Asset Integrity Control: Prioritization of Offshore Topside Flange Openings During Preventive Maintenance Shutdowns

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Chandima Ratnayake
Keyword(s):  
Preventive Maintenance ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Complex Geometries ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Destructive Testing ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Illustrative Case Study ◽  
Inspection Data ◽  
And Control

Abstract Top side flange inspection on offshore production and process facilities (P&PFs) has been a challenging task, due to complex geometries, produced crude oil and gas quality changes over the production well’s maturity, as well as the stringent regulatory requirements that need to be followed to assure the anticipated integrity of the operating assets. The complex geometries hinder the use of non-destructive testing (NDT) testing approaches and necessitate shutting down the system or subsystem in order to disassemble the flange to perform close visual inspection (CVI). Using risk-based asset integrity (AI) assessment and control (RBAIA&C) approaches, it is possible to classify the flanges into different classes, according to probability of failure (PoF). The PoF is estimated by considering the last inspection date, past inspection data, findings from similar locations/systems in the same offshore facility, etc. Together with consequence of potential failures (CoF), it is possible to estimate the risk of a potential failure due to the loss of integrity of a selected flange. Although several flanges are qualified to be disassembled, based on RBAIA&C activities, it is not possible to take all of them off during a certain preventive maintenance (PM) shutdown. Currently, ad hoc approaches have been used to further prioritize the flanges that have been recommended for inspection during a PM shutdown, based on RBAIA&C activities. The aforementioned jeopardizes the integrity of flanges and subsequently the overall system, possibly leading to catastrophic accidents. This manuscript demonstrates a methodology for the systematic further prioritization of flanges that need routine CVI. The flange inspection related system analytics have been incorporated with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to make logical further prioritization with sufficient transparency. The approach has been demonstrated with an illustrative case study that has been chosen from an offshore P&PF. A sensitivity analysis has also been performed and is presented to demonstrate how to carry out trade-off evaluations between different factors in the flange prioritization in a PM shutdown.

Maintaining Technical Integrity of Petroleum Flowlines on Offshore Installations: A Decision Support System for Inspection Planning

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Chandima Ratnayake ◽  
Tore Markeset
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
Technical Condition ◽  
Inspection Planning ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Plant Strategy ◽  
The North ◽  
Critical Components ◽  
Inspection Data

Oil and Gas (O&G) platforms in the North Sea are facing aging problems as many of the installations have matured and are approaching their design lifetime. Flowlines are used to transport oil and gas well stream from the wellhead to the production manifold. They are categorised as one of the most critical components on a production facility. Flowline degradation takes place due to corrosion and erosion. The deterioration of a flowline may increase the risk of leakages, ruptures, etc., which shall lead to serious HSE (health, safety and environmental) and financial consequences. Any such risks have a direct impact on the O&G installation’s technical integrity as well as the operator’s sustainability concerns. Conventionally, pipelines are designed with safety provisions to provide a theoretical minimum failure rate over the life span. Furthermore, to reduce the risk of failure various techniques are routinely used to monitor the status of pipelines during the operation phase. The existing methods of flowline health monitoring planning requires one to take into consideration the operator’s plant strategy, flowline degradation mechanisms, historical data, etc. A technical condition report is made based on findings’ reports and degradation trends. This report recommends the inspection of a number of points on the flowlines in a certain year using non-destructive evaluation methods such as visual inspection, ultrasonic testing, radiographic testing, etc. Based on the technical condition report, in general for a certain preventive maintenance shutdown, 10 to 15 flowline inspection openings are accommodated as finance, time and resource availability are taken into consideration. However, it is customary to plan to open more locations in a certain inspection package than can be inspected and minimization of such points is at present done on an ad hoc basis. This paper suggests a formal model and a framework to formally minimize the number of visual inspections by executing the plant strategy as well as HSE concerns. The model is derived using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) framework, which is a multi-criteria decision-making approach. The model is developed based on literature, industrial practice, experience as well as real inspection data from a mature offshore O&G installation located on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

scholarly journals Design and Control of MIRA: A Lightweight Climbing Robot for Ship Inspection

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 128-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Ahmed ◽  
Markus Eich ◽  
Felix Bernhard
Keyword(s):  
Complex Geometry ◽  
Climbing Robot ◽  
Destructive Testing ◽  
On Line ◽  
Funded Project ◽  
Inspection Data ◽  
Robotic Assistant ◽  
And Control ◽  
Marine Vessels ◽  
Non Destructive

The inspection of marine vessels is currently per-formed manually. Inspectors use tools (e.g. cameras and devices for non-destructive testing) to detect damaged areas, cracks, and corrosion in large cargo holds, tanks, and other parts of a ship. Due to the size and complex geometry of most ships, ship inspection is time-consuming and expensive. The EU-funded project INCASS develops concepts for a marine inspection robotic assistant system to improve and automate ship inspections. In this paper, we introduce our magnetic wall–climbing robot: Marine Inspection Robotic Assistant (MIRA). This semi-autonomous lightweight system is able to climb a vessels steel frame to deliver on-line visual inspection data. In addition, we describe the design of the robot and its building subsystems as well as its hardware and software components.

