Phased approach to plant integrity assessment

The phased approach to plant integrity assessment

Summary

All aspects of integrity management commence with a prioritisation of the plant base, at company, site and unit levels (Phase 0).

Equipment that gives rise to concern is assessed on the basis of its design, past history and expected future requirement (Phase 1). These actions can be performed with the equipment on-line, as no direct access to the components is required.

This may be sufficient to allow further service (Phase 4), but at some time a point will be reached where it is necessary to ascertain the current condition of the components by inspection.  Hands-on, but non-destructive, access is required for this (Phase 2).

Components that are deemed fit may be returned to service (Phase 4), but some items may be identified as requiring remedial actions - e.g. repair or a refined assessment (Phase 3).

Eventually some items will require replacement, and finally the unit will be retired (Phase 5).

Our integrated approach to integrity management allows a consistent methodology to be applied through all these phases of assessment.

Plant Integrity