…by Eileen Chant and Abby King Fired heaters are critical equipment items in the process industries and are often overlooked since they don’t fit nicely into a single category of equipment or existing programs in the same way a pump or pressure vessel does. Safe and reliable operation is essential to avoiding adverse health, safety, […]
Description Process vessels such as towers, drums and heat exchangers may be exposed to low temperatures as a part of normal operation or as the result of an upset condition. Carbon and low alloy steels typically used in process vessels undergo a transition from ductile to brittle behavior as temperature is reduced and are at […]
In 2008, Becht Engineering was awarded a project by the Materials Technology Institute (MTI) to develop an inspection guideline document and software tool for the collection and analysis of inspection data for piping, piping components and pressure vessels. Dr. Eileen Chant , as project manager, collaborated with Bob Sims of Becht, Dr. Mark Stone of […]
Becht was selected by the Materials Technology Institute (MTI) to adapt its Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) methodology to develop an RBI work process for above-ground, fiberglass reinforced polymer (FRP) storage tanks. The Becht RBI methodology, which complies with API RP 580, was initially used for metallic fixed equipment and has been expanded to other types of […]
Proper inspection, maintenance and operation of aging equipment has become an important issue in today’s process and power industries. Industry codes and standards typically deal with the design of new equipment. More recently other codes and standards have been developed to deal with the repair, rerating or change of service of equipment dating back as […]
Operations and Maintenance Practices in refineries focus on maximizing safety, reliability and profitability, in a highly competitive industry, with tight margins. A key consideration is to effectively manage annual maintenance costs which can be as high as 40-50 MM$/year for a medium size refinery. These costs can escalate to several hundred million dollars, if unplanned […]
Operations and Maintenance Practices in refineries focus on maximizing safety, reliability and profitability, in a highly competitive industry, with tight margins. A key consideration is to effectively manage annual maintenance costs which can be as high as 40-50 MM$/year for a medium size refinery. These costs can escalate to several hundred million dollars, if unplanned […]
