation services save time and allow you to quickly benefit from your investment.