If disregarded, corrosion and material degradation issues in process industries can lead to heavy consequences in terms of safety and business interruption.
On the other hand, performing highly frequent and extensive inspections and/or monitoring activities implies unaffordable costs and may even be ineffective.
Risk-based Inspections (RBI) and Integrity Operating Windows (IOW) are two powerful tools to effectively manage asset integrity.
RBI analysis is used to identify and understand risk, risk drivers, and where equipment is in its lifecycle. RBI can indicate whether or not inspection is needed and can predict its mitigation effect on future risk. In this way, inspection-related activities are prioritized and inspection techniques specifically prescribed, based on the active damage mechanisms and historical data.
Along with RBI, the establishment of IOWs can support a rigorous mechanical integrity program by managing possible changes/deviations in the process.
IOWs establish limits for process variables that can affect the integrity of the equipment if the process operation deviates from them.
Once integrity limits are defined, a convenient monitoring and control activity can be put in place to prevent integrity issues related to limits’ exceedance.
A complete and consistent Asset Integrity Management (AIM) system may ensure compliance with statutory obligations and regulations for inspections.
In fact, although the jurisdictional acceptance of Asset Integrity programs is not (yet) consolidated in all countries, most regulators give operators credit for using RBI and IOW to plan inspection and monitoring activities.
One of the most referenced approaches to AIM is the one developed by the American Petroleum Institute.
AIM services are provided in compliance with:
RBI and IOW analyses are consolidated approaches within RINA: our RBI team is highly motivated and competent, thanks to a continuous training program and years of in-field experience.
We are API580 accredited, have an in-depth knowledge of API standards and work with almost all RBI software tools.
We have pioneered the adoption of IOWs in Italy by developing an original method, compliant to API RP 584.