Utilization of Piping Inspection Data for Continuous Improvement: A Methodology to Visualize Coverage and Finding Rates

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Chandima Ratnayake
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Thickness Measurement ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Process Conditions ◽  
Inspection Planning ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
Inspection Data ◽  
The Right

Piping inspection in Oil and Gas (O&G) production and process facilities (P&PFs) is traditionally set up by dividing the overall piping components into corrosion loops (CLs) reflecting similar corrosion (i.e. corrosion due to chemical or electro-chemical reaction and/or erosion-corrosion) environment and process conditions. Each CL is comprised of a few or several wall thickness measurement locations (WTMLs). The WTMLs are typically identified for each WTML ‘feature’ (e.g. straight section of a spool, bend, tee, weld, end cap, etc.) in a CL. Generally, inspection planning decisions regarding WTMLs are prioritized based on the results of risk based inspection (RBI) analysis. However, the degradation behavior is continuously changing due to the change in product and process conditions during the maturity of O&G production wells. This manuscript illustrates a methodology to visualize inspection coverage and corresponding defect finding rates (DFRs) for different WTML features in a selected sub-system of an oil and gas production and process facility. The suggested methodology aids the visualization of DFRs pertaining to different WTMLs, enabling inspection planners to assign inspection recommendations to the right location at the right time, minimizing ad hoc work. The approach also enables feedback to be provided to the plant inspection strategy (PIS), depending on the corresponding production field and P&PF, whilst reducing the cost of inspection to the asset owner by the minimization of ad hoc inspection recommendations.

scholarly journals PAYING RESPECTS, STREAMING AFFECT: ELECTION DAY 2016 AT SUSAN B. ANTHONY'S GRAVESITE

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Paige Butkowski
Keyword(s):  
Political Action ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Hours ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Illustrative Case Study ◽  
And Control ◽  
The City ◽  
Media Event

On U.S. Election Day 2016, thousands of people gathered at Susan B. Anthony’s grave in Rochester, NY. They were there to commemorate Anthony’s women’s suffrage activism over a century prior and to celebrate the presidential candidacy of Hilary Clinton, the first woman nominated by a major U.S. American political party. A thirteen-hour livestream of the gravesite by a local journalist captured the unprecedented crowd at the cemetery and drew a much larger crowd online. In the hours before election results were announced, the livestream gained millions of viewers and thousands of comments. While existing research has begun to examine the complex relationship between personal and collective memory, memorialization, and social media, less attention has been devoted to the ways that history and politics become tools for users and professionals to represent themselves. I examine the gravesite livestream as an illustrative case study of the ways that actors with different levels of access and control over a media event use commemoration as a vehicle for political self-representation. I conducted a textual analysis of the entire livestream, including the video and comment feeds. Through the analysis, I traced how four actors built upon a shared collective vision of U.S. American women’s history and future to contribute to the livestream and find themselves within it, including the city mayor’s office, gravesite visitors, the journalist who captured the stream, and commenters. Ultimately, I suggest that in commemorating women’s historical political action, these self-representational narratives present livestream creators, viewers, and subjects as political actors.

Systemic Unsustainability as a Threat to Democracy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Felicetti
Keyword(s):  
Research Agenda ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Sustainability Transition ◽  
Ways Of Thinking ◽  
Illustrative Case Study ◽  
New Research

Resilient socioeconomic unsustainability poses a threat to democracy whose importance has yet to be fully acknowledged. As the prospect of sustainability transition wanes, so does perceived legitimacy of institutions. This further limits representative institutions’ ability to take action, making democratic deepening all the more urgent. I investigate this argument through an illustrative case study, the 2017 People’s Climate March. In a context of resilient unsustainability, protesters have little expectation that institutions might address the ecological crisis and this view is likely to spread. New ways of thinking about this problem and a new research agenda are needed.

The Effects of Teaching Reflection Diaries on In-Service High School Teachers in Japan

Relay Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 80-99
Author(s):  
Naoya Shibata
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Teachers ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Teaching Beliefs ◽  
Experienced Teacher ◽  
Female Teachers ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Illustrative Case Study

Although teaching reflection diaries (TRDs) are prevalent tools for teacher training, TRDs are rarely used in Japanese secondary educational settings. In order to delve into the effects of TRDs on teaching development, this illustrative case study was conducted with two female teachers (one novice, and one experienced) at a Japanese private senior high school. The research findings demonstrated that both in-service teachers perceived TRDs as beneficial tools for understanding their strengths and weaknesses. TRDs and class observations illustrated that the novice teacher raised their self-confidence in teaching and gradually changed their teaching activities. On the other hand, the experienced teacher held firm teaching beliefs based on their successful teaching experiences and were sometimes less willing to experiment with different approaches. However, they changed their teaching approaches when they lost balance between their class preparation and other duties. Accordingly, although teachers’ firm beliefs and successful experiences may sometimes become possible hindrances from using TRDs effectively, TRDs can be useful tools to train and help teachers realise their strengths and weaknesses.

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