Risk-based inspection: Implementation and results

The refining and petrochemical industries' flat and dwindling margins have been driving plants to invest in advanced technologies to deflect lost profit opportunities. Det Norske Veritas (DNV) has responded to this prevailing industry need by developing risk-based inspection (RBI) methodology and technology which together, provide at least part of the solution to the problem. Over the past three years, DNV has conducted RBI studies on over 60 process industry units-and begun to accumulate historical data on using RBI effectively. We have found the RBI process to be an integrated method of analysis that (.)identifies the driving parameters for both likelihood and consequence of failure (leaks or loss of containment); (.)alerts us to the degree each parameter contributes to the risk of failure(such as temperature, inventory, pressure, inspection effectiveness and interval, flow rate, leak detection, and leak isolation); (.)ranks the potential risk of all pieces of equipment included in the study; and (.)provides inspection guidelines and a specific inspection plan.