In my last blog I discussed the wealth of information available in the American Petroleum Institute (API) Standards/Recommended Practices. Today, I’m going to give a brief review of the Risk-based Inspection (RBI) API-580. With the everyday workload for most people in industry it is difficult to set aside much time for reading a standard or recommended practice even if it’s important to your job. I will give you the highlights of the standard and enable you determine if you would benefit for additional reading of the document.
The RBI document provides guidance on developing of an RBI program for fixed equipment and piping in a refinery, chemical, or related hydrocarbon processing facilities. If your facility is already using an RBI program as a tool for determine inspection plans and timing of inspection you are likely familiar with the basics. The basic of RBI is that you determine the Probability of Failure (POF) and Consequence of Failure (COF), which in turn give you an overall risk. The overall risk will allow you focus your inspection resources and funds to the equipment with the highest overall risk. If your new to the industry or have never used RBI, the first few sections of 580 gives an excellent overview of Risk-based Inspection. There are several different risk matrixes used throughout the industry, but they all follow the same basic logic of increasing risk as POF and COF increases. See the attached blog picture being an example of a risk matrix.
The major benefit of reviewing the API-580 document in detail is the step by step approach used to assisting in developing a good program and some of the limitations and pitfalls when implementing a RBI program. The document includes a number of common pitfalls (Section 17) when implementing a program which include issues with Planning, Data and Information Collection, Damage Mechanism/Failure Modes, Accessing POF/COF, Risk Determination and Management, and Risk Management with Inspection Activities.
If you follow the document’s directions and guidance it will walk you through the various steps of developing an RBI program. A few of those steps are outlined in detail in the following sections of the 580 document:
Section 6: Planning the RBI Assessment
Section 7: Data and Information Collection
Section 8: Damage Mechanisms and Failure Modes
Section 9: Access POF
Section 10: Assessing COF
Section 11: Risk Determination, Assessment, and Management
Section 12: Risk Management with Inspection Activities
Section 14: Reassessment and Updating RBI Assessments
If you have an existing RBI program that is not meeting your expectations, a review of the pitfalls and reassessment sections could be very beneficial for you and your facility. Additionally, there are training sessions as well as an API certification program available for API-580 if you have a need/desire to fully understand the Risk-based Inspection methodology and requirements.
Actions to Take:
1) Does our plant have an RBI program? Is the RBI program meeting the expectations of you and your facility?
2) Consider that you or one of your employees present an overview of the API-580 document or review a section of the document during a weekly meeting.
3) Are the API standards available to you? If not, discuss with your supervisor.
4) Consider attending an API event or training.