refineries' plant inspection

[25362]

Can anybody tell me about recommended guides or standards on plant equipment inspection in oil refineries ? The idea is to create a plant inspection division
staff capable of inspecting, among others, pressure vessels, piping (process and power), fired heaters, storage tanks, safety appurtenances, pumps, exchangers, etc., in a far-located installation.

 

[NickelMet]

First of all, try the American Petroleum Institute for their guidelines, recommended practices, and reports. There are plenty and the industry uses them.

http://api-ep.api.org/industry/index.cfm?bitmask=002007004000000000

Several standards to be familiar with: API 510, API 570, API 579, and API 653. All deal with inspection of equipment and all have training/certification available. Take a look at the API catalog under "Inspection of Refinery Equipment", which starts on page 51, I think. There you will find a lot of documents referring to inspection.

The next item is to look up the ASME Boiler Codes and Piping Codes.

And, if you don't have trained/certified personnel, training and certification is VERY important to having a properly staffed inspection group. So, you will need to look into that.

There are probably other standards I have left out, but those are the basics. There is a book: "The Petroleum Refinery Engineer's Handbook" by JF Strachan (Philosphical Library, New York) (1956) that gives some basic philosophy on setting up a department. But, there may be some newer books that do the topic much better. (I know that some of the things discussed are really outdated.)

Whew! I don't envy you having to set all this up. There is much more involved than what I describe here. Just one question: Have you ever thought about contracting this work out?

Enjoy!

 

[LSThill]

Hi 25362 (Chemical)

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Instructure Mr. Dan Willis,Boiler & Prsvessel, State of Indiana,

Nationa Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspector's Training here at Ivy Tech.

Boiler Pressure Vessel prep course. The best source of information concerning the course is our website at

http://ccs.goivytech.net/boiler_pressure/index.html

Joseph P. Zinkovich, Manager
Ivy Tech State College
501 S. Airport Street
Terre Haute, IN 47803
812-298-2363
812-877-1184 - Fax

http://www.goivytech.net

Note: if you take the NBIC you send the letter to API then your a API 510 you now have two for the price on one.

Leonar@thill.biz

http://www.thill.biz

 

[25362]

Thanks for your prompt response. I think NickelMet's advice would be the selected procedure. Thanks again.

 

[LSThill]

Hi 25362 (Chemical)& NickelMet (Materials)

API 579 FITNESS FOR SERVICES

http://fitness4service.com

Leonard@thill.biz

http://www.thill.biz

 

[NickelMet]

Thanks Leonard. That's a decent website for information on API 579.

 

[JoeTank]

Codewest of Houston, TX also provides excellent training courses for inspectors to sit for the API-653, 510 and 570 exams. Check

http://www.codeprep.com

Steve Braune
Tank Industry Consultants

http://www.tankindustry.com

 

[Wolfram]

Some usefull inspection standards are
1. API 580 Risk-based inspection
2. API 581 Risk-based inspection Base Resource Document
and not a standard but excellent report about this issue
3. HSE Contract Research Report 363/2001 Best Practice for Risk Based Inspection ...

Have fun.

 

[apiguy]

If you like to contact me directly, I could offer you bit more detailed plan. I dont't type very fast and it would take to long to post here.

The APIGUY....